Tom Mix: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:39, 2 June 2007

Latest revision as of 20:20, 10 August 2025

(818 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|American film actor (1880–1940)}}

{{Unreferenced|date=May 2007}}

{{More citations needed|date=July 2022}}

{{Infobox actor

{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}

| bgcolour = silver

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

| name = Tom Mix

{{Infobox person

| image = Tom Mix.jpg

|name imagesize = Tom Mix

|image caption = PosterTom forMix theby ''Riding Avenger''Witzel.jpg

|image_size =

| birthname = Thomas Hezikiah Mix

|caption birthdate = [[JanuaryMix 6]]in [[1880]]1925

|birth_name = Thomas Hezikiah Mix<ref name="ok" />

| ___location = [[Image:US flag 38 stars.svg|22px]] [[Mix Run, Pennsylvania|Mix Run]], [[Pennsylvania]]

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|1|6|mf=y}}

| deathdate = [[October 12]] [[1940]], age 60

| deathplace birth_place = [[FlorenceMix Run, Arizona|FlorencePennsylvania]], [[Arizona]]U.S.

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|10|12|1880|1|6|mf=y}}

| othername =

|death_place = [[Florence, Arizona]], U.S.

| yearsactive =

|other_names = Thomas Edwin Mix

| spouse =

|years_active = 1909–1935

| homepage =

|occupation = Actor

| notable role =

|spouse = {{Plainlist|

| academyawards =

* {{marriage|Grace I. Allin|1902|1903|end=annulled}}

| emmyawards =

* {{marriage|Kitty Jewel Perinne|1905|1906|end=div}}

| tonyawards =

* {{marriage|[[Olive Stokes Mix|Olive Stokes]]|1909|1917|end=div}}

* {{marriage|[[Victoria Forde]]|1918|1932|end=div}}

* {{marriage|Mabel Hubbell Ward<br>|1932}}

}}

|children = 2; including [[Ruth Mix|Ruth]]

'''Thomas Edwin Mix''' (born '''Thomas Hezikiah Mix''') ([[January 6]] [[1880]] &ndash; [[October 12]] [[1940]]) was an [[United States|American]] film [[actor]] and the star of many early [[Western movie]]s. He made a reported 336 films between [[1910 in film|1910]] and [[1935 in film|1935]], all but 9 of which were silent features. He was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is noted as having defined the genre for all [[cowboy]] [[Notable figures in Western films|actors]] who followed.

|website =

}}

'''Thomas Edwin Mix''' (born '''Thomas Hezikiah Mix''';<ref name="ok">{{cite web |title=Tom Mix Museum |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |url=http://www.okhistory.org/outreach/affiliates/tommix.html |access-date=June 2, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119170524/http://www.okhistory.org/outreach/affiliates/tommix.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 }}</ref> January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early [[Western (genre)|Western]] films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were [[silent film]]s. He was one of Hollywood's first Western stars and helped define the genre as it emerged in the early days of the cinema.<ref name="ok" />

== Early years ==

Thomas Hezikiah Mix was born January 6, 1880, in [[Mix Run, Pennsylvania]], approximately {{convert|62|mi|km}} north of [[State College, Pennsylvania|State College]], to Edwin Elias Mix and Elizabeth Heistand. He grew up in nearby [[DuBois, Pennsylvania|DuBois]], where his father, a stable master for a wealthy lumber merchant, taught him to ride and love horses.<ref name="encyclopedia-ok">{{cite web |title=Thomas Edwin Mix (1880–1940) |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/M/MI051.html |access-date=June 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023062934/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/M/MI051.html |archive-date=October 23, 2012 }}</ref> He spent time working on a local farm owned by John DuBois, a lumber businessman.

Mix was born into a relatively poor logging family in [[Mix Run, Pennsylvania|Mix Run]], [[Pennsylvania]], about 40 miles (60 km) north of [[State College, Pennsylvania]]. In April 1898 , during the [[Spanish-American War]], he enlisted in the [[United States Army|Army]] under the name Thomas E. (Edwin) Mix and served in an artillery unit that never left the states. He was not part of [[Teddy Roosevelt]]'s [[Rough Riders]] as some Hollywood publicity handouts later would claim.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} He re-enlisted in 1901 but failed to return for duty after an extended furlough when he married Grace I. Allin on July 18, [[1902]]. Mix was listed as [[AWOL]] on [[November 4]], [[1902]] but was never [[court martial]]ed or (apparently) properly discharged and his marriage to Allin was annulled a year later. In 1905 Tom Mix married Kitty Jewel Perinne but this marriage also ended within a year and in 1907 he married Olive Stokes.

