- Rudy Sooter was born on June 17, 1904 in Canada as Roby Cecil Sooter. His parents were John Franklin Sooter and Hattie Blanch Tussing Sooter. Rudy first became known for his country and western music, both as a writer and performer. Bob Nolan and Roy Rogers were in his band before they formed the Sons of the Pioneers. Rudy Sooter worked in radio and in B Western Movies on a very regular basis and became a go to musician and band leader for B Western movie projects. In 1936 his Horse Opera Company featured guitar and mandolin. His Ranchmen recorded with Jimmie Davis for Decca Records. Their collaboration included the popular "You are My Sunshine." Between 1936 and 1951 Rudy appeared in eighty-one western movies as musician or singer in all but twelve where he had roles as character actors. From 1936 to 1943 he appeared in thirteen movies with Tex Ritter. In three of those films he both performed songs and wrote those songs. The 1937 Roy Rogers movie Billy the Kid Returns had a featured appearance by Sooter. In 1947, he collaborated with band leader Spade Cooley, playing in his band and co-writing several songs, including "It's Dark Outside," "Down at the Cuckoo House," and the probing "Who Dug the Hole I Am In?" Later in his acting career he became a familiar face on Gunsmoke, appearing in eighty-four episodes in a wide variety of roles. In six episodes he had a musical role and in four episodes he was a bartender. He died on June 9, 1991 in Reno, Nevada, USA.- IMDb Mini Biography By: SAGE STEPS
- SpouseDora Lillian Hamilton(? - September 7, 1984) (her death, 3 children)
- ChildrenJan Eloise Sooter
- The Encyclopedic Guide to 78 RPM Party Records states that Rudy Sooter became something of an elusive legend in country music.
- Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, and Leonard Slye spent a lot of time during the depression years preparing for the infrequent times they played and sang for dances as well as The Texas Outlaws, a live radio show. They made little money and were paid nothing for their radio shows, using that means to generate other money paying musical jobs. Rudy formed a group called The Californians. He worked with the three on their guitar- and bass-playing skills. Their name, The Pioneers, came later. Rudy's three friends all gave up musical careers for a time in order to take regular jobs with steady paychecks. Rudy talked them into returning to music by allowing them to live in his three-bedroom Hollywood home until work picked up and they could afford their own places. Shortly after the radio emcee arbitrarily changed the name of The Pioneers to the Sons of the Pioneers because they were too young to be pioneers. Although this upset them, the name stuck and became well known in movie and recording circles.
- The success of the Sons of the Pioneers spawned a thousand and one cowboy groups, many of which included Rudy Sooter among the sidemen, such as the Radio Buckaroos. On his own, Sooter tried out a variety of approaches, including string bands and Western swing efforts. The Cattle label has released several anthologies of Sooter's recordings from the '40s.
- Rudy Sooter lived in Los Angeles, Califonia, USA with his wife Dora Lillian, six year old daughter Diana Jean., and twenty-five year old brother Louis Earl Sooter, an auto mechanic. The data recorded indicated Rudy was a musician working forty weeks for an income of $2,137 in 1939. The family paid $25 a month rent. Rudy was listed as a naturalized citizen who had completed eighth grade.
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