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Roy Rogers (1911 –1998) was born Leonard Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio. At age 18, he moved to California in 1930. He played in many musical groups including his own group, the International Cowboys. In 1934 he formed a group with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer called Sons of the Pioneers. While in that group he was known as Leonard Slye, then Dick Weston, and finally Roy Rogers. Their songs included "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".

In 1937 Rogers went solo, and made his first starring film in 1938, Under Western Stars (1938) for Republic Pictures.

Roy made 87 Westerns and for 12 years (1943 to 1954), he was ranked by theater operators as the No.1 Western box office star.

Although Roy Rogers was a B-movie Western film star in the 1940's, his popularity soared when his films were recycled on TV in the early 1950's. The medium was in it's infancy in 1951 when his half-hour series, "The RoyRogers Show" made him a TV star. The series ran 7 years (1952 – 1957) on NBC at 6:30 P.M. Sundays and reruns aired another three years on CBS on Saturday mornings. He made over 100 television shows.

Roy's nickname was "King of the Cowboys".