In April 1898, during the [[Spanish–American War]], Mix enlisted in the [[United States Army|Army]] under the name Thomas E. (Edwin) Mix. His unit never went overseas, and Mix later failed to return for duty after an extended furlough when he married Grace I. Allin on July 18, 1902. Mix was listed as [[AWOL]] on November 4, 1902, but was never [[court-martial]]ed. His marriage to Allin was annulled after one year. In 1905, Mix married Kitty Jewel Perinne, and this marriage also ended within a year. He next married Olive Stokes on January 10, 1909, in [[Medora, North Dakota]]. On July 13, 1912, Olive gave birth to their daughter [[Ruth Mix|Ruth]].

After working a variety of odd jobs in the [[Oklahoma Territory]], Mix found employment at the 101 Ranch, reportedly the largest ranching business in the United States at that time and covering 101,000 acres (409 km²), hence the name. He stood out as a skilled horseman and expert shot, winning the 1909 national Riding and Rodeo Championship.

In 1905, Mix rode in President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s inaugural parade with a group of 50 horsemen led by [[Seth Bullock]], which included several former [[Rough Riders]]. Years later, Hollywood publicists muddled this event to imply that Mix had been a Rough Rider himself.

Mix went to Oklahoma and lived in [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]], working as a bartender and other odd jobs. He was briefly night marshal<ref name="abouttom">{{cite web|url=https://www.tommixmuseum.com/about-tom|website=Tom Mix Museum|title=About Tom}}</ref> of [[Dewey, Oklahoma|Dewey]], in 1911. He worked at the [[Miller Brothers 101 Ranch]], one of the largest ranching businesses in the United States, covering {{convert|101000|acre|ha}}, hence its name. The ranch had its own touring Wild West show in which Mix appeared. He stood out as a skilled horseman and expert shot, winning national riding and roping contests at [[Prescott, Arizona]], in 1909, and [[Cañon City|Canon City, Colorado]], in 1910.<ref name="funeral" />

Mix was a Freemason.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-07 |title=Famous Freemason {{!}} Tom Mix {{!}} Freemason Information |url=https://freemasoninformation.com/sojourners/famous-freemason-tom-mix/ |access-date=2023-03-14 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom Mix |url=https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/mix_t/mix_t.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=freemasonry.bcy.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Star |first=Jerry Wilkerson Special to the Arizona Daily |title=Famed cowboy actor took his final drive near Tucson |url=https://tucson.com/news/retrotucson/famed-cowboy-actor-took-his-final-drive-near-tucson/article_ad871200-b245-11ec-835b-c76791d02755.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=Arizona Daily Star |date=May 29, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

== Film career ==

[[Image:VictoriaForde.jpg|thumb|right|Mix appeared opposite Victoria Forde in many westerns. They were married in 1918.]]

===Selig Polyscope===

Mix began his film career as a supporting cast member with the [[Selig Polyscope Company]]. His first shoot in 1910 at their studio in the [[Edendale, Los Angeles, California|Edendale]] district of Los Angeles (now known as [[Echo Park, Los Angeles, California|Echo Park]]) was ''Ranch Life in the Great Southwest'', in which he showed his skills as a cattle wrangler. The film was a success and Mix became an early motion picture star. Stokes gave birth to their daughter Ruth on July 13, 1912. Mix performed in more than 100 films for Selig, many of which were filmed in [[Las Vegas, New Mexico]]. While with Selig he co-starred in several films with [[Victoria Forde]] and they fell in love. He divorced Olive Stokes-Mix in 1917. By then Selig Polyscope had encountered severe financial difficulties and Tom Mix along with Victoria Forde both subsequently signed with [[Fox Film Corporation]], which had leased the Edendale studio. Mix and Forde married in 1918 and they had their daughter Thomasina Mix (Tommie) in 1922.

