Tex Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was an American country singer and actor and the father of actor John Ritter.

He was born Woodward Maurice Ritter in Murvaul, Texas, the son of James Everett Ritter and Martha Elizabeth Matthews.

One of the early pioneers of country music, Ritter soon became interested in show business. He appeared as “The Cowboy” in the Broadway production Green Grow the Lilacs (1930), which was the basis for the later musical Oklahoma!. He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in The Round Up (1932) and Mother Lode (1934).

In 1936, he moved to Los Angeles, California. His motion picture debut was in Song Of The Gringo (1936) for Grand National Pictures. He starred in twelve movies for Grand National, “B” grade Westerns, which included Headin’ For The Rio Grande (1936), and Trouble In Texas (1937) co-starring Rita Hayworth (then known as Rita Cansino).

After starring in Utah Trail (1938), Ritter left the financially troubled Grand National. Between 1938 and 1945, he starred in around forty “singing cowboy” movies, mostly to critical scorn.

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