Hubbry Logo
search
logo
2171353

Alan Autry

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Alan Autry

Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952) is an American actor, politician, and former football player. During his brief career in the National Football League, he played as a quarterback and was known as Carlos Brown.

Autry played the role of Captain Bubba Skinner on the NBC, and later CBS, television drama series In the Heat of the Night, starring Carroll O'Connor. He has also appeared in films and other television shows. In November 2000, he was elected mayor of Fresno, California, and served for two four-year terms through January 2009. From 2008 to 2011, Autry hosted a talk-radio show on KYNO AM 940 in Fresno. He now hosts a midday show on KXEX 1550 AM in Fresno.

Autry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Carl and Verna (née Brown) Autry. His name was changed to Carlos Brown when he was a year old, after his parents divorced. He worked alongside his mother and stepfather, Joe Duty, in California's San Joaquin Valley, where they planted and harvested cotton, grapes, and other crops, traveling around the valley living in migrant-worker camps. When he was 12, they settled in Riverdale, California.

In high school, Autry was a star quarterback for the Riverdale Cowboys. He received an athletic scholarship to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he was a second-string tight end in his senior year for the Tigers. In 1975, he was selected by the Green Bay Packers, where he ended up in 1976, as the starting quarterback for three games.

His football career ended quickly when he was cut from the team by then-coach Bart Starr. Autry then went to Hollywood to become an actor. He made a football comeback attempt, playing for the B.C. Lions of the CFL in 1979 (as Carlos Brown). He was the third-string quarterback behind Joe Paopao and another ex-Green Bay Packer, Jerry Tagge.

Autry made his film debut in the 1978 motion picture Remember My Name. He met his father, Carl Autry Sr., for the first time in 1981, while on location in Shreveport for the motion picture Southern Comfort, after he found Carl's name in the telephone book. Afterwards, he made the decision to return to his birth surname of Autry. During his acting years, he struggled with drug and alcohol use, according to an interview with Pat Robertson's The 700 Club in 2007.

After nine years in Hollywood, Autry returned home and left his career. "I realized that God had moved in my life like never before. I really realized what God and the power of Jesus Christ was," he said on The 700 Club. By 1986, he was divorced and became a born-again Christian and began to devote much of his time to working with charitable causes. He was married to his second wife, Kimberlee Autry, for 31 years until her death in 2025; the couple has two children, and Autry has a child (b.1981) from his first marriage.

Credited as Alan Autry

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.