Champion the Wonder Horse films from 1950 to 1953 and in all 91 television episodes of "The Gene Autry Show" and all 26 episodes of "The Adventures of Champion" during the 1950s. Throughout the years, several other "Champions" served as doubles for film stunts and personal appearances, including Little Champ, Lindy Champion, and Touring Champion. In 1940, Lindy Champion became the first horse to fly from California to New York to appear with Autry at Madison Square Garden for the World's Championship Rodeo. Touring Champion, a darker sorrel with a medium blaze and four white stockings, became one of Autry's most reliable horses for
Gene Autry "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange." In 2007, he became a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana. Johnny Cash recorded a song in 1978 about Autry called "Who is Gene Autry?" Cash also got Autry to sign his famous black Martin D-35 guitar, which he plays in the video of "Hurt." In 1977, Autry was awarded the American Patriots Medal by Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Other winners of this medal were Helen Hayes, John Wayne, and Texas State Representative Clay Smothers. Autry was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004,