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Lester Alvin Burnett, better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who is reported to have played proficiently over 100 musical instruments, sometimes more than one simultaneously. His career, beginning in 1934, spanned four decades, including a regular role on CBS-TV's Petticoat Junction in the 1960s.
Birth Name
Lester Alvin Burnette
Born
Saturday, 18 March 1911
Died
Thursday, 16 February 1967
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Howard | Self | 2018 |
| The Republic Pictures Story | Frog Millhouse (clip from Sierra Sue (1941)) | 1991 |
| Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch | (archive footage) / Smiley | 1976 |
| It's Showtime | Self | 1976 |
| Green Acres | Charley Pratt / Charlie Pratt | 1965 |
| Petticoat Junction | Charley Pratt | 1963 |
| Ranch Party | Self | 1957 |
| Last of the Pony Riders | Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
| Saginaw Trail | Smiley | 1953 |
| Pack Train | Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Howard | Self | 2018 |
| The Republic Pictures Story | Frog Millhouse (clip from Sierra Sue (1941)) | 1991 |
| Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch | (archive footage) / Smiley | 1976 |
| It's Showtime | Self | 1976 |
| Green Acres | Charley Pratt / Charlie Pratt | 1965 |
| Petticoat Junction | Charley Pratt | 1963 |
| Ranch Party | Self | 1957 |
| Last of the Pony Riders | Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
| Saginaw Trail | Smiley | 1953 |
| Pack Train | Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
| Goldtown Ghost Riders | Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
| On Top of Old Smoky | Smiley | 1953 |
| Winning of the West | Smiley / Smiley Burnette | 1953 |
| The Kid from Broken Gun | Smiley Burnette | 1952 |
| Junction City | Smiley | 1952 |
| The Rough, Tough West | Smiley Burnette / Fire Chief Smiley Burnette | 1952 |
| Laramie Mountains | Sgt. Smiley Burnette / Smiley Burnette | 1952 |
| The Hawk of Wild River | Smiley Burnette | 1952 |
| Smoky Canyon | Smiley Burnette | 1952 |
| Pecos River | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| The Kid from Amarillo | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Cyclone Fury | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Bonanza Town | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Snake River Desperadoes | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Whirlwind | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Fort Savage Raiders | Smiley | 1951 |
| Ridin' the Outlaw Trail | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Prairie Roundup | Smiley Burnette | 1951 |
| Lightning Guns | Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Frontier Outpost | Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Raiders of Tomahawk Creek | Smiley / Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Across the Badlands | Smiley / Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Streets of Ghost Town | Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Texas Dynamo | Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Outcast of Black Mesa | Smiley / Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Trail of the Rustlers | Smiley Burnette | 1950 |
| Renegades of the Sage | Smiley | 1949 |
| Horsemen of the Sierras | Sheriff Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| Bandits of El Dorado | Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| South of Death Valley | Marshal Smiley Burnette / Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| The Blazing Trail | Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| Laramie | Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| Desert Vigilante | Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| Challenge of the Range | Smiley Burnette | 1949 |
| Quick on the Trigger | Smiley | 1948 |
| El Dorado Pass | Smiley / Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| Trail to Laredo | Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| Blazing Across the Pecos | Marshal Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| Whirlwind Raiders | Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| West of Sonora | Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| Phantom Valley | Smiley Burnette | 1948 |
| Last Days of Boot Hill | Deputy Smiley Burnette / Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| Buckaroo from Powder River | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| Riders of the Lone Star | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| The Stranger from Ponca City | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| Prairie Raiders | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| Law of the Canyon | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| West of Dodge City | Smiley Burnette - Editor / Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| The Lone Hand Texan | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| South of the Chisholm Trail | Smiley Burnette | 1947 |
| The Fighting Frontiersman | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Terror Trail | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Landrush | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Heading West | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| The Desert Horseman | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Two-Fisted Stranger | Deputy Smiley Burnette / Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Galloping Thunder | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Gunning for Vengeance | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Roaring Rangers | Smiley Burnette | 1946 |
