Kenny Rogers

==Acting and other ventures==
Rogers also had success as an actor. His 1982 movie ''[[Six Pack (film)|Six Pack]]'', in which he played a race-car driver, took in more than $20 million at the United States box office, while made-for-TV movies such as ''[[The Gambler (film series)|The Gambler]]'' series, ''Christmas in America'', and ''Coward of the County'' (based on hit songs of his) topped ratings lists. He also served as host and narrator for the [[A&E (TV channel)|A&E]] historical series ''[[The Real West]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-review-real-west.htm |title=Wild West Review: The Real West |first=Steve |last=Mauro |work=Wild West Magazine |date=June 1, 2008 |access-date=April 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Huff |title=A&E saddles up western series |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/a-e-saddles-up-western-series-104266/ |publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=February 19, 1993 |access-date=February 19, 2014}}</ref>

Rogers said that photography was once his obsession, before it morphed into a passion. He authored the photo books ''Kenny Rogers' America'' (1986) and ''Your Friends and Mine'' (1987).<ref>{{cite news |first=Mario |last=Tarradell |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/mario-tarradell/20100716-kenny-rogers-is-enthusiastic-about-his-50th-anniversary-special.ece |title=Kenny Rogers is enthusiastic about his 50th anniversary special |newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=July 16, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:02514jfKenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Bulacanfvf 29.jpg|thumb|[[Kenny Rogers Roasters]]]]
As an entrepreneur, he collaborated with former [[KFC|Kentucky Fried Chicken]] CEO [[John Y. Brown Jr.]] in 1991 to start up the restaurant chain [[Kenny Rogers Roasters]]. The chicken and [[ribs]] chain, which is similar to [[Boston Market]], featured in an episode of the [[NBC]] sitcom ''[[Seinfeld]]'' called "[[The Chicken Roaster (Seinfeld episode)|The Chicken Roaster]]". Season four of the TV series ''[[Fresh Off the Boat]]'' depicts the chain as owning a share of Louis Huang's Cattleman's Ranch restaurant and then filing for bankruptcy. Rogers is shown from the back but played by Jeff Pomerantz in the episode "[[List of Fresh Off the Boat episodes#Season 4 (2017–18)|Let Me Go, Bro]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20180212abc03/|website=[[The Futon Critic]]|title=Let Me Go, Bro|location=United States|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=March 21, 2020}}</ref>

Rogers put his name to the Gambler Chassis Co., a [[sprint car racing]] manufacturer started by C. K. Spurlock in [[Hendersonville, Tennessee]]. The company used the name from Rogers's hit song ''The Gambler''. During the 1980s and 1990s, Gambler was one of the fastest and widely used Sprintcars, with such drivers as [[Steve Kinser]], [[Sammy Swindell]] and Doug Wolfgang driving the cars to victory in the [[World of Outlaws]] and the famous [[Knoxville Nationals]]. Gambler sprintcars were also successful in Australia, with drivers such as Garry Rush and Steve Brazier using Gamblers to win multiple [[Australian Sprintcar Championship]]s. Rush also used a Gambler chassis to win the unofficial 1987 World Sprintcar Championship at the [[Claremont Speedway]] in [[Perth, Western Australia]].

In October 2012, Rogers released the book ''Luck or Something Like it: A Memoir'' about his ups and downs in his musical career.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Joe|title=Book Review: Luck or Something Like It by Kenny Rogers|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Luck-or-Something-Like-It-by-Kenny-3897706.php|newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=September 26, 2012}}</ref>

In 2014, Rogers appeared as himself in a [[GEICO]] commercial, singing part of his song "[[The Gambler (song)|The Gambler]]" ''a cappella'' while acting as the dealer in a card game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXl8oHlA5LM  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/JXl8oHlA5LM| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|title=GEICO – Did you know playing cards with Kenny Rogers gets old pretty fast? (2014) |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>