Ferlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes.
22 Facts About Ferlin Husky
2.
Ferlin Husky had two dozen top-20 hits in the Billboard country charts between 1953 and 1975; his versatility and matinee-idol looks propelled a seven-decade entertainment career.
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Ferlin Husky created a comic outspoken hayseed character, Simon Crum; and recorded under the stage name Terry Preston from 1948 to 1953.
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In 2010, Ferlin Husky was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
5.
Ferlin Husky was born in Gumbo, Missouri, an unincorporated community in northwestern St Francois County, Missouri.
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Ferlin Husky's mother named him Furland, but his name was misspelled on his birth certificate.
7.
Ferlin Husky grew up on a farm near Flat River and attended school in Irondale.
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Ferlin Husky began using the moniker Terry Preston at the suggestion of Smiley Burnette, who claimed Ferlin Husky would never work on a marquee.
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Ferlin Husky began acting, appearing on Kraft Television Theatre, and portraying himself in the 1957 film Mister Rock and Roll.
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Ferlin Husky received sole top billing in a 1971 low-budget backcountry film.
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Ferlin Husky was known for his ability to mimic other popular country singers, including Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kitty Wells.
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In late 1972, after over 20 years with Capitol, Ferlin Husky signed with ABC Records, where he scored several top-40 hits into 1975, with the biggest being the top-20 "Rosie Cries a Lot".
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Ferlin Husky briefly retired in 1977 following heart surgery, but resumed touring.
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Ferlin Husky remained a popular concert draw, performing at the Grand Ole Opry and elsewhere.
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Ferlin Husky was married four times and for the last six years of his life lived with his long-time love, Leona Williams.
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Ferlin Husky suffered from cardiopathy for many years and was hospitalized several times beginning in the late 1970s, including for heart surgery in 2005 and for blood clots in his legs in 2007.
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Ferlin Husky was admitted to St John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, on April 19,2009, with congestive heart failure and pneumonia.
18.
On January 16,2011, Ferlin Husky was honored at West St Francois County High School in Leadwood, Missouri, where local singers and the high-school choir sang some of his hits.
19.
Ferlin Husky donated several items of memorabilia, including his Country Music Hall of Fame award, to the city of Leadwood.
20.
On March 8,2011, Ferlin Husky was hospitalized again after several days of not feeling well.
21.
Ferlin Husky was interred next to his son, Danny Louis Husky, in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
22.
Ferlin Husky was one of the first country singers to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6675 Hollywood Blvd.