Biographies: Smiley Burnette - Actor

Biographies

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An American actor and country music performer, born in Summum, Illinois, USA as Lester Alvin Burnette. He started singing when he was a child and learned to play a variety of instruments by ear, and in his teens, he worked in vaudeville, began his radio work in 1929, and entered the world of cinema in 1934. He used to play the accordion and play comic roles and wrote more than 400 songs, and sang a large number of them on the screen. He married Dallas McDonald (1936-1967), who stayed with him until his death. Some of his notable works are Call of the Rockies (1944), Smoky Canyon (1952), and Galloping Thunder (1946). In 1986, he was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died of leukemia in Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA, on February 16, 1967, at the age of 55.