Gene Autry 12 acres. A decade after he purchased Melody Ranch, a brushfire swept through in August 1962, destroying most of the original standing sets. However, the devastated landscape did prove useful for productions such as "Combat!." A complete adobe ranch survived at the northeast section of the ranch. In 1990, after his favorite horse Champion, which lived in retirement there, died, Autry put the remaining 12-acre ranch up for sale. It is now known as the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio and Melody Ranch Studios on 22 acres. The ranch has Melody Ranch Museum open year-round; and one weekend a year,
Gene Autry filmography of the 91 episodes. While his films never achieved the critical recognition given to the films by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and others, Autry was more popular than John Wayne for nearly a decade. He was voted the top Western movie star for six years in a row, and was named the fourth most popular of all box-office stars in America by film exhibitors in 1940. In the "Motion Picture Herald" Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars poll, Autry was listed every year from 1936 to 1942 and 1946 to 1954 (he served in the AAF 1943–45), holding first place from