Red Foley(1910-1968)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Red Foley made his professional debut as a singer in Chicago. He was
later discovered by a talent scout at Kentucky's Georgetown College.
His mother and father operated a little store at the crossroads in Blue
Lick, Kentucky. His father took an old guitar as part payment on an
account and gave it to Red. By the time he was seven he was playing
with the best of them. Later his family moved Berea, Kentucky while Red
continued his "musical education'. In high school he played basketball
and ran track. At this time he entered an Atwater-Kent amateur contest
and reached the state finals in Louisville. Red was on his way. In the
1930's Red shared the stage on "National Barndance", with Gene Autry,
Smiley Burnette, and a pint-size yodeling cowboy named George Goebel.
He left there in 1937 and moved to Cincinnati, and joined the cast of a
cross-the-board network show on which he starred with Red Skelton and
singer Jeannette Davis. Red signed with Decca records in 1939 and had
only ordinary success for several years. Red thought he needed greater
exposure and in 1944, he headline R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's
Saturday night portion n Nashville "Grand Ole Opry. " From that time he
was one of America's best loved country singers. Some of his all-time
great hits included "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy", "Peace In The
Valley", "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", and "Steal Away". After the
death of his first wife, Eva, in 1952, he departed the "Grand Ole
Opry", to care for his remaining three unmarried daughters. He remained
in virtual retirement until 1954 when Razorback Productions of
Springfield, Mo., then the nation's largest producers of country music
shows, persuaded Red to star in a new quarter hour series. Sparking
Red's interest, he wanted to produce an "Opry" type show. The result
was "The Ozark Jubilee", which opened in Springfield's Jewell Theater
on July 17, 1954. Only three weeks after the show debuted, the ABC
radio network began carrying a 25 minute portion every Saturday night.
It's immediate popularity led to the new ABC TV show "Ozark Jubilee".
Red remarried to Sally Sweet and made his home in Springfield, Mo. Red
sang in the Inaugural Ball for President Truman in 1949 and also in a
federal court(as a witness to the ownership rights to "Chattanooga Shoe
Shine Boy".
