Alan Autry Biography

Alan Autry was born Carlos Alan Autry, on July 31, 1952, in Shreveport, Louisiana, US, to Carl Autry and Verna Brown. He later dropped the Carlos bit from his name, as he was not Hispanic and his parents had named him Carlos after a Louisiana politician whom his father admired.

Autry’s parents divorced when he was about a year old. Following this, he lived with his mother in central California. Soon, he was known as Carlos Brown.

His mother married Joe Duty when Autry was 6 years old. Autry later worked on the farms of California's San Joaquin Valley with his mother and stepfather, planting and harvesting grapes, cotton, and other crops, as migrant workers.

He moved to Riverdale, California, with his parents at age 12 and joined Riverdale High School. In high school, Autry was an avid sportsperson and played as a standout quarterback for the high school football team Riverdale Cowboys. In 1970, he graduated from the school.

He then earned a sports scholarship to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He played as a quarterback and tight end on the university football team. He eventually earned a BA degree from the university. He was, apparently, the first person from his family to attend college.

Though he initially wished to be a teacher, Autry was picked up by the NFL football team Green Bay Packers in the 12th round of the draft, as a backup quarterback, in 1975. The following year, he started three games for the team, as a replacement for the injured starter Lynn Dickey. However, all the games ended in losses for his team.

His football career fizzled out when the team’s coach Bart Starr dropped him in 1977. He later played for a year (1978) for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

As soon as his football career faded in the late 1970s, Autry used his Hollywood connections and began acting in movies. A mutual friend reportedly introduced him to Robert Altman, resulting in a role in Remember My Name in 1978.

He was also seen in films such as the 1979 sports drama North Dallas Forty, the 1980 film Popeye, and the 1981 action thriller Southern Comfort, all as Carlos Brown. While filming Southern Comfort in Louisiana, he got in touch with his father again and changed his last name back to Autry. He subsequently dropped Carlos and started using his middle name Alan as his first name instead.

He continued appearing in films such as the 1985 comedy Brewster’s Millions and the 1987 sports drama Amazing Grace and Chuck. He later appeared in series such as Cheers (1983), The A-Team (1983 and 1986), The Dukes of Hazzard (1981 and 1984), and Newhart (1986).

He later shot to fame as the small-town Mississippi policeman Bubba Skinner in the police procedural drama series In the Heat of the Night, which had a long run from 1988 to 1995. He followed this iconic role up with the role of Rick Bradshaw in the sitcom Grace Under Fire, which ran for two seasons, from 1995 to 1996. Following this, Autry launched his own production company, Dirt Road Productions, in 1997.

In 2002, he wrote, produced, and directed the independent Western film The Legend of Jake Kincaid through his own production company. He later served as the CEO of the Autry Entertainment Group, a Fresno-based production company.

In 2000, he was elected as the mayor of Fresno, a city in California, as a Republican candidate. He thus took over as the 23rd Mayor of Fresno on January 5, 2001. Autry was re-elected in 2004 and continued to serve as the mayor of Fresno till January 6, 2009.

As a mayor, he was popular. In his capacity, he was fiscally conservative and focused on issues such as homelessness. Known for his harsh political policies, he was also against gay marriage.

In 2006, he was named to the California State Film Commission by the then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. From 2008 to 2011, Autry hosted a radio talk show on KYNO AM 940 in Fresno.

Autry and co-star Randall Franks launched the Autry-Franks Productions, which released the charity music CD Christmas Time's A Comin', featuring the cast of In the Heat of the Night. The project primarily helped charities that dealt with drug abuse prevention.

Autry also released a musical tribute to his distant cousin and actor Gene Autry. In the 2013 project Alan Autry and Randall Franks Mississippi Moon: Country Traditions, Autry made use of gospel. country, and other musical genres.

Alan Autry married Vicky Brown in on July 21, 1980. The couple had a child, their daughter Lauren Autry, in 1981. On June 26, 1986, they divorced.

He met Kimberlee, his future second wife, in 1990. In 1994, the couple married.

They had a child, their son Austin Autry, in 1996. Autry is also a stepfather to Heather Autry, Kimberlee’s daughter from her previous marriage, who was born in 1986.

His daughter Lauren was seen in as episode of In the Heat of the Night in 1993. She also appeared with Autry in the movie The Legend of Jake Kincaid in 2002, which also featured his wife Kimberlee and son Austin. Similarly, his daughter Heather has appeared in Grace Under Fire in 1993.

Alan Autry battled with substance abuse in his early days. He quit his acting career after being in the entertainment industry for 9 years. Following this, he turned to religion and became a born-again Christian.

Actor Dick Autry of The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang fame is his sibling. Autry is also known for his generous contributions to various philanthropic organizations.