Eddie Dean (July 9, 1907 – March 4, 1999) was an American Western singer and actor whom Roy Rogers and Gene Autry termed the best cowboy singer of all time.
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| Jimmie & Eddie Dean |
Edgar Dean Glosup was born near Sulphur Springs, Texas. His farmer father also taught voice music to his rather large family of which Eddie was the seventh son. At nineteen, he went to Chicago where one of his older brothers resided. He befriended some WLS musicians and appeared on some of their daytime programs. Someone suggested that his surname was not good for radio, so he dropped Glosup and he and brother Jimmie used only Dean for a last name.
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| Jimmie & Eddie with mother |
Eddie and Jimmy actually began regular broadcasting at WNAX radio in Yankton, South Dakota and then at WIBW Topeka, Kansas. On September 11, 1931, Eddie married the former Lorene Donnelly whom he had nicknamed "Dearest" in Yankton, South Dakota where he was working at WNAX. In 1934, he moved back to Chicago and the boys made their first recordings for Decca, putting six hymns on disc. Later that year, they did eight songs for Art Satherly that appeared on several American Record Corporation labels. Eddie also appeared on a variety of daytime soap operas on network programs. In early 1938, Eddie moved to Hollywood. George Biggar reported for WLS Stand-By that Eddie was taking auditions for work in Hollywood, seemed to be getting good reviews and was hoping for that 'break' soon. He had jobs playing supporting roles in films and sang songs on radio, increasingly western ballads.
In 1941, Eddie signed with Decca doing a dozen songs in two sessions including one of his signature numbers co-written with Glenn Strange (later remembered as Sam the bartender on Gunsmoke), "On the Banks of the Sunny San Juan" which became his lifelong theme song. He began singing on Gene Autry's radio show. He was also a regular on Judy Canova's popular network program in 1942. Billboard mentions some of Eddie's earlier stops at various radio stations. In addition to WNAX, it mentions Clay Center, Nebraska, most likely radio station KMMJ. It went on to mention he 'progressed to minstrel man' at WGN then to 'professional hillbilly' on WENR in Chicago. In mentioning a tune he had written with Judy Canova - Put A Star In Your Window Tonight - Eddie discovered he was getting royalty checks for a song he had written but forgotten, How Can You Save You Love Me? The mention indicated that the Petrillo ban on recordings helped bring the old record to light and sales were doing well.
In 1944, Eddie landed a contract with the poverty-row movie studio PRC to star in a series of musical westerns. Initially he co-starred with veteran Ken Maynard in Harmony Trail. The first in the PRC series, Song of Old Wyoming, came out early in 1945. The first five films were shot in Cinecolor (a less expensive alternative to Technicolor; Trucolor was another). Eddie's films had lower budgets than those of Autry and Rogers. In one interview, Eddie felt that was the reason for the popularity of his films - they were the first done in colour.
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| Eddie with War Paint |
In mid-1947 through 1948, Eagle-Lion Studio took over the series as PRC went bankrupt. Many of the movie posters seen during research often mention the name of Eddie's horse in the movie. He used four horses in his movies — War Paint, Flash, White Cloud and Copper. By 1955, he had appeared in over 50 movies. Delights in Eddie's movies included such sidekicks as Emmett Lynn and Roscoe Ates and leading ladies typified by Jennifer Holt and the lovely Shirley Patterson.
Dean's movie career ended but his musical career endured for well into the 1980's. He recorded for Capitol in the early 1950's and then turned to the small but stable Sage & Sand label where he had more singles than for any other company, including his first rendition of "I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven" which later became a huge hit for Tex Ritter in 1961. Dean charted twice on the US Country charts; "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" peaked at number 11 in 1948 and "I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven" peaked at number 10 in 1955. Dean co-wrote both songs. Dean charted again with the song "Way Out Yonder" in 1955.
In the 1970's Eddie recorded for Jimmy Wakely's Shasta label and had other albums for various budget firms. His voice held firm through the 1980's when he entertained at numerous western film festivals. In his later years he received numerous awards for his contributions to western music. He was one of the founding members of the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and served as a vice-president. In 1978, he received the Academy of Country Music Pioneer Award. In 1990, he was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame.
By the mid-1990s, the man often termed the "Golden Voiced Cowboy" began to encounter health problems. He passed away from emphysema at Westlake Village, Los Angeles County, California on March 4, 1999, prior to his ninety-second birthday. On March 20, 1999 (after his death), he was honoured with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
(Edited from Hillbilly Music.com & Wikipedia)