===Mixville Selig Polyscope ===

[[File:Tommixgunslinger.jpg|Mix in ''Mr. Logan, U.S.A.'', 1919|thumb|right]]

He went on to make more than 160 escapist matinee cowboy films throughout the 1920s. These featured action oriented scripts which contrasted with the documentary style of his work with Selig. [[Hero]]es and [[villain]]s were sharply defined and a clean-cut cowboy always "saved the day." Millions of American children grew up watching his films on Saturday afternoons. Mix did his own stunts and was frequently injured.

Mix began his film career as a supporting cast member with the [[Selig Polyscope Company]]. His first appearance was in a short film, ''[[The Cowboy Millionaire (1909 film)|The Cowboy Millionaire]]'', released on October 21, 1909. In 1910, he appeared as himself in a short documentary film, ''Ranch Life in the Great Southwest'', in which he displayed his skills as a cattle wrangler. Shot in Dewey, Oklahoma with Selig studio cameramen,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/40032?cxt=filmography | title=AFI&#124;Catalog }}</ref> the film was a success, and Mix became an early motion picture star.

Mix performed in more than 100 films for Selig, many of which were filmed in [[Las Vegas, New Mexico]]. While with Selig he co-starred in several films with [[Victoria Forde]], and they fell in love. He divorced Olive Stokes in 1917. By then, Selig Polyscope had encountered severe financial difficulties, and Mix and Forde both subsequently signed with [[Fox Film Corporation]], which had leased the Edendale studio. They married in 1918 and had a daughter, Thomasina (Tommie) Mix, in February 1922.<ref name="abouttom" /> As a result of Mix's schedule of making six to ten movies per year, and his refusal to let her visit him while he was working, they lived apart during much of their marriage.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> However, she would often promote his films.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore />

[[File:Tom Mix and Eva Novak in Sky High - selection - 1922.webm|thumb|thumbtime=27|right|Tom Mix acting with [[Eva Novak]] in the 1922 film [[Sky High (1922 film)|Sky High]]]]

===Transfer to Fox and Mixville ===

[[File:Tom Mix 1925.jpg|Mix in 1925|thumb|right]]

Soon after his departure from Selig in 1917, Mix opted to work for the Fox Film Corporation.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore>{{cite web|url=https://www.tommixmuseum.com/about-tom|title=Tom Mix|publisher=Tom Mix Museum|accessdate=February 2, 2025}}</ref> Fox head [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]], who liked that Mix did his own stunts, would quickly sign him.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> Initially paid $350 a week by Fox, Mix's transition to the studio soon proved successful, with the studio's solid financial footing playing to a much wider audience than his Selig movies could get.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> According the [[Dewey, Oklahoma]]-based ''Tom Mix Museum'', "The wider exposure afforded by Fox undoubtedly contributed to Tom's move from a simply prolific actor to genuine world famous movie star."<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore />

Mix made more than 160 cowboy films throughout the 1920s. These featured action-oriented scripts contrasted with the documentary style of his work with Selig. [[Hero]]es and [[villain]]s were sharply defined and a clean-cut cowboy always saved the day. Millions of American children grew up watching his films on Saturday afternoons. His horse, "[[Wonder horses#Tony|Tony the Wonder Horse]]", also became a celebrity. Mix did his own stunts and was frequently injured.

In 1913, Mix moved his family to a ranch he purchased in Prescott named Bar Circle A Ranch. Some of his movies were filmed in his Prescott home. During this time, Mix had success in the local Prescott Frontier Days rodeo, which claims to be the "world's oldest rodeo".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldsoldestrodeo.com/about-us/our-history|title=Our History|website=World's Oldest Rodeo}}</ref> In 1920, he took first prize in a bull-riding contest. The Bar Circle A Ranch has been developed into a planned community called Yavapai Hills, where there is a street named Bar Circle A Road.

Mix's salary at Fox reached $7,500 a week. Gossip columnist [[Louella Parsons]] wrote that he had his initials in electric lights on the top of his house.<ref name="The Gay Illiterate">{{cite book|last1=Parsons|first1=Louella|title=The Gay Illiterate|year=1944|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.60193/page/n17}}</ref> Eventually, his salary at Fox would reach $17,500 a week.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> His performances were realistic with action stunts, horseback riding, attention-grabbing cowboy costumes, and showmanship. At the Edendale lot, Mix built a {{convert|12|acre|ha|adj=on}} shooting set called Mixville. Loaded with western props and furnishings, it has been described as a "complete frontier town, with a dusty street, hitching rails, a saloon, jail, bank, doctor's office, surveyor's office, and the simple frame houses typical of the early Western era".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/california/echopark/mixville-shopping-centers-movie-ranch-history|title=Mixville shopping center's movie ranch history|date=May 21, 2013|website=Echo Park-Silver Lake, CA Patch}}</ref> Near the back of the lot an Indian village of lodges was ringed by miniature plaster mountains. The set also included a simulated desert, a large corral, and (to facilitate interior shots) a ranch house with no roof.

