Hoot Gibson

Film historians believe that the nickname Hoot came while he worked for the Owl Drug Company. Hoot Gibson was another perennial cowboy favorite of Western movies, whose career lasted for many years throughout the silent and sound eras of motion pictures. 

Sometimes called “The Dean of Cowboy Stars,” he played a major part in modernizing horse operas by breaking away form the old standard set by Bronco Billy Anderson and William S. Hart. Along with Tom Mix and Buck Jones, Hoot completely transformed Westerns into a new streamlined version of the old West.

At the age of 13, he ran away from home to join a circus and wound up working as a cowpuncher in Wyoming and Colorado. In 1906, he took a job as a performer with the Miller 101 Ranch at Fort Bliss, Oklahoma until a year later when he stared a four-year tour with the Dick Stanley-Bud Atkinson Wild West Show. After traveling throughout American and Australia, ‘Hoot’ made his first motion picture appearance in 1911 as a player for Col. William Selig in Shotgun Jones. Having competed in rodeos ever since his youth, he found time to win the title of “Wold’s Champion Cowboy” in 1912, adding to the many trophies he already had in his collection.

For the next few years, Hoot played in many one-reel films, but failed to gather any attention until 1916. By that time, his wife Helen was on her way to fame as Helen Gibson, star of serials and Westerns. He married Rose August Wenger (Helen Gibson) in 1913. Almost simultaneously, Hoot hit the big time when Universal Studios starred him in a series of two-reel movies, which offered him a real chance at success. Suddenly, the U.S. entered World War I and in 1917, the cowboy left pictures to serve with the Tank Corps of the Army. He reached the rank of sergeant before the Army discharged him in 1919, and then resumed his career in silent movies.

Returning to the Universal lot, Hoot became friendly with Harry Carey, who was then one of the major starts of the studio. In 1921, Carey helped the young veteran land the lead in a picture called Action, which skyrocketed him to fame. Hoot Gibson went on to make dozens of features for Universal until they regarded him as one of the leading cowboy actors of the screen. By the mid-1920’s, he was producing his own films under Universal distributorship and earning as much as $14,500 per week.

When time came for “Hoot” to make talkies, his association with Universal had ended. He had suffered a bad years in 1929, when he lost a fortune in the stock market crash and witnessed the failure of his circus. In 1930, he started all over again by appearing in a list of independent features for companies like Allied, First Division and Diversion, while also starring in major Westerns for Warner Brothers. Along with Ken Maynard and Tim McCoy, he was the third important cowboy star to make pictures for both the major studios and the independent market. 

Although the studio turned out his films in quick succession, “Hoot” managed to keep some noticeable mount of production value in them. However, his chief interest was to make money and unfortunately, this affected the overall quality of his Westerns. Although he enjoyed his work, he lacked any emotional feeling for the real west and after being one of the top ten for many years, he took leave from picture making to tour with a circus from 1936 to 1938. The following year, he retired.

In 1941, Hoot staged a comeback when Monogram Pictures costarred him with Ken Maynard and Bob Steele in the Trail Blazers series. These features lasted until the latter part of 1943, at which time he returned to retirement. As a man of leisure, he spent his time managing his business affairs, which included the sub-division of his many real estate holdings in California. His last leading role was in a Western comedy called The Marshal’s Daughter in 1953. 

Six years later, he appeared in two minor parts in The Horse Soldiers and Oceans 11, before ill health forced him to undergo several serious operations. While being treated for cancer at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California he died at the age of 70.

His first marriage, which ended in 1920, had resulted in a daughter. His second wife was Helen Johnson that resulted in his daughter Lois. This marriage lasted until 1930. Gibson’s third wife was actress Sally Eilers and, after what seemed to be an ideal union, they were divorced in the late 1933. Finally, On July 3, 1942, the cowboy star wed a young rodeo performer named Dorothy Dunstan at Las Vegas, Nevada. This marriage lasted until Hoot’s death.