Biography

Eddie Dean

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Eddie Dean made his name as a country-western singer on radio in the '30s. He journeyed to Hollywood to make it in western movies, debuting in Manhattan Love Song (1934), but he could only land bit parts in features and musical shorts. His career started to take off in the early 1940s, though, and by 1945 he was among the more popular of the cowboy stars. However, several factors weighed against him rising much further: his stolid, somewhat dour screen personality, the fact that he was under contract to low-rent PRC (later Eagle-Lion) Pictures--whose shoddiness was legendary and whose westerns were not particularly popular among aficionados--and the unfortunate fact that the singing cowboy craze had pretty much run its course by the time he came along. His career can be summed up in a review of one of his films by the "New York Times": "Instead of the usual black and white, Eddie Dean's newest western has been shot in Cinecolor, but it's not an improvement; you can still see him."
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Both Gene Autry and Roy Rogers have called him the best cowboy singer of all time.
Brother of Jimmie Dean.
On 3/20/99 he posthumously received a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame.
He used four different horses during his westerns: War Paint, White Cloud, Copper and Flash.
Was a notable songwriter in addition to being a singer and actor. He co-wrote several songs with his wife, Lorene, and several other writers. His songwriting credits include "'Neath Texas Skies," "1501 Miles of Heaven," "I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven," "I Was Wrong," "I'll Cry on My Pillow Tonight," "It's a Boy," "Just a While," "Let's Go Sparkin'," "On the Banks of the Sunny San Juan," "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)," "One You Must Choose," "Poor Little Swallow," "This Lonely World," and "Walk Beside Me.".

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