Tex Ritter: Murvaul’s First Singing Cowboy
January 12, 2027
Today is the birthday of Tex Ritter. He would be 122 today.
Woodward Maurice Ritter came out of Murvaul — a Deep East Texas hamlet in Panola County — on January 12, 1905. He studied law at the University of Texas and sang cowboy songs on the side. The songs won. He moved to New York, then Hollywood, and became one of the first great singing cowboys of the silver screen. Between 1936 and 1945, Ritter made over 70 Western films. He was genuine Texas in a genre full of pretenders from New Jersey.
The Voice That Opened High Noon
His voice opens one of the greatest Westerns ever made. “Do Not Forsake Me” played over the credits of High Noon in 1952 and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Ritter joined the Grand Ole Opry and recorded for Capitol Records for decades. His son John Ritter became one of television’s most beloved actors. Tex died on January 2, 1974 — his son’s first day of the new year. Learn more at the Texas State Historical Association.