Hall of Fame of Western Film & TV Stars
Tom Mix

Variety, the film industry newspaper, proclaimed Tom Mix America’s greatest cowboy. He was truly a larger-than-life character. In the early 1900s, Mix performed as a rodeo cowhand for the Colonel Zach Mulhall Wild West Show. There, he worked with Will Rogers. In 1906, he joined the Miller Brothers "101 Ranch" Wild West Show. In 1910, Colonel William Selig hired the 30-year-old wrangler. Tom Mix performed in the semi-documentary movie Ranch Life in the Great Southwest. His fancy shooting and trick riding became a favorite to the early Western fans. Mix worked with Selig as a writer, director and actor.

He joined the Fox Film Corporation in 1917. Within four years at Fox, Tom Mix replaced William S. Hart as the "King of the Cowboys."

William S. Hart's movies featured realism and an over dramatic view of the American West. Of the Old West, the view of the view of Mix differs dramatically from Hart's. His characters never smoked, drank, and played fair. His character displayed a carefree attitude. The Americas loved Tom Mix's action packed movies. They loved his daredevil stunts, furious breakneck riding on his horse “Tony.”

In 1922, saw Tom Mix earned $17,000 a week. In today's market, he would be earning about $100,000 a week. Tom Mix lived the style of his earnings. He owned a Beverly Hills mansion and drove fancy cars.

Name Tom Mix's first movie horse? You said Tony. Try "Old Blue." After "Old Blue," Tom Mix rode three different Tony.

In 1928, the America movie industry saw the end of Silent Pictures. With it, Fox quit making Westerns. He made six movies for Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Office (FBO Pictures). The movies proved to be unsuccessful. The 1929 stock market crash caused Mix to lose his Beverly Hills mansion and his Arizona ranch. He joined the Sells-Floto Circus and becomes their star attraction.

In 1932, Tom Mix returned to the movie screen. His first talkie was Destry Rides Again. The movie adapted Max Brand's best seller. The movie also starred Zasu Pitts, Claudia Dell, Stanley Field, Francis Ford, and Edward Peil, Sr.

Movie historians considered Tom Mix's best sound movie to be the 1932 Rider of Death Valley. The movie became Tom Mix's most realistic movie.

Mix made six westerns for Universal. He left the studio to form the Tom Mix Wild West Show. However, in 1935, Mascot Pictures persuaded him to return for one more movie. He starred in a 15-part serial titled The Miracle Rider. It proved to be his most successful sound movie.

However, he returned to his Wild West Show. In October 1940, Tom Mix is in Tucson, Arizona for advance publicity of his show. He drove his Cord convertible north on US Route 89. On the top of his radiator, he displayed Texas Longhorn horns. Just south of Florence, Arizona, he came upon a work crew. To avoid hitting anyone, he swerved and careened into a wash. His convertible flipped on its top. Tom Mix died instantly. Today, the accident scene is remember with a monument to Tom Mix and his horse Tony.