In 1998, Autry was honored with a bronze statue at the California Angels stadium in Anaheim.
"Back in the Saddle" [the 1978 book] frankly discussed the star's onetime drinking problem: "Without knowing it, I had grown dependent on liquor to relax. Drinking was a way to celebrate ... I was always on the go, fighting another deadline, racing to another studio or a business meeting. The more tired one gets, the easier it is to look for energy in a bottle."
"When I grew up on the [railroad] line between Texas and Oklahoma, X was not a rating for dirty movies. It was the the legal signature of about a third of the population ..."
"I was 12 when I ordered my first guitar out of the worn and discolored pages of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. The story that I bought it on the installment plan is untrue, the invention of a Hollywood press agent. Local color. I paid cash, $8, money I had saved as a hired hand on my uncle Calvin's farm, baling and stacking hay. Prairie hay, used as feed for the cattle in winter. It was mean work for a wiry boy, but ambition made me strong." --Gene Autry quoted in Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1998.
"When I went into the Air Force, I thought to myself: 'Last year--it was 1940 or 1942--you made half a million dollars out of six pictures, weekly radio for Wrigley's, personal appearances, records. Suddenly it all drops to a tech sergeant's pay of $145 a month.'
"If it hadn't been for royalties from my records and endorsements, I couldn't have survived.
"That should have been a lesson not only for me but for every performer and athlete. I was OK as long as I was performing. But supposing my voice went haywire, or I became ill and couldn't work. That's when I decided to get into some kind of business." --From The San Francisco Chronicle obituary, October 3, 1998.
Asked in 1992 what he considered his proudest accomplishment, Autry replied: "I've always maintained a good association with all the people that I've worked with on everything."
"I'll always harbor this secret feeling that he gave up when the Angels didn't make it this year (collapsing in the last week of the season)." --Dick Clark, widely quoted at the time of Autry's death
"He [Autry] used to ride off into the sunset. Now he owns it." --quote attributed to Pat Buttram, widely repeated at the time of Autry's death
"My biggest disappointment was not being able to win it for him in '82 and '86. I always remember he promoted good feeling among the players and coaches." --Gene Mauch, former Angels manager who won two American League West Championships but was unable to lead the team to a World Series
Gene Autry's Cowboy Code: The Cowboy must ... Never shoot first, hit a smaller man or take unfair advantage. Never go back on his word or a trust confided in him. Always tell the truth. Be gentle with children, the elderly and animals. Not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas. Help people in distress. Be a good worker. Keep himself clean in thought, speech, action and personal habits. Respect women, parents and his nation's laws. Be a patriot.
