Carlos Alan Autry (born July 31, 1952) is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League (NFL) football player. He is best known for his role as Captain Bubba Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night. He appeared in numerous movies and television shows and was later elected mayor of Fresno, California.
Autry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Carl Autry and Verna Brown. 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 the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley, planting and harvesting cotton, grapes and other crops. They travelled around the valley living in worker camps. When he was 12, they settled in Riverdale, California.
In high school, he 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 quarterback for the Tigers. In 1975, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, where he was a second string and briefly in 1976, starting quarterback. When his football career ended, he came to Hollywood, making his film debut in the 1978 motion picture Remember My Name. He met his biological father Carl Autry for the first time in 1982 while on location in Shreveport, for the motion picture Southern Comfort, after finding his name in the phone book. Afterwards, he made the decision to return to his birth name Autry. By 1986, he was a born-again Christian and began to devote much of his time to working with charitable causes. He is married to Kimberlee Autry and they have three children.
Autry was elected Mayor of Fresno, California in November 2000 by defeating former mayor Dan Whitehurst. He succeeded Jim Patterson. His first term was from January 2001 to January 2005. He was re-elected on March 2, 2004 with over 72 percent of the vote. He is a Republican. His second term will be from January 2005 to January 2009.
In 1997 he started his own production company Dirt Road Productions. In 2002 he released The Legend of Jake Kincaid, a western based on a story he wrote. He was also the director of this film.
Alan Autry and his In the Heat of the Night co-star Randall Franks joined forces under the banner of Autry-Franks Productions to produce the charity "In the Heat of the Night" CD "Christmas Time's A Comin'" featuring the cast of the show. The project raised funds for drug abuse prevention charities. With Franks producing, Autry performed his rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in homage to Gene Autry. The duo both performed on "Jingle Bells" and "Christmas Time's A Comin'." Franks and Autry were able to include many music legends, some among them, Country Music Hall of Famers Kitty Wells, Jimmy Dickens and Pee Wee King as well as almost every top legend from the Bluegrass genre, from Jim and Jesse to the The Lewis Family. The “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.
Credited as Alan Autry
Credited as Carlos Brown
