Ferlin Husky

Country Musician, Actor. Born Ferlin Eugene Husky, he was raised on a Missouri farm and learned how to play the guitar from an uncle at the age of ten. Following service with the US Merchant Marines (he served as a troop ship gunner in the European Theater) during World War II, he worked for a Missouri radio station before moving to California where he was a disk jockey in Bakersfield. In 1955, he joined the Grand Ole Opry which led to a recording contract with the Capitol label and his hit “Gone” (initially performing under the name Terry Preston) which successfully crossed-over to the Pop Carts, as it reached number 4 in 1957. He followed this with “Wings Of A Dove” (peaking at number 12 in 1960); as a result of his stardom as a singer he found acting parts in the films “Forty Acre Feud” (1965), “Hillbillys in a Haunted House” (1967) and “Swamp Girl” (1971). In 1972 he signed with the ABC label, but was unable to reclaim the success he enjoyed earlier in his career. In 1977, he underwent open-heart surgery and would endure heart problems the remainder of his life. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010. He died from heart failure.