Smith Ballew

Who was Smith Ballew?

Smith Ballew was an American actor, sophisticated singer, orchestra leader, and a western singing star.

He was born in Palestine, Texas. He attended high school in Sherman and college at Austin College and the University of Texas. He began his singing career on the radio, and in the 1930s became one of the earliest of the singing cowboys on the movie screen. He did a series of musical Westerns for Paramount Pictures and one for 20th Century Fox, continuing in supporting roles until the 1950s.

Prior to his singing cowboy career, starting in the late 1920s, he became one of the most recognizable vocalists on hundreds of dance band and jazz records. During this time, Ballew along with Scrappy Lambert, Dick Robertson, and Chick Bullock were the most prolific studio vocalists. He organized his own short-lived band in 1931.

Between 1929 and 1935, he made scores of records were issued under his own name for OKeh, the dime store labels, Columbia, and Crown. Few of these popular records gave any indication of his future Cowboy style.

He died at the age of 82 in Longview, Texas.