Annie Oakley
"Anything you can do I can do better," sang Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun, and in 1952, the character set out to prove it.
The popular syndicated series Annie Oakley was based on the
real-life story of the legendary sharp shooter. Born in 1860, Oakley
developed her talent with a gun at an early age. Her father had died
when she was young, and she was forced to hunt for her own food.
Annie grew up to beat countless men in a number of shooting
contests, and she offered free shooting lessons for women so that they
could do the same. Oakley later became a rodeo star in Buffalo Bill
Cody’s Wild West Show before her life became the subject of Annie Get Your Gun.
Her foray into the world of Western televisions shows, a genre
entirely dominated by men, was backed by Gene Autry's Flying A
Productions. Gail Davis portrayed Oakley, bringing her own horse Target
to the job, and performing most of her own stunt work. Set in the town
of Diablo, the show was geared towards children, who thrilled to the
heroic Wild West exploits of Annie, her younger brother Tagg and
Sheriff Lofty Craig.
The show ran for four years in original syndication, and though it
never reached the cult status of many of its male counterparts, Annie Oakley proved that the American West wasn't just a gentlemen's club.
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