Despite his successful film career, Mix opted to return to performing for the [[Miller Brothers 101 Ranch|101 Wild West Show]] by the mid-1920 when he wasn't making films for Fox.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> By 1927, low budget imitations of Mix's film spread, which led to Fox further losing interest in keeping him.<ref>{{harvnb|Birchard|1993|p=132}}</ref> In addition, Fox grew weary of using high budgets for Mix's films and paying him high salaries and wanted to instead focus more on transitioning to [[sound film]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Birchard|1993|p=216}}</ref> Mix would part ways with Fox in 1928.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> Following his departure from Fox, Mix did a vaudeville tour with the [[Keith-Albee-Orpheum]] circuit.<ref name=1928fbosigning>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/07/08/archives/cinema-citations.html|title=CINEMA CITATIONS|work=New York Times|date=July 8, 1928|accessdate=February 3, 2025}}</ref> Mix threatened to move to [[Argentina]] to make films or to join the circus,<ref name="The Kennedys in Hollywood" /> but agreed to return to Hollywood in July 1928 and signed with [[Film Booking Offices of America|FBO]].<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /><ref name="The Kennedys in Hollywood" /><ref name=1928fbosigning /> However, he only made five films with FBO<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> and soon left after salary disputes with FBO studio head [[Joseph P. Kennedy]]. He called Kennedy, who had also acquired a controlling stake in Keith-Albee-Orpheum shortly before Mix joined FBO,<ref name=1928fbosigning /> a "tight-assed, money-crazy son of a bitch";<ref name="The Kennedys in Hollywood">{{cite book|last=Quirk|first=Lawrence J.|title=The Kennedys in Hollywood|year=1996|publisher=Taylor Publications|isbn=978-0-87833-934-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/kennedysinhollyw00quir/page/303 303]|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedysinhollyw00quir/page/303}}</ref> Kennedy would only pay Mix just over half of what he made at while at Fox.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore />

[[File:Wyatt Earp pocket watch back.jpg|thumb|Obverse of pocket watch given to Wyatt Earp by Tom Mix]]

Mix became friends with [[Wyatt Earp]], who lived in Los Angeles and occasionally visited Hollywood western movie sets.<ref name="TruWes">{{cite web|url=https://truewestmagazine.com/wyatt-on-the-set-movie/|title=Wyatt On the Set!|date=May 7, 2012|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131200705/https://truewestmagazine.com/wyatt-on-the-set-movie/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a pallbearer at Earp's funeral in January 1929.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Peterson | first = Roger S. | title = Wyatt Earp | journal = American History | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | date = July–August 1994 | issn = 1076-8866}}</ref> The newspapers reported that Mix cried during his friend's service.<ref name="reidhead">{{cite web |url=http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-wyatt-earp-frontier-marshal |title=Book Review: Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal |last=Reidhead |first=S. J. |date=October 4, 2006 |access-date=January 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928184229/http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-wyatt-earp-frontier-marshal |archive-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref>

By 1929, Mix was past his prime and undergoing marital difficulties. His fourth wife Victoria was already spending his money heavily, taking their daughter Thomasina for an extended European vacation. Victoria kept spending money as though Tom were bringing it in as fast as ever, which was not the case.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> Shortly after signing with the Sells Floto Circus, Mix was charged with tax evasion for the year 1925–1927. Despite the fact that there was never any evidence to indicate that Mix was the instigator, or even aware, of the faulty filings, Mix nevertheless signed the forms, which had been prepared by his accountant, and eventually paid a hefty fine.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> This incident would tarnish his good guy image.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> By the end of 1929, Mix, whose big salaries as an entertainer also led to him being one of the biggest spenders in the entertainment industry,<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /> would lose not only the great majority of his fortune, but also his Arizona ranch and his Hollywood mansion in the aftermath of the [[1929 stock market crash]].<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /><ref name=lostfortuneandhorse />

