Tex Ritter-America's Favourite Cowboy
Looking back at his career from our perspective more than 6 decades after his start in show business, it's difficult to believe that he is not more celebrated nor respected today.
His movie career, which began in 1936, was launched during the formative years of the 'Musical Cowboy' genre, and his recording career, which began even earlier, was nothing short of amazing. His contributions to Country Music and his fellow artists, and the preservation of the cowboy culture through song all combined to make him a true superstar in both the movie and music industries.
Tex Ritter was born Woodward Maurice Ritter in Murvaul Texas on January 12, 1905. From his youngest days, he "was always a cowboy." Riding stick horses, and tending his cats and dogs were common activities for young "Tex". He was an avid reader, consuming the popular literature of the time. His favourite authors included Zane Gray, Theodore Roosevelt, and popular pulp literature. This exposure to western culture would later serve him well.
Even as a youth, Tex excelled at oratory. He enjoyed recitations, and soon learned to love the spontaneous appreciation that a live audience could give. He went on to finish high school in South Park High, and found himself involved in drama, and athletics to much success.
Woodward always wanted to be a lawyer, and enrolled at the University of Texas in pre-law. In addition to his freshman classes, he joined the Glee Club and soon became one of the regular travelling singers. Socially, he was admired, and his infectious laugh made him very popular with other students. His heavy touring schedule with the Glee Choir, the Oratorio Society, and a quartet took its toll on his marks. Academically, he was average, and in the next 4 years, he found out that the professors "didn't care if you were singing in Lubbock". Rarely achieving marks above a C, he focused on his music, and entered a phase of his life that he would never leave.
During his university singing career, he crossed paths with Oscar Fox, John Lomax, and Frank Dobie. These three men, who already had begun the collection of Cowboy Songs, frontier ballads, and Southwest folk tales, encouraged Woodward to do the same. In addition to singing, he learned how to play the guitar, and also developed a lecture series, "The American Cowboy and His Songs" with which he travelled further around Texas. During his 5th year of college, he was bitten by the Show Biz bug and soon left for New York to forge his future.
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