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Carlos Alan Autry (born July 31, 1952) is an actor, politician, and former 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 as 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 1977, 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. His first term is from January, 2001 to January, 2005. He was re-elected on March 2, 2004 with over 72 percent of the vote. 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 also directed the film.
Credited as Carlos Brown
Credited as Alan Autry