Roy Rogers, affectionately known as the "King of the Cowboys" and his wife Dale Evans, "Queen of the West," were two of the earliest TV stars in Hollywood. Known as the singing cowboy with his trusty palomino horse Trigger, Rogers was easily the most popular western star of his time. He starred in over 100 films and even had his own show, The Roy Rogers Show.
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Across his marriage with second wife Grace Arline Wilkins and Dale Evans, Rogers had a total of 9 children. Some of them followed in their parents' footsteps and some preferred life behind the scenes after growing up in Hollywood.
Here's a closer look at all of Roy Rogers' children.
1. Cheryl Rogers
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Rogers married his second wife Grace Arline Wilkins in 1936 after meeting in Roswell, New Mexico. The couple adopted daughter Cheryl in 1941 from Hope Cottage in Texas. Cheryl, along with her siblings, grew up enjoying time with their father's beloved horse Trigger. She also made appearances in some of her father's films as a young child, including Meet Roy Rogers and Trail of Robin Hood. Now married to her husband Larry, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett is on the Advisory Board of the Western Music Association and is an active participant in the child abuse charity Child Help USA (of which she was a charter member). She's even a published author. She wrote "Cowboy Princess" and co-wrote the cookbook "The All-American Cowboy Grill." Cheryl and Larry currently live in Utah. They have seven grown children, 18 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.
2. Linda Lou Rogers
Two years after Rogers and Grace welcomed Cheryl into their lives, Grace gave birth to baby Linda Lou. Linda grew up to become the wife of a minister, her husband of over 40 years, Gary Johnson. Sadly, Gary passed away in 2008. He's survived by their numerous children and grandchildren. Linda continues to live in her home state of California.
3. Roy Rogers Jr
Roy Jr or "Dusty" as he's more commonly known, is the only biological son of Roy Rogers. His mother Grace passed away due to complications from childbirth shortly after he was born. Dusty appeared on his parents' NBC show The Roy Rogers Show as a child and even grew up to become his father's manager and trustee of the Roy and Dale Evans Rogers Children's Trust. Dusty also performed lead vocals for the Sons of the Pioneers and his own personal band he started in the early '80s -- Roy Rogers Jr and the High Riders. For a while, he operated The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum and Happy Trails Theatre in Branson, Missouri, but it has since closed down. Note the name of the theatre was in honor of Dale and Roy's beloved theme song, "Happy Trails to You."
4. Robin Elizabeth Rogers
Though Roy and Dale had met on a film set, they didn't fall in love until after his wife Grace passed away. The only child Dale gave birth to during her marriage to Roy was baby Robin. She was born with down syndrome and passed away from complications with the mumps before her second birthday. Dale wrote the book Angel Unaware in her honor.
5. Dodie Rogers
Dodie was the youngest of all of Roy and Dale's children. Dodie is of Native American descent and was adopted when she was just 7 months old. She grew up to marry a NASA employee, Jon Patterson, and they had a daughter named Kristin who now has children of her own.
6. Mimi Rogers
Marion Fleming was born in Edinburgh, Scotland where she was discovered by Roy and Dale in a children's home. She stepped forward to sing a song for the couple and they were so impressed they wanted to bring her home with them. She was invited back to their home in California for the holidays and didn't go back to Scotland until she had her own children. Mimi married her husband Dan when she was just 17 years old. He entered the Marine Corps and they welcomed three children together before he passed away when they were still young. Now, Mimi is a grandmother.
7. Debbie Rogers
Deborah Lee Rogers was adopted by Roy and Dale after becoming an orphan during the Korean War. Sadly, she passed away when she was just 12 years old in a bus accident in Los Angeles with other children from her church.
8. Sandy Rogers
John David "Sandy" Rogers was adopted shortly after the loss of Robin when Roy and Dale were visiting an orphanage. He entered into the U.S. Army but sadly choked to death in a military hospital where he was serving in Germany when he was just 18 years old.
9. Tom Fox
Tom Fox was the biological son of Dale and her first husband. He was raised by Roy and Dale. Tom, who passed away in 2012, was a school teacher and music minister.
Editor's note this article was originally published on Jan 8, 2021: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Roy Rogers had 8 children instead of 9. We regret the error. It has since been updated.
