Dale headed for Chicago where she became a vocalist with a number of different 'big bands'.
She was also a featured soloist in such hotels as the Blackstone (Balinese Room), the Sherman (Panther Room, along with jazz
legend, Fats Waller), the Drake (Camellia Room) and the Chez Paree Supper Club. Dale spent a lot of time touring though after
a two-month stint at The Coconut Grove, Dale left the Orchestra and returned to Chicago where she was hired as staff singer
for radio station WBBM.
She landed two small roles in the movies Orchestra Wives and Girl Trouble but her career seemed to have reached a plateau.
When Republic Pictures B-Movies began turning to Sci-Fi in the early Fifties Roy and Dale
persevered. In 1951 they began producing a half hour television series (The Roy Rogers Show - see filmography for more)
that ran for seven years. In 1962 they returned to the small screen with The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show.
Making another smart move she refused to rely on the fickle realm of Hollywood and signed
with the well-loved Chase and Sanborn Radio Show. This was a nationwide broadcast that featured such luminaries as Don Ameche, Jimmy Durante, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Republic Studios made the next move and signed Dale to a one picture (Swing Your Partner) contract. The film was
successful enough that Dale was cast in several other movies inclduing a John Wayne Western.
It was Herbert Yates, the head of Republic, that had the brilliant idea of merging Roy Rogers singing cowboy with Dale Evans in hopes of box office gold. In 1944 The Cowboy and The Senorita was released and film history was made. The duo would go on to make 34 more films together and it was
only three years after their teaming that they went ahead and became an off-screen Hollywood fairytale.
When Republic Pictures B-Movies began turning to Sci-Fi in the early Fifties Roy and
Dale persevered. In 1951 they began producing a half hour television series (The Roy Rogers Show - see filmography for
more) that ran for seven years. In 1962 they returned to the small screen with The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. Over
the years Roy and Dale would record more than 400 songs together, the last in 1985 called
'Many Happy Trails'.
Dale Evans, died February 7 of heart failure, at the age of 88.
