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Tom Mix
Tom Mix, 1925
Birth name	Thomas Hezikiah Mix
Born	January 6, 1880(1880-01-06) Mix Run, Pennsylvania
Died	October 12, 1940 (aged 60) Florence, Arizona

Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but 9 of which were silent features. He was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is noted as having defined the genre for all cowboy actors who followed. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 414 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (430 × 622 pixels, file size: 39 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date May 21, 1925 Author National Photo Company Permission (Reusing this image) This collection of photos was gifted to the Library of Congress by Herbert A... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links US_flag_38_stars. ... Mix Run, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated village located in Gibson Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Florence is a town located in Pinal County, Arizona. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Broncho Billy Anderson, from The Great Train Robbery The Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. ... See also: 1909 in film 1910 1911 in film years in film film Events The newsreel footage of the funeral of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom is shot in Kinemacolor, making it the first color newsreel. ... See also: 1934 in film 1935 1936 in film 1930s in film years in film film Events Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). ... For other uses, see Cowboy (disambiguation). ...

Early years

Mix was born into a relatively poor logging family in Mix Run, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles (60 km) north of State College, Pennsylvania. He spent his childhood growing up in nearby Dubois, Pennsylvania learning to ride horses and working on the local ranch owned by John Dubois, a lumber businessman. He had dreams of being in the circus and was rumored to have been caught by his parents practicing knife throwing tricks against a wall using his sister as an assistant. In April 1898, during the Spanish-American War, he enlisted in the Army under the name Thomas E. (Edwin) Mix. His unit never went overseas, and Mix later failed to return for duty after an extended furlough when he married Grace I. Allin on July 18, 1902. Mix was listed as AWOL on November 4, 1902 but was never court martialed or apparently even discharged. His marriage to Allin was annulled after one year. In 1905 Mix married Kitty Jewel Perinne, but this marriage also ended within a year. In 1907 he married Olive Stokes. Mix Run, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated village located in Gibson Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... “State College” redirects here. ... Combatants United States Republic of Cuba Philippine Republic Spain Commanders Nelson A. Miles William R. Shafter George Dewey Máximo Gómez Emilio Aguinaldo Patricio Montojo Pascual Cervera Arsenio Linares Ramón Blanco Casualties 3,289 U.S. dead (432 from combat); considerably higher although undetermined Cuban and Filipino casualties... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... AWOL (pronounced a-wall) is an acronym for the United States and other armed forces expression Absent WithOut Leave or Absence Without Official Leave. The United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy use the term Unauthorized Absence (UA) instead. ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In 1908 Mix rode in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade with a group of 50 horsemen led by Seth Bullock which included several former Rough Riders. (Years later, Hollywood publicity handouts would muddle this event to mistakenly imply Mix had been a Rough Rider himself.) After working a variety of odd jobs in the Oklahoma Territory, Mix found employment at the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch, reportedly the largest ranching business in the United States and covering 101,000 acres (409 km²), hence its name. He stood out as a skilled horseman and expert shot, winning the 1909 national Riding and Rodeo Championship. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... Seth Bullock (July 23, 1849 – September 23, 1919) was a western sheriff, hardware store owner and U.S. Marshal. ... Roosevelt and the Rough Riders atop San Juan Heights, 1898 The Rough Riders was the name bestowed by the American press on the 1st U.S. ... Oklahoma Territory was an organized territory of the United States from May 2, 1890 until November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46th state. ... The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show wagons. ...

Film career

Mix appeared opposite Victoria Forde in many westerns. They were married in 1918.

