R. Dale Butts

Composer, Arranger. As music director of Republic Pictures from 1944 to 1956, he scored or orchestrated over 140 films, from B westerns and serials to the company's more ambitious productions. He shared an Academy Award nomination with Morton Scott for "Flame of Barbary Coast" (1945). Robert Dale Butts was born in Lamasco, Kentucky. He joined NBC Radio in Chicago in 1928 and for 13 years was its principal pianist and arranger. In 1937 he married aspiring star Dale Evans (who took her stage name from him) and the couple struggled to find work in Hollywood before they were both signed by Republic in 1943. After their 1945 divorce he continued to write music for Evans' films, including those co-starring her fourth husband, Roy Rogers. Among his credits are "Don't Fence Me In" (1945), "Dakota" (1945), "The Plunderers" (1948), "The Fighting Kentuckian" (1949), "Trigger, Jr." (1950), "The Vanishing American" (1955), and "Affair in Reno" (1957). Butts retired from show business in 1956, but thrifty Republic used his stock cues for several more features until the studio closed in 1959. At his death he bequeathed his personal archives (including an unpublished autobiography) to UCLA.

For thirteen years, Butts was the chief pianist and arranger for NBC Radio in Chicago. He left for Hollywood in 1941 and joined Republic Studios as staff composer in 1943. Nominated for his original score: "Flame of the Barbara Coast" in 1945.