=== 1930s ===

Mix appeared with the [[Sells-Floto Circus]] in 1929,<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Tom Mix Went Back to the Circus |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/764428096/ |access-date=16 March 2024 |work=Evansville Press |date=18 August 1929}}</ref> 1930, and 1931 at a reported weekly salary of $20,000 ({{Inflation|US|20000|1929|r=-3|fmt=eq}}). Meanwhile, the [[Great Depression]] (along with the actor's continuous free-spending ways and [[alimony]] payments to his many wives) reportedly wiped out most of his savings.

Mix and Forde divorced in 1931, and in 1932, he married his fifth wife, Mabel Hubbell Ward.

[[Carl Laemmle]] of [[Universal Pictures]] approached him in 1932 with an offer to perform in a series of sound features, with the contract including script and cast approval. He acted in nine films for Universal, but he called a halt to the series because of injuries he received while filming. Mix also made guest appearances in [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]'s ''[[Hollywood on Parade]]'' short subjects in 1932 and 1933; the all-star series was a charity venture to benefit the Motion Picture Relief Fund.<ref>''Hollywood Reporter'', "New Shorts Series to Aid M. P. Relief", Feb. 23, 1932, p. 3.</ref>

Around 1933, Mix appeared with the Sam B. Dill circus, which he reportedly bought two years later (in 1935).

Mix's last screen appearance was a 15-episode sound [[Mascot Pictures]] serial, ''[[The Miracle Rider]]'' (1935), in which he played a [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]]. For the four weeks of filming he received $40,000 (which he needed to support his new circus venture) and the film earned more than one million dollars -- exceptionally successful for a serial. Outdoor action sequences for the production were filmed primarily on the [[Iverson Movie Ranch]] in Chatsworth, California, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The site was known for its huge sandstone boulders, and one of them later became known as "Tom Mix Rock" when it was discovered it had been used in ''The Miracle Rider''. In one episode, Mix was filmed descending from the top of the rock, with boot holes carved into it to assist him in making the descent. The rock and the boot holes, although unmarked, is in the Garden of the Gods park in Chatsworth.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Also in 1935, Texas governor [[James V. Allred]] named Mix an honorary Texas Ranger.

Mix returned to circus performing, working with his eldest daughter Ruth Jane Mix, who had also appeared in some of his films. In 1938, he went to Europe on a promotional trip, leaving Ruth behind to manage the circus. Without him, however, the circus soon failed, and he later excluded her from his will.

Mix had reportedly made over $6 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|6|1935}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) during his 26-year film career,<ref>{{cite book |last=Mix |first=Paul E. |year=1972 |title=The Life and Legend of Tom Mix |___location=New York |publisher=[[Alfred Smith Barnes#A.S. Barnes & Co.|A. S. Barnes]] |page=152 |isbn=978-0-498-07881-1}}</ref> but nevertheless would have much of this fortune vanish due to, in large part, the [[1929 stock market crash]] and the excessive amount of spending undertaken by him and his fourth wife.<ref name=mixhelpsbuildfoxmore /><ref name=lostfortuneandhorse>{{cite news|url=https://www.morganhorse.com/upload/photos/page_1144_1-tmh_june_july2020_historical_morgansin_western_films_i_tom_mixandhis_horse_tony.pdf|title=Morgans In Early Western Films And Shows Part I|first=Brenda L.|last=Tippin|publisher=American Morgan Horse Association|date=June–July 2020|accessdate=February 3, 2025}}</ref>

== Radio ==

[[File:Tom Mix radio show 1941.JPG|thumb|Postcard sent in response to an entry for a radio program contest in 1941]]

In 1933, [[Ralston Purina]] obtained his permission to produce the radio series ''Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters'', which, but for one year during World War II, was popular throughout most of the 1930s through the early 1950s, well after Mix's death.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harmon |first1=Jim |title=Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film, Television and Other Media |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786485086 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fReqCt2Nqk4C |access-date=8 April 2020 |pages=219–240}}</ref> Mix never appeared on these broadcasts (his voice, damaged by a bullet to the throat and repeated broken noses, was not fit for radio) and was instead played by radio actors: Artells Dickson (early 1930s), Jack Holden (from 1937), Russell Thorsen (early 1940s) and Joe "Curley" Bradley (from 1944). Others in the supporting cast included [[George Gobel]], [[Harold Peary]] and [[Willard Waterman]].