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Selig Polyscope

Mix began his film career as a supporting cast member with the Selig Polyscope Company. His first shoot in 1910 at their studio in the Edendale district of Los Angeles (now known as Echo Park) was Ranch Life in the Great Southwest, in which he showed his skills as a cattle wrangler. The film was a success and Mix became an early motion picture star. Olive gave birth to their daughter Ruth on July 13, 1912. Mix performed in more than 100 films for Selig, many of which were filmed in Las Vegas, New Mexico. While with Selig he co-starred in several films with Victoria Forde and they fell in love. He divorced Olive Stokes in 1917. By then Selig Polyscope had encountered severe financial difficulties and Tom Mix along with Victoria Forde both subsequently signed with Fox Film Corporation, which had leased the Edendale studio. Mix and Forde married in 1918 and they had a daughter, Thomasina Mix (Tommie), in 1922. The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company founded in 1896 in Chicago, Illinois by William Selig. ... Edendale is a historical name for a district in Los Angeles, California, northwest of downtown, in what is known today as Echo Park and the eastern edge of Silver Lake. ... The lake in Echo Park. ... The Plaza Hotel, built in 1881, on the Plaza of West Las Vegas. ... Victoria Forde Victoria Forde (April 21, 1896 – July 24, 1964) was an American silent film actress. ... The Fox Film Corporation was an American company which produced motion pictures, formed in 1915 when founder William Fox merged two companies he had established in 1913: Greater New York Film Rental, a distribution firm, which was part of the Independents; and Fox (or Box, depending on the source) Office...

Mixville

Tom Mix in Mr. Logan, U.S.A., c. 1919

He went on to make more than 160 escapist matinee cowboy films throughout the 1920s. These featured action oriented scripts which contrasted with the documentary style of his work with Selig. Heroes and villains were sharply defined and a clean-cut cowboy always "saved the day." Millions of American children grew up watching his films on Saturday afternoons. Mix did his own stunts and was frequently injured. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 592 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,500 × 1,110 pixels, file size: 154 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date c. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 592 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,500 × 1,110 pixels, file size: 154 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date c. ... For other uses, see Hero (disambiguation). ... Bad guy redirects here. ...

Mix's salary at Fox reached $17,500 a week. His performances weren't noted for their realism but for screen-friendly action stunts and horseback riding, attention-grabbing cowboy costumes and showmanship. At the Edendale lot Mix built a 12 acre shooting set called Mixville. Loaded with western props and furnishings, it has been described as a "complete frontier town, with a dusty street, hitching rails, a saloon, jail, bank, doctor's office, surveyor's office, and the simple frame houses typical of the early Western era." Near the back of the lot an Indian village of lodges was ringed by miniature plaster mountains which on screen were said to be "ferociously convincing." The set also included a simulated desert, large corral and a ranch house with no roof, to facilitate interior shots.

During 1929, Mix's last year in silent pictures, he worked for Film Booking Office, a small movie production and project packaging company run by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Mix was 49 and by most accounts he was ready to retire from the movies. That same year, Mix was a pallbearer at the funeral of Wyatt Earp (during which he reportedly wept). Joseph Joe Patrick Kennedy, Sr. ... Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848–January 13, 1929) was an American farmer, teamster, sometime buffalo hunter, officer of the law in various Western frontier towns, gambler, saloon-keeper, and miner. ...

1930s

Mix appeared with the Sells-Floto circus in 1929, 1930 and 1931 at a reported weekly salary of $20,000. He and Forde were divorced in 1931. Meanwhile the Great Depression (along with the actor's free spending ways and many wives) had reportedly wiped out most of his savings. In 1932 he married his fifth wife, Mabel Hubbard Ward. Universal Pictures approached him that year with an offer to do talkies which included script and cast approval. He did 9 pictures for Universal, but because of injuries he received while filming he was reluctant to continue with any more. Mix then appeared with the Sam B. Dill circus, which he reportedly bought two years later (1935). In 1933 Ralston-Purina obtained his permission to produce a Tom Mix radio series,Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters, which, except for one year during World War II, was popular throughout most of the 1930s and into the early 1950s. (Mix never appeared on these broadcasts and was instead played by voice actors.) His last screen appearance was a 15 episode serial for Mascot Pictures called The Miracle Rider (1935), for which he was paid $40,000 for four weeks of filming. Also that year, Texas governor Homer Allred named Mix an honorary Texas Ranger. Mix went back to circus performing, this time with his eldest daughter Ruth who had appeared in some of his films. In 1938 Mix went to Europe on a promotional trip, while his daughter Ruth stayed behind to manage his circus, which soon failed. He later excluded her from his will. He had reportedly made over $6,000,000 (approaching $400 million in early 21st century, inflation adjusted values) during his 26 year career in the movies. For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... A sound film (or talkie) is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed to a silent movie. ... Ralston Purina was a major American corporation best known for its production and marketing of animal feeds. ... The Mascot Pictures Corporation was a film company of the 1920s and 1930s best known for producing a series of film serials and B-westerns. ... The Miracle Rider is a 1935 Mascot Pictures|Mascot movie serial directed by B. Reeves Eason, and Armand Schaefer. ... Texas Rangers, a body of law enforcement in the state of Texas which is the oldest law enforcement body in North America with statewide jurisdiction and serves as a State Bureau of Investigation. ...

Death

On the afternoon of October 12, 1940 Mix was driving his 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton near Florence, Arizona (between Tucson and Phoenix) on a two-lane road when he came upon construction barriers at a bridge previously washed away by a flash flood. A workcrew watched as he was unable to brake in time and his car slid into a gully. A large, polished aluminium suitcase he had put on the seat behind him flew forward and struck Mix in the back of the head, shattering his skull and breaking his neck. The 60 year old actor was killed almost instantly. Accounts vary as to whether Mix was speeding before the accident, along with the role alcohol consumption may have played. is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A 1929 Cord L-29 Phaeton on display at the 2005 United States Grand Prix Cord L-29. ... A Phaeton is a car body style in which the passengers sit in one to three rows of open seats. ... Florence is a town located in Pinal County, Arizona. ... Tucson (pronounced ) is the seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, located 118 miles (188 km) southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles (98 km) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. ... Nickname: Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: , Country State County Maricopa Incorporated February 25, 1881 Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Phil Gordon (D) Area  - City  515. ... Aluminum redirects here. ...

The site of his death is located on what is now Arizona State Route 79. There is an historical marker and the gully is named Tom Mix Wash. Mix is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname: Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ...

Legacy

Tom Mix was "the King of Cowboys" when Ronald Reagan and John Wayne were youngsters and the influence of his screen persona can be seen in their approach to portraying cowboys. When an injury caused football player John Wayne to drop out of USC, Tom Mix helped him get a job moving props in the back lot of Fox Studios. Reagan redirects here. ... For other persons named John Wayne, see John Wayne (disambiguation). ...

By most accounts Tom Mix made 336 movies throughout his career. In 2007 only about 10% of these were reportedly available for viewing, although it was unclear how many Mix films had been irretrievably lost.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Tom Mix has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street. His cowboy boot prints, palm prints and his famous horse Tony's hoof prints are at Grauman's Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1958 he was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There is a Tom Mix museum in Dewey, Oklahoma and another in Mix Run, Pennsylvania. Between 1980 and 2004, 21 Tom Mix festivals were held during the month of September, most of them in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Buskers perform on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Hall of Great Western Performers is a Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. ... Bronze Wrangler The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum and art gallery, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, housing one of the largest collections of: Western, American cowboy, American rodeo, and American Indian; art, artifacts, and archival materials, in the world. ... OKC redirects here. ... Dewey is a city located in Washington County, Oklahoma, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 3,179. ... Mix Run, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated village located in Gibson Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... DuBois (pronounced doo-BOYS , not doo-boa ) is a city in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 128 miles (206 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. ...

Cultural references

By the 21st century, most people were more familiar with Tom Mix's name through cultural references which have echoed long after his death, rather than from having seen his films.

• Cereal boxtop premiums (radio premiums) from the 1940s relating to Mix are still traded by collectors.
• Mix is referred to in Conny Froboess' 1951 song "Pack' die Badehose ein".
• He is featured with many other 20th century celebrities on the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• Bruce Willis played Tom Mix in the Blake Edwards film Sunset with James Garner as Wyatt Earp.
• Jed Clampett's initial reason for wanting to go to Beverly Hills is to live in the same place as Tom Mix in The Beverly Hillbillies
• Daryl Ponicsan's novel Tom Mix Died for Your Sins (1975) evokes Mix's life and personality.
• Clifford Irving offers a pseudo-autobiographical version of Mix's early adulthood, positing him as a brash young gringo who befriends and then joins up with the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in the novel Tom Mix and Pancho Villa (1982).
• James Horwitz's book They Went Thataway (1975) ends with Horwitz visiting Tom Mix Wash (where Mix died) and leaving his childhood cowboy boots at the foot of the monument.
• A resurrected Tom Mix appeared in two of Philip José Farmer's Riverworld novels, The Dark Design (1977) and The Magic Labyrinth (1980), along with a short story featured in the anthology Riverworld and Other Stories (1979).
• In an episode of M*A*S*H a Tom Mix pocket knife is used to perform an emergency tracheotomy.
• Philip K.Dick's sci-fi novel The Penultimate Truth mentions Mix's name.
• In Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop (1993) Tom Mix is one of the high profile figures in Gotham society and takes up Houdini's offer of a free punch to the stomach.
• The menacing cowboy character in David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive contains oblique references to Mix.
• In 2004 the ghost of Tom Mix haunts a Hollywood couple in the supernatural thriller The Ghosts of Edendale.
• Ralston-Purina briely revived its Tom Mix boxtop fan club during the 1980s
• In 2007 Ralston Foods had Tom Mix pages on the company's website.
• In the Doctor Who episode The Gunfighters, The TARDIS lands in Tombstone, Arizona right before the Battle at the OK Corral, Steven and Dodo dress in cowboy costumes to in an attempt to blend in, the Doctor complains that he doesn't understand why they want to dress like Tom Mix.

During the time radio programs were the dominant medium in the United States, some programs advertised souvenirs of the various shows. ... Cornelia Froboess in the 1961 movie Mein Mann, das Wirtschaftswunder Cornelia Froboess (born October 28, 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 60s. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sgt. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany) is an American actor and singer. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about Sunset, a 1988 action film starring Bruce Willis. ... For other uses, see James Garner (disambiguation). ... Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848–January 13, 1929) was an American farmer, teamster, sometime buffalo hunter, officer of the law in various Western frontier towns, gambler, saloon-keeper, and miner. ... Main cast of The Beverly Hillbillies: clockwise from upper left: Donna Douglas (Elly May), Stretch (Duke), Irene Ryan (Granny), Max Baer, Jr. ... For other uses, see: Beverly Hills (disambiguation). ... For the 1993 film, see The Beverly Hillbillies (film) The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television program about a hillbilly family transplanted in Southern California. ... Daryl Ponicsan is a writer, best known as the author of the 1971 novel The Last Detail, which was adapted into a 1973 movie starring Jack Nicholson; and for the 1973 novel and screenplay Cinderella Liberty, starring James Caan. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the politician, see Clifford Irving (politician). ... For the Filipino boxer, see Francisco Guilledo. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... James Horwitz is a non-fiction writer, known for his book They Went Thataway. ... Philip José Farmer (born January 26, 1918) is an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. ... Riverworld is a fictional universe and the setting for a series of science fiction books written by Philip José Farmer. ... The Dark Design (1977) is a science fiction novel, the third in the series of Riverworld books by Philip José Farmer. ... The Magic Labyrinth (1980) is a science fiction novel, the fourth in the series of Riverworld books by Philip José Farmer. ... M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, inspired by the 1968 novel M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker (penname for H. Richard Hornberger) and its sequels, but primarily by the 1970 film MASH, and influenced by the... 1993 1992 in comics 1994 in comics Notable events of 1993 in comics. ... For other persons named David Lynch, see David Lynch (disambiguation). ... For the street in Los Angeles, see Mulholland Drive. ... The Ghosts of Edendale (2004) is a supernatural thriller written and directed by Stefan Avalos. ... This article is about the television series. ... The Gunfighters is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from April 30 to May 21, 1966. ...

Further reading

Jeanine Basinger (1999), chapter on Tom Mix and William S. Hart in Silent Stars, (ISBN 0-8195-6451-6). Wiliam Surrey Hart Movie poster for Harts 1916 western The Aryan in which he played a white (Anglo-Saxon) member of a Mexican gang, having turned against his own people. ...

• Ben Ohmart, It's That Time Again(2002) (Albany: BearManor Media) ISBN 0-9714570-2-6.

• The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era by David W. Menefee. Albany: Bear Manor Media, 2007.

• The Fabulous Tom Mix. By Olive Stokes Mix with Eric Heath. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1957.

• The Life and Legend of Tom Mix. By Paul E. Mix. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1972.

External links

• Tom Mix at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Mix at the TCM Movie Database
• Biographical pages with many illustrations, including Mix's Cord automobile
• Ralston Foods' Tom Mix pages