| Firebrands of Arizona | Beefsteak Discoe / Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1944 |
| Code of the Prairie | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1944 |
| Bordertown Trail | Frog Millhouse | 1944 |
| Call of the Rockies | Frog Millhouse | 1944 |
| The Laramie Trail | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1944 |
| Beneath Western Skies | Sheriff Frog Millhouse | 1944 |
| Pride of the Plains | Frog Millhouse | 1944 |
| Raiders of Sunset Pass | Frog Millhouse | 1943 |
| Beyond the Last Frontier | Frog Millhouse | 1943 |
| Silver Spurs | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1943 |
| King of the Cowboys | Frog Millhouse | 1943 |
| Idaho | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1943 |
| Heart of the Golden West | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1942 |
| Bells of Capistrano | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1942 |
| Call of the Canyon | Frog Millhouse | 1942 |
| Stardust on the Sage | Frog | 1942 |
| Home in Wyomin' | Frog Millhouse | 1942 |
| Heart of the Rio Grande | Frog Millhouse | 1942 |
| Cowboy Serenade | Frog | 1942 |
| Sierra Sue | Frog Millhouse | 1941 |
| Down Mexico Way | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1941 |
| Under Fiesta Stars | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1941 |
| Sunset in Wyoming | Frog Millhouse | 1941 |
| The Singing Hill | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1941 |
| Back in the Saddle | Frog Millhouse / Frog Milhouse | 1941 |
| Ridin' on a Rainbow | Frog | 1941 |
| Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride | Frog Millhouse | 1940 |
| Carolina Moon | Frog Millhouse | 1940 |
| Gaucho Serenade | Frog Millhouse | 1940 |
| Men with Steel Faces | Oscar / Oscar (archive footage) | 1940 |
| Rancho Grande | Frog Millhouse | 1940 |
| South of the Border | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1939 |
| Rovin' Tumbleweeds | Frog Millhouse | 1939 |
| In Old Monterey | Frog | 1939 |
| Colorado Sunset | Frog Millhouse | 1939 |
| Mountain Rhythm | Frog Millhouse / Frog Milhouse | 1939 |
| S.O.S. Tidal Wave | Voice of Felix the Dummy | 1939 |
| Blue Montana Skies | Frog Millhouse | 1939 |
| Mexicali Rose | Frog Millhouse | 1939 |
| Home on the Prairie | Frog Millhouse | 1939 |
| Western Jamboree | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Rhythm of the Saddle | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Prairie Moon | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Billy the Kid Returns | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Man from Music Mountain | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Gold Mine in the Sky | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Under Western Stars | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1938 |
| Hollywood Stadium Mystery | Smiley Burnette | 1938 |
| The Old Barn Dance | Frog Millhouse | 1938 |
| Manhattan Merry-Go-Round | Frog - Accordian Player | 1937 |
| Springtime in the Rockies | Frog Millhouse | 1937 |
| Boots and Saddles | Frog Millhouse / Frog | 1937 |
| Public Cowboy No. 1 | Frog Millhouse / Helen Morgan | 1937 |
| Meet the Boy Friend | Band Leader | 1937 |
| Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge | Colonel Millhouse | 1937 |
| Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm | Frog Milhouse | 1937 |
| Git Along Little Dogies | Frog Millhouse | 1937 |
| Round-Up Time in Texas | Frog Millhouse | 1937 |
| Dick Tracy | Mike McGurk | 1937 |
| Larceny on the Air | Jimmy | 1937 |
| A Man Betrayed | Hillbilly | 1936 |
| The Old Corral | Deputy Frog / Deputy Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| The Big Show | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Ride, Ranger, Ride | Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Oh, Susanna! | Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Guns and Guitars | Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| The Border Patrolman | Chuck Owens | 1936 |
| Undersea Kingdom | Briny Deep | 1936 |
| Hearts in Bondage | Rammer | 1936 |
| The Singing Cowboy | Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Comin' 'Round the Mountain | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Doughnuts and Society | Mover #2 | 1936 |
| Red River Valley | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1936 |
| Hitch Hike Lady | Singer | 1935 |
| The Singing Vagabond | Frog / Frog Millhouse | 1935 |
| Sagebrush Troubadour | Frog Millhouse | 1935 |
| The Cheyenne Tornado | Singer Over Credits | 1935 |
| 1, 000 Dollars a Minute | Gas station attendant | 1935 |
| Melody Trail | Frog Millhouse | 1935 |
| Waterfront Lady | Musician | 1935 |
| Harmony Lane | Singer | 1935 |
| Tumbling Tumbleweeds | Smiley | 1935 |
| The Adventures of Rex and Rinty | Jensen | 1935 |
| Lightning Triggers | Singer Over Opening Credits | 1935 |
| The Kids in the Shoe | Singing little boy / Kid | 1935 |
| The Phantom Empire | Oscar (as Lester 'Smiley' Burnett) / Oscar | 1935 |
| Arizona Bad Man | Credits Singer | 1935 |
| Mystery Mountain | Lake Teamster [Ch. 6-7] | 1934 |
| The Marines Are Coming | Sailor Delivering Flowers to Bill | 1934 |
| In Old Santa Fe | Lester Burnette | 1934 |