The Ralston company offered ads during the radio program for listeners to send in for a series of 12 special Ralston–Tom Mix [[comic books]] available only by writing the Ralston Company by mail.

Most of Mix's radio work has been lost over the years; recordings of only approximately 30 scattered episodes, and no complete story arcs, survive.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

== Death ==

[[File:TomMixMemorial.JPG|thumb|right|Mix memorial near [[Florence, Arizona]], the site of his death]]

On October 12, 1940, after visiting [[Pima County Sheriff's Department|Pima County Sheriff]] Ed Echols in [[Tucson]], Arizona,<ref name="funeral">{{cite news|title=Mix Funeral to Be Held in Hollywood |newspaper=The New London Evening Day |date=October 14, 1940 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-JEtAAAAIBAJ&dq=tom%20mix%20dies&pg=2992%2C1192239 |access-date=June 2, 2012}}</ref> Mix was killed when his car overturned while he was taking a detour {{convert|18|mi}} south of [[Florence, Arizona|Florence]], [[Arizona]].<ref name="funeral" /> He was 60 years old.

His funeral took place at the Little Church of the Flowers in [[Glendale, California]], on October 16, 1940, and was attended by thousands of people. He is buried in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]].<ref name="funeral" />

A small stone memorial marks the site of his death on State Route 79, and the nearby gully is known as "[[Tom Mix Wash]]".<ref>{{Cite GNIS|12584|name=Tom Mix Wash}}</ref> The marker bears the inscription: "In memory of Tom Mix, whose spirit left his body on this spot and whose characterization and portrayals in life served to better fix memories of the old West in the minds of living men."

With his death, a judge gave away many of Mix's personal belongings to a neighbor.<ref name=mixbelongings>{{cite web|url=https://www.tommixmuseum.com/about_us|title=Our Story|publisher=Tom Mix Museum|accessdate=February 2, 2025}}</ref>

== Legacy ==

Mix's salary at Fox reached $17,500 a week. His performances weren't noted for their realism but for screen-friendly action stunts and horseback riding, attention-grabbing cowboy costumes and showmanship. At the Edendale lot Mix built a 12 acre shooting set called Mixville. Loaded with western props and furnishings, it has been described as a "complete frontier town, with a dusty street, hitching rails, a saloon, jail, bank, doctor's office, surveyor's office, and the simple frame houses typical of the early Western era." Near the back of the lot an Indian village of lodges was ringed by miniature plaster mountains which on screen were said to be "ferociously convincing." The set also included a simulated desert, large corral and a ranch house with no roof, to facilitate interior shots.

[[File:Tom Mix dendroglyph.JPG|thumb|right|Portrait in aspen tree of Tom Mix, dated 1936. Known as "[[arborglyph]]s", such carvings were made by young [[Basque diaspora|Basque]] and [[Irish Americans|Irish American]] [[shepherd]]s. (Santa Fe National Forest, Río Arriba County, [[New Mexico]])]]

Tom Mix was the acknowledged "King of Cowboys" when [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[John Wayne]] were young, and the influence of his screen persona can be seen in their approach to portraying cowboys. When an injury caused football player Marion Morrison (later known as John Wayne) to drop out of the [[University of Southern California]], Mix helped him find work moving props in the back lot of Fox Studios. That was the beginning of Wayne's Hollywood career.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

During 1929, Mix's last year in silent pictures, he worked for Film Booking Office, a small movie production and project packaging company run by [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]] Mix was 49 and by most accounts he was ready to retire from the movies.

Mix made 292 movies throughout his career. As of 2001, only about 10% of these were known to be available for viewing, though it is unclear how many are now considered [[lost film]]s.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} The [[1937 Fox vault fire]] lost most of the archive of his films made with Fox.

