Robert L. May adaptation of Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas". In 1941, May married another Ward employee, Virginia, and had five children with her. She was a devout Catholic, and he converted to Catholicism during the marriage. May wrote two sequels to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". The first is mostly in prose (except that Rudolph
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) Couple of Misfits". The special has been edited to make more time for commercial advertising by shortening some musical numbers. When "Rudolph" was first issued on VHS, Betamax, and LaserDisc by Family Home Entertainment and Broadway Video from 1989 to 1997 under the "Christmas Classics Series" label, the 1965 rebroadcast print described above was used. All current video prints of "Rudolph" by Classic Media are a compendium of the two previous telecast versions of the special. All the footage in the current versions (starting with the 1998 VHS by Sony Wonder) follow the original 1964 NBC broadcast (without the original