Before Clint Eastwood And John Wayne, One Actor Dominated Westerns For Years

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Before Clint Eastwood And John Wayne, One Actor Dominated Westerns For Years

Tom Stone, on the back of Tony the Wonder Horse, riding next to Frank in a scene from the 1926 film No Man's Gold.

Fox Film Corportation

Actor Tom Mix made his feature film debut, as far as film scholars have been able to determine, in the 1909 Western “The Cowboy Millionaire” (directed by Francis Boggs and Otis Turner). The name of Mix’s character is not known. “The Cowboy Millionaire” is a rarity in Mix’s filmography in that it survives to this day. Most of Mix’s films, sadly, are lost media; no prints survive. He was one of the most prolific American actors of his generation, appearing in multiple one-reel Westerns every year from 1909 to 1929. In 1916 alone, he appeared in 37 movies, which is three films per month and one extra besides. 1914 was also a banner year for Mix, as he appeared in a mere 15 movies yet directed 14 of them. Overall, Mix appeared in about 150 films in his career, usually playing the same type of paternal, friendly, heroic cowboy character in each one. Of those films, however, only about 35 survive.

Mix, in other words, was the king of Westerns decades before John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and years before Gene Autry or Roy Rogers (whose catchphrase would gain a new lease on life thanks to “Die Hard”). Indeed, his ubiquity as a Western star in the early decades of cinema helped cement the genre while also establishing the image of the archetypal American cowboy. In time, the visual of the actor in his outsize white cowboy hat became synonymous with Westerns. Even after his death in 1940, authors of pulp novels and Western comic books continued to use Mix’s name and likeness to sell their wares. Deep cut comic book collectors might very well have a rare issue of “Tom Mix Westerns.”

His legacy continued for years after that. Case in point: In Blake Edwards’ 1988 film “Sunset,” which was set in Hollywood in the 1920s, Bruce Willis played Mix opposite James Garner’s Wyatt Earp. That movie was mostly a fantasy, but it did get one thing right: Mix was one of the many silent-era actors who had trouble transitioning from silent filmmaking to sound. In fact, Mix’s mainstream career more or less came to an abrupt halt in 1928 when Fox decided not to renew his contract and transition to talkies.

Tom Mix was one of the Western kings of the silent era

Tom, in his full cowboy duds, comforting a young boy in the 1926 film No Man's Gold.

Fox Film Corportation

Mix began his performing career as a traveling cowboy performer. Born in Pennsylvania, he had been a soldier during the Spanish-American War. He eventually moved to a ranch in Oklahoma, where he worked as a bartender. Mix also served, very briefly, as the town Marshal, giving him hands-on cowboy experience. At the time, a lot of ranchers made money on the side performing in wild-west shows that featured lassoing, singing, shooting stunts, and other cowboy activities. Mix joined his ranch’s troupe and became known for his roping and shooting skills, and he even began to win roping championships. This was easily parlayed into a film career.

In addition to the 1909 Western short “The Cowboy Millionaire,” Mix was also featured in a hit documentary called “Ranch Life in the Great Southwest.” There, he was finally filmed exhibiting his cattle wrangling skills. The two films were popular enough to stoke a thirst in mainstream audiences, and Mix became a movie star in swift order. From 1909 to 1917, Mix and a production company called Selig Polyscope churned out 173 Western films (!). Their production only faltered because of financial strains brought on by World War I (international markets closed). Mix, however, kind of saw the writing on the wall and had already signed a contract with Fox in 1916, which paid off handsomely for him. He remained prolific after that, making 85 films for the studio from 1917 to 1928. The Fox films were longer features, however, and not just one-or-two-reel cheapies, hence the reduced number of titles.

As mentioned, though, Mix had trouble adjusting to the sudden influx of sound in the late 1920s, so his output slowed. He eventually worked for a studio called FBO as well as Universal, making only 15 movies from 1928 to 1933. Mix moved back to live performances for the rest of his career, only deigning to appear in a 1935 serial to fund his stage productions.

Five years after that, Mix died when he crashed his car while traveling through Arizona. He’s buried at Forest Lawn.