Alan Autry
Encyclopedia
Carlos Alan Autry is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 (NFL) football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. He is best known for his role as Captain Bubba Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
In the Heat of the Night is a television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995...

; he also has been in numerous movies and other television shows. In November 2000, he was elected mayor of Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

, serving for two 4-year terms, through January 2009. As of September 2008, Autry has been hosting a radio news talk show on KYNO 940 AM in Fresno.

Biography

Autry was born in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Louisiana, the son of Carl Autry and Verna Brown. His name was changed to Carlos Brown when he was a year old, after his parents divorced. Alan Autry is not directly related to famous western actor Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

. He is, however, a part of one of the branches of the Autry family tree going back several generations. He worked alongside his mother and stepfather Joe Duty in the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

, planting and harvesting cotton, grapes and other crops. They travelled around the valley living in worker camps. When he was 12, they settled in Riverdale
Riverdale, California
Riverdale is a census-designated place in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 3,153 at the 2010 census, up from 2,416 at the 2000 census...

, California.

In high school, he was a star quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 for the Riverdale Cowboys. He received an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

 to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

, where he was a quarterback for the Tigers. In 1975
1975 NFL Draft
The 1975 National Football League Draft was held on January 28–29, 1975.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...

, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

, where he was a second string and briefly in 1976
1976 NFL season
The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...

, starting quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

. When his football career ended, he came to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

, making his film debut in the 1978 motion picture Remember My Name
Remember My Name (film)
Remember My Name is a 1978 American thriller film, written and directed by Alan Rudolph and produced by Robert Altman. Geraldine Chaplin stars as a deranged woman, determined to get back her husband, Anthony Perkins. Rudolph explained what he wanted to achieve; "an update of the classic woman's...

.

He met his biological father Carl Autry for the first time in 1982 while on location in Shreveport, for the motion picture Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort (film)
Southern Comfort is an American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill, working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane. It featured Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Alan Autry, Les Lannom, Peter Coyote, T. K...

, after finding his name in the phone book. Afterwards, he made the decision to return to his birth name Autry.

During his acting years, he struggled with his drug and alcohol use, according to an interview he did with The 700 Club in 2007. After nine years in Hollywood, he returned home and left his career. He tells The 700 Club, "I realized that God had moved in my life like never before. I really realized what God and the power of Jesus Christ was." By 1986, he was a born-again Christian and began to devote much of his time to working with charitable causes. He is married to Kimberlee Autry and they have three children.

Politics

Autry was elected Mayor of Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

 in November 2000 by defeating former mayor Dan Whitehurst
Dan Whitehurst
Dan Whitehurst , was a California politician.-Life:Whitehurst was the son of William Whitehurst and Tarie James Whitehurst and spent his first ten years in Dos Palos. His family moved to Fresno in the late 50's and he graduated from St. Therese School and San Joaquin Memorial High School...

. He succeeded Jim Patterson. Mr. Autrys' first term was from January 2001 to January 2005. He was re-elected on March 2, 2004 with over 72 percent of the vote. He is a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. His second term was from January 2005 to January 2009. He was not eligible to run for re-election again, since elected officials in Fresno are limited to two 4-year terms. In November 2008 he endorsed Ashley Swearingin to replace him as Mayor. However, Autry was later blamed for several boondoggle budget decisions that by 2010 would leave the City of Fresno on the brink of bankruptcy including the failed Granite Park project and busted loans to the City's failed museum

During his time as Mayor of Fresno, Autry was a strong supporter of initiatives to ban gay marriage, and at least twice appeared at a large rally on the city hall steps where he issued impassioned pleas in support of his position. In October, 2008, he appeared alongside the Rev. Jim Franklin of Cornerstone Church, to oppose gay marriage and support Prop 8, the California same-sex marriage ban. Opponents of Prop 8 gathered at city hall to protest his actions. Ironically, Mr. Autry played a gay character on the television show Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

.

Mr. Autry worked to maintain a balanced city budget, and during his last term as mayor (2008) the City of Fresno had a $18 million reserve along with its balanced budget, did not require job layoffs, and was the only major city in California to accomplish this.

Dirt Road Productions

In 1997 he started his own production company Dirt Road Productions. In 2002 he released The Legend of Jake Kincaid
The Legend of Jake Kincaid
The Legend of Jake Kincaid is an independent western film directed by Alan Autry.The year is 1878 and Jake Kincaid is a man just out of prison, full of hate and hard on the trail of the men responsible for the crime for which he was wrongly imprisoned. Kincaid is bent on revenge and it seems that...

, a western based on a story he wrote. He was also the director of this film.

