Monte Hale

Monte Hale (born Samuel Buren Ely June 8, 1919 – March 29, 2009)

It was 1944 and he signed with the company for seven years and changed his name from Buren Ely to "Monte Hale." He soon starred in his first major role in Home on the Range. He appeared in some of the first westerns filmed in colour and was given use of Roy Rogers' musical sidekicks, the "Sons of the Pioneers" for one of his movies. He was often cast as a young cowboy, with cameos by Don Barry, Allen Lane and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Hale then played more traditional Western heroes in films set in the late 19th century. By 1947 the formula was set with Paul Hurst joining the series as Hale's sidekick and Riders of the Purple Sage providing the music. At this point he ceased playing the character named for himself.^[3]

In 1948, he made a trip back to see friends and family in his hometown of Shawnee plus appearances in 18 other Oklahoma towns to promote his latest movie, Son of God's Country. He reported that he had to leave his horse Pardner behind.

Hale was also a recording star and appeared in a series of Western comics published by

Hale made many public appearances at rodeos and other Western shows. He played a villain role in the 1954's