Stamps of approval

Four legendary "Cowboys of the Silver Screen" -- Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix and William S. Hart -- are among the luminaries who'll be honored on U.S. postage stamps in 2010. Release date: April 17. Also due on commemorative stamps next year: The legendary Katharine Hepburn (whose stamp portrait is a publicity still from Woman of the Year) and pioneer African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.

Back in the saddle again

From the L.A. Times: "If you think of Gene Autry as just that guy on a horse playing guitar and singing, an impressive new exhibition at the Autry National Center's Museum of the American West is determined to change your mind.

"Imposingly titled Gene Autry and the Twentieth-Century West: The Centennial Exhibition, 1907-2007, this show, which opens Friday in Griffith Park and runs through Jan. 13, reveals Autry as someone who accomplished so much in so many areas it practically makes your head spin. It's no wonder that close friend and co-star Smiley Burnette said, 'Whenever the wolf came to the door, Autry ended up with a fur coat.'"

But wait, there's more: The legacy of America's favorite singing cowboy survives and thrives on new and newly reissued CDs.