42 Facts About Rex Trailer

Rex Trailer was an American regional television personality, broadcast pioneer, cowboy and Country and Western recording artist.

Rex Trailer is best known as the host of the children's television show Boomtown which initially ran from 1956 through 1974.

At 18 years old, Rex Trailer left Texas for the national rodeo circuit.

In 1948, Rex Trailer was working in the traveling rodeo when he met Western movie star Gabby Hayes backstage at Madison Square Garden.

Rex Trailer was the oldest child in a large family, and so was already practiced at engaging the young ones.

Rex Trailer started out as a scenery painter, but quickly rose to the position of production coordinator, and soon after to assistant director.

Meanwhile, Rex Trailer heard that the Westinghouse TV station in Philadelphia needed a host for a Western-style children's show.

Rex Trailer was a featured guest on the 2002 eponymous Nate Gibson and the Gashouse Gang album.

The Philadelphia station that employed Rex Trailer was sold to NBC.

In 1956, with a wealth of broadcasting experience and not yet out of his twenties, Rex Trailer chose the move to Boston to host a new weekend-morning children's show Boomtown on WBZ-TV.

Rex Trailer was already familiar with Boston, having performed as a specialty act when he traveled with big bands that played the Copley Plaza Hotel.

Rex Trailer named the show after the title of a Clark Gable film he saw on TV at the time.

Rex Trailer was aided by many guests, such as John MacFarland of the Franklin Park Zoo.

One embarrassing episode had Rex Trailer giving away a transistor radio emblazoned with a prominent Pepsi logo.

Rex Trailer said he had heard from parents asking if this was a real radio, and he demonstrated by turning the radio on.

Rex Trailer teamed with a local travel agency in chaperoning children on an annual series of group school-vacation trips to California tourist attractions.

Rex Trailer was recognized as a strong advocate for children with disabilities.

In 1961, Rex Trailer led an actual wagon train across the state of Massachusetts ending at the State House in Boston, to call public attention to the needs of those with intellectual disabilities, and the organization The Arc.

Rex Trailer insisted on including children with disabilities in his show, and is said to have been one of the first to do so.

When Boomtown ended on WBZ-TV, Rex Trailer briefly put his Western costume aside and hosted Earth Lab, a syndicated science series that aired across the country until 1979.

Rex Trailer was part of the successful "I Love New York" tourism campaign, playing a New Hampshire fisherman in a 1982 TV commercial.

Besides his cowboy, musical and broadcasting skills, Rex Trailer had other talents.

Rex Trailer was a licensed pilot, having flown fixed wing craft including the Boeing 747 as well as helicopters and gliders, the latter at the Northeast Gliderport in Salem NH.

Once, Rex Trailer was flying with Bozo the Clown in his helicopter; engine trouble forced them down in a Western Massachusetts field, where they were greeted by incredulous children who had followed their descent.

Rex Trailer was an accomplished sky diver, scuba diver and water skier.

Rex Trailer worked as a travel agent and was a certified hypnotherapist.

Rex Trailer owned a video production company in Waltham, Massachusetts, and taught on-air performance at Emerson College in Boston, both until his death.

Rex Trailer made regular personal appearances, and performed on occasion, including sets at Boston rock clubs in his later years as a special guest.

On December 10,2006, Rex Trailer performed several songs and signed free autographs for hundreds of fans at That's Entertainment in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Just prior, the gun shop where Rex Trailer was storing them had gone out of business.

On December 18,2011, Rex Trailer wrapped up his 55th Anniversary Tour in Waltham, Massachusetts, at Cafe on the Common.

In 2012, Rex Trailer has appeared at events in towns all around Massachusetts.

On September 15,2012, Rex Trailer was at the Ayer Town Hall, where a gathering of fans joined him for his 84th birthday celebration.

Rex Trailer's family remained largely out of the public spotlight throughout his career.

Rex Trailer was married to Karoline "Cindy" Rex Trailer, a two-time beauty pageant winner, from 1956 until her death on May 30,2011.

Between raising her daughter and attending charity events, Mrs Rex Trailer had dedicated her time to helping people in need through volunteer work with hospitals and various organizations.

Rex Trailer gave her time to Friends of Animals as well as to animal shelters, and opened their Sudbury, Massachusetts home to many lost or abandoned pets.

Rex Trailer was inducted into the Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.

Rex Trailer was included in the first group of honorees inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Brockton, Massachusetts, on May 5,2007.

Rex Trailer was honored for his lifetime of contributions to people with mental and intellectual disabilities at the 50th anniversary Gala for The Arc of Massachusetts on September 10,2005.

Rex Trailer died in 2013, when he was visiting family in Florida for the holidays.

Rex Trailer's life was celebrated at a memorial service held at Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College on March 12,2013.