American Songwriter marks what it describes as the 119th anniversary of the birth of Eddie Dean, a country performer whom singing-cowboy stars Roy Rogers and Gene Autry reportedly both named as the finest of their kind. Born Edgar Dean Glosup in Posey, Texas, Dean carved out a career spanning radio, film and country music, and is noted as the first singing cowboy to star in colour films, giving him a distinctive place in the genre's history.

Dean learned to sing from his mother before moving to Chicago in 1926, later performing with his brother Jimmy and appearing on the WLS National Barn Dance. He transitioned to Los Angeles in 1936, achieving his breakthrough with the 1944 Western Harmony Trail and starring in around 20 more films shot in Cinecolor, ranking among the top ten cowboy stars of the 1940s. When his film work stalled, he returned to music, co-writing "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" in 1948 and charting with hits such as "I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven"; he continued performing into his 80s and died in 1999 aged 91. (Note: the headline's "119 years" and stated 1907 birth date are inconsistent, as is the July 9 date against the "today" framing.)