===1930s===

Mix appeared with the Sells-Floto circus in 1929, 1930 and 1931 at a reported weekly salary of $20,000. He and Forde were divorced in 1931. Meanwhile the [[Great Depression]] (along with the actor's free spending ways and many wives) had reportedly wiped out most of his savings. In 1932 he married his fifth wife, Mabel Hubbard Ward. [[Universal Pictures]] approached him that year with an offer to do [[talkies]] which included script and cast approval. He did 9 pictures for Universal, but because of injuries he received while filming he was reluctant to continue with any more. Mix then appeared with the Sam B. Dill circus, which he reportedly bought two years later (1935). In 1933 [[Ralston-Purina]] obtained his permission to produce a Tom Mix radio series which, except for one year during World War II, was popular throughout most of the 1930s and 40s (Mix never appeared on these broadcasts and was instead played by voice actors). His last screen appearance was a 15 episode serial for [[Mascot Pictures]] called [[The Miracle Rider]] (1935), for which he was paid $40,000 for four weeks of filming. Mix then went back to circus performing, this time with his eldest daughter Ruth, who had appeared in some of his films. In 1938 Mix went to Europe on a promotional trip while his daughter Ruth stayed behind to manage his circus, which soon failed. He later excluded her from his will. He had reportedly made over $6,000,000 (approaching $400 million in early 21st century, [[inflation]] adjusted values) during his 26 year career in the movies.

[[File:TomMixPlaque..jpg|thumb|right|Mix memorial plaque]]

==Death==

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Mix has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1708 Vine Street. His cowboy boot prints, palm prints and the hoof prints of his horse, Tony, are at [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]], at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1958 Mix was inducted posthumously into the [[Western Performers Hall of Fame]] at the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]. In 1959, a "Monument to the Stars" was erected on Beverly Drive (where it intersects Olympic Boulevard and becomes Beverwil) in [[Beverly Hills]]. The memorial consists of a bronze-green spiral of sprocketed "camera film" above a multi-sided tower, embossed with full-length likenesses of early stars who appeared in famous silent movies. Those memorialized include [[Douglas Fairbanks]], [[Mary Pickford]], [[Will Rogers]], [[Conrad Nagel]], [[Rudolph Valentino]], [[Fred Niblo]], [[Harold Lloyd]], and Mix. There is also a Tom Mix museum in [[Dewey, Oklahoma]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.okhistory.org/sites/tommix|title=Tom Mix Museum &#124; Oklahoma Historical Society|website=www.okhistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tommixmuseum.com/ |title=Tom Mix Museum | access-date=February 27, 2019}}</ref> Opening in 1965, and still operational as of 2025, the Tom Mix museum in Dewey- which was also where his third wife Olive was raised and the birthplace of his eldest daughter Ruth- managed to obtain many of Mix's personal items.<ref name=mixbelongings /> Additionally, from 1986 to 2002 there existed another museum in his birthplace of [[Mix Run, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Memory fades">{{cite news|last1=Heimel|first1=Paul|title=Tom Mix memory fades in Cameron County|url=http://www.bradfordera.com/news/tom-mix-memory-fades-in-cameron-county/article_98977f1a-3de4-5bb7-b838-9712dc37dd68.html|access-date=October 30, 2017|work=Bradford Era|date=September 13, 2007}}</ref> Between 1980 and 2004, 21 Tom Mix festivals were held during the month of September, most of them in [[DuBois, Pennsylvania]].

On the afternoon of [[October 12]], [[1940]] Mix was driving his [[1937]] [[Cord Automobile|Cord 812]] [[Phaeton body|Phaeton]] near [[Florence, Arizona]] (between [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] and [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]]) on a two-lane road when he came upon construction barriers at a bridge previously washed away by a flash flood. A workcrew watched as he was unable to brake in time and his car slid into a gully. A large, polished [[aluminium]] suitcase he had put on the seat behind him flew free and struck Mix in the back of the head, shattered his skull, broke his neck and killed the 60 year old actor almost instantly. Accounts vary as to whether Mix was speeding before the accident, along with the role alcohol consumption may have played.

== Comic book appearances ==

The site of his death is located on what is now Arizona State Route 79. There is an historical marker and the gully is named ''Tom Mix Wash''. Mix is interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].

[[File:TomMixWestern20Crop.png|thumb|''Tom Mix Western,'' [[Fawcett Comics]], August 1949. Artwork by [[Norman Saunders (artist)|Norman Saunders]].]]

Tom Mix was often portrayed in [[comic books]], primarily during the heyday of [[Western comics|Western-themed comics]], the 1940s and 1950s.

He was first featured in 11 issues of [[Dell Comics]]' ''The