Tom Mix

Thomas E. Mix (January 6, 1880 – October 11, 1940) was an American film actor, the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but 9 of them silent features. In the process he became Hollywood?s first larger-than-life Western megastar, and defined the genre for all actors that followed.

Film career

Mix was picked out to be a supporting cast member with the Selig Polyscope Company, one of the first silent film makers. His first shoot (1910) was "Ranch Life in the Great Southwest" and he showed off his signature style as a cattle wrangler. The film was a success and Tom Mix became a star. While with Selig, he co-starred with Victoria Forde with whom he became romantically involved. He divorced Olive Stokes-Mix in 1917 to marry Forde in 1918. They had a daughter, Thomasina Mix, but divorced in 1931. He performed in more than 100 films with Selig, many of which were filmed in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Throughout the silent film era, Mix helped redefine what the western film genre could be through an emphasis on action in puruit of the bad guys. Mix's career in the movies lasted 26 years and made him $6,000,000.

Related Topics:
Selig Polyscope Company - Silent film - Victoria Forde - Las Vegas, New Mexico - Bad guys

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Selig folded in 1917, and Tom Mix and his wife Victoria both signed with Fox Film Corporation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He went on to make more than 160 films throughout the 1920s, each growing in plot and complexity as the matinee film became a Saturday staple for escapist American youth. These were ?packaged? dramatic films, no longer attempting the documentary style of the Selig days, with clear-cut heroes and villains and a clean-cut cowboy always saving the day. (Ronald Reagan and John Wayne both watched Tom Mix films when they were boys.)

Related Topics:
Ronald Reagan - John Wayne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tom Mix did his own stunts in almost all of his pictures, and was frequently injured.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~