Music

Alan Autry and his In the Heat of the Night co-star Randall Franks
Randall Franks
Randall Franks is an award-winning bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and mountain dulcimer. He was recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated...

 joined forces under the banner of Autry-Franks Productions to produce the charity "In the Heat of the Night" CD "Christmas Time's A Comin'" featuring the cast of the show. The project raised funds for drug abuse prevention charities.
With Franks producing, Autry performed his rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in homage to Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

 (who is his distant cousin). The duo both performed on "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...

" and "Christmas Time's A Comin'." Franks and Autry were able to include many music legends, some among them, Country Music Hall of Famers
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum identifies and preserves the evolving history and traditions of country music and educates its audiences...

 Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...

, Jimmy Dickens and Pee Wee King
Pee Wee King
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski , known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "The Tennessee Waltz"....

 as well as many legends from the Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 genre, from Jim & Jesse
Jim & Jesse
Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo composed of brothers Jim McReynolds and Jesse McReynolds...

 to The Lewis Family
The Lewis Family
The Lewis Family is a family of gospel and bluegrass musicians from Lincolnton, Georgia. They are known as the "First Family of Bluegrass Gospel"....

. The “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

Starring roles

  • In the Heat of the Night
    In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
    In the Heat of the Night is a television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995...

    (1988–1995) as Captain Bubba Skinner
  • Grace Under Fire (1995–1996) as Rick Bradshaw
  • Style & Substance
    Style & Substance
    Style & Substance was a television situation comedy that premiered on CBS July 22, 1998.The show starred Jean Smart as Chelsea Stevens, a Martha Stewart-like star of a how-to home show, and Nancy McKeon as her producer, Jane Sokol, a small-town girl new to New York City...

    (1998) as Earl
  • Sons of Thunder
    Sons of Thunder
    Sons of Thunder is a television show that ran from March to April 1999 on CBS. It was a spin-off of Walker, Texas Ranger.-Pilot:The two-hour pilot, Sons of Thunder, was shown as episode 4.24 of Walker...

    (1999) as Butch McMann

Guest starring roles

  • Cheers
    Cheers
    Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

    - "The Boys in the Bar" (1983) as Tom Kenderson
  • The Mississippi – "Murder at Mt. Parnassus" (1983)
  • The A-Team
    The A-Team
    The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...

    • "Labor Pains" (1983) as Gary Crenshaw
    • "Quarterback Sneak" (1986) as Mike "The Hammer" Horn
  • The Dukes of Hazzard
    The Dukes of Hazzard
    The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

    • "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Duke" (1984) as Hurley
    • "10 Million Dollar Sheriff" (Parts 1&2) (1981) as Dawson [Credited as Carlos Brown]
  • Hunter – "High Bleacher Man" (1984) as Whitey McVee
  • Newhart
    Newhart
    Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...

    – "Will the Real Dick Loudon Please Shut Up?" (1986) as Ed McKendrick
  • St. Elsewhere
    St. Elsewhere
    St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...

    – "Out on a Limb" (1986) as John Corzinsky
  • The Facts of Life
    The Facts of Life (TV series)
    The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

    – "Peekskill Law" (1988) as Clark Darrin
  • Hello, Larry
    Hello, Larry
    Hello, Larry is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980.-First season:Larry Alder is a radio talk show host who left Los Angeles after being divorced and moved to Portland, Oregon, with his two teenage daughters, Diane and...

    – "The Final Papers" (1979) as Max [Credited as Carlos Brown]
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
    Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (TV series)
    Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is an American musical television series loosely based on the film, which ran on CBS from September 19, 1982 to March 23, 1983.-Synopsis:...

    – "Gold Fever" (1982) as J.T. [Credited as Carlos Brown]
  • Best of the West
    Best of the West
    Best of the West is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.-Synopsis:The Old West spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best, a Civil War veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek after accidentally scaring off an incompetent gunfighter called the Calico...

    – "The Funeral" (1982) [Credited as Carlos Brown]

Appearances

  • 26th Annual Academy of Country Music
    Academy of Country Music
    The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...

     Awards
    (1991) as Himself/Presenting
  • George & Alana – (1995) as Himself (interview)
  • 30th Annual Victor Awards
    National Academy of Sports Editors
    The National Academy of Sports Editors is an industry association of professionals associated with the sports news business. Its membership is a cross-section of American sports editors, writers, and broadcasters....

    (1996) as Himself/Presenting
  • 34th Annual Academy of Country Music
    Academy of Country Music
    The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...

     Awards
    (1999) as Himself/Presenting
  • Get Away Right Away Child Safety Video -(1999) as Himself/Host
  • Billy Graham
    Billy Graham
    William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

     Central Valley Crusade – (2001) as Himself
  • California 911 Memorial Video – (2001) as Himself (Master of Ceremonies)
  • CNN'S Lou Dobbs Tonight
    Lou Dobbs Tonight
    Lou Dobbs Tonight is an American editorial commentary and discussion program hosted by Lou Dobbs, previously broadcast on CNN and currently on Fox Business Network. The hour-long show aired live on evenings every weekday, and was replayed in the overnight/early morning hours. It covered the major...

    – (6/2/05) as Himself (interview)
  • Hannity & Colmes
    Hannity & Colmes
    Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...

    – (6–10–05) as Himself (interview)
  • Praise the Lord
    • (April 6, 2006) as Himself (interview)
    • (January, 2003) as Himself (interview)
    • (March, 2003) as Himself (interview)
    • (March, 2004) as Himself (Guest Host)
  • Newshour with Jim Lehrer – (July 28, 2006) as Himself (interview)
  • The 700 Club
    The 700 Club
    The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...

    – (January 9, 2006) as Himself (interview)

Films

Credited as Alan Autry
  • Roadhouse 66
    Roadhouse 66
    Roadhouse 66 is a 1984 movie starring Willem Dafoe and Judge Reinhold.The film is set entirely in Kingman, Arizona and Oatman, Arizona, two towns on historic U.S. Route 66.-Synopsis:...

    (1984) as Hoot
  • O.C. and Stiggs
    O.C. and Stiggs
    O.C. and Stiggs is a 1987 film directed by Robert Altman, based on two characters that were originally featured in a series of stories published in National Lampoon magazine. The film stars Daniel H. Jenkins and Neill Barry as the title characters...

     (1985)
  • Eagle and the Bear (1985)
  • Brewster's Millions
    Brewster's Millions (1985 film)
    Brewster's Millions is a 1985 comedy film starring Richard Pryor and John Candy based on the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. It is the seventh film based on the story, with a screenplay by Herschel Weingrod & Timothy Harris...

    (1985) as Biff Brown
  • Nomads
    Nomads (1986 film)
    Nomads is a 1986 horror film which was written and directed by John McTiernan and stars Pierce Brosnan and Lesley-Anne Down.The story involves a French anthropologist who is an expert on nomads...

    (1986) as Olds
  • House (1986) as Cop # 3
  • Blue de Ville (1986) as Sgt. Auggie Johnson
  • At Close Range
    At Close Range
    At Close Range is a film based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston, Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s. It was released on April 18, 1986, and stars Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Millie Perkins, Candy Clark and...

    (1986) as Ernie
  • Proud Men (1987) as Brian Winoon
  • Destination America (1987) as Larry Leathergood
  • Amazing Grace and Chuck
    Amazing Grace and Chuck
    Amazing Grace and Chuck is a 1987 film starring Gregory Peck, Jamie Lee Curtis and William Petersen.-Plot:Chuck Murdock, a 12-year-old boy from Montana and son of a military jet pilot, becomes anxious after seeing a Minuteman missile on a school field trip...

    (1987) as George
  • World Gone Wild (1988) as Hank
  • Street of Dreams (1988) as Maury Fields
  • The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake
    The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake
    The Great Los Angeles Earthquake is a 1990 television film about a massive earthquake that strikes Los Angeles, California. The movie stars Joanna Kerns in the movie's lead role, seismologist Clare Winslow, who tries to warn city leaders of the possibility that a powerful earthquake may strike...

    (1990) as Matt
  • Intruders
    Intruders (film)
    Intruders is a four hour CBS miniseries dealing with the subject of alien abduction that was first broadcast in 1992. The miniseries starred Richard Crenna, Daphne Ashbrook and Mare Winningham. It was partially based on ufologist Budd Hopkins' book Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley...

    (1992) as Joe Wilkes
  • The Legend of Jake Kincaid
    The Legend of Jake Kincaid
    The Legend of Jake Kincaid is an independent western film directed by Alan Autry.The year is 1878 and Jake Kincaid is a man just out of prison, full of hate and hard on the trail of the men responsible for the crime for which he was wrongly imprisoned. Kincaid is bent on revenge and it seems that...

    (2002) as Jake Kincaid


Credited as Carlos Brown
  • Remember My Name
    Remember My Name (film)
    Remember My Name is a 1978 American thriller film, written and directed by Alan Rudolph and produced by Robert Altman. Geraldine Chaplin stars as a deranged woman, determined to get back her husband, Anthony Perkins. Rudolph explained what he wanted to achieve; "an update of the classic woman's...

    (1978) as Rusty
  • North Dallas Forty
    North Dallas Forty (film)
    North Dallas Forty is a 1979 dramatic film starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, and G. D. Spradlin. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and based on the best selling novel by Peter Gent: the screenplay was by Kotcheff, Gent, Frank Yablans and Nancy Dowd ....

    (1979) as Balford
  • Rage! (1980) as Man #B
  • Southern Comfort
    Southern Comfort (film)
    Southern Comfort is an American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill, working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane. It featured Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Alan Autry, Les Lannom, Peter Coyote, T. K...

    (1981) as Cpl. Nolan (Coach) Bowden
  • Dangerous Company (1982) as Donald Robinette


External links

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