Film and Television Career
Between 1935 and 1984, the Sons of the Pioneers appeared in 87 films, several movie shorts, and a television series. In 1937, the Sons Of The Pioneers signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to appear in a number of movies. In 1938, Leonard Slye was offered a contract as an actor with rival Republic Pictures. Part of that deal required him to officially leave the group. Leonard Slye changed his name to Roy Rogers, and went on to achieve major success as a singing cowboy in the movies. Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers still remained close throughout the coming years. When their contract with Columbia Pictures ended, they signed a new contract with Republic Pictures to be with Roy. They were soon appearing as highly popular supporting players in many of Roy Rogers' movies.
In addition to their appearances and filmed performances, their music was used in numerous other films and television shows. They recorded songs for the John Ford movies Wagon Master in 1949 and Rio Grande in 1950, and performed the theme song for the John Ford classic The Searchers in 1956. "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" was used in the Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski in 1998. "Cool Water" was used in the Gore Verbinski animated film Rango in 2011.
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