Tom Mix Movie Indian Actors
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Glean A. Wildman Unknown 1700-1067-0004.jpg PO-1067 B&W 1700-1067-0004 1700-1067-0004 Print <2x3 Historic Photographs c. 1920s Reproduction requires permission. Digital images property of SHM Library & ArchivesDescription
Tom Mix (b. 1880 - d. 1940) was born Thomas Hezekiah Mix on January 6, 1880 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania. His parents were Edwin Elias Mix, born 1854 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Heistand, born in 1858 in Dubois, Pennsylvania.
Tom completed grade school and then quit. His father taught him to ride horses. Tom held various odd jobs before enlisting in the US Army at 18. This was his vehicle to the outside world. He achieved the rank of Sergeant and served within the continental United States. He ended his enlistment by desertion but this wasn't known until his death.
In the Oklahoma Territory, he held various jobs and was employed at the 101 Ranch which was a defining period in his life. Here he honed his western skills as horseman and an expert shot, winning prizes in Rodeo competitions.
When Selig Polyscope Corporation came to Oklahoma to make western movies, Mix was engaged to find cowboys, indians and locations for filming. He then signed on with Selig making 170 silent movies and eventually for William Fox's Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox). Several movies were filmed in the Prescott, Arizona area. He participated in the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo in 1913 and won awards. In 1922 he planned a visit to Fort Whipple in Prescott on National Hospital Day on May 12.
During this time, Mix rode many horses but his favorite was "Old Blue" who had to be put down with a fractured leg. He was replaced by "Tony" who became synonymous with Mix.
Tom's movie career wound down in the 1930s after silents were replaced by talkies.
In 1940 while headed to California to discuss a possible return to movies, Mix was killed when his car plunged into a ravine in Arizona.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his cowboy boot prints and palm prints are at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.
Handwriting on back of photograph reads: "Indians in movie made in Prescott where Tom Mix was the leading man. 1922 or '23. Picture by Glean A. Wildman.
Tom Mix died on October 12, 1940 in Florence, Arizona. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Sources: findagrave.com; Weekly Journal-Miner 7-9-1913, 4-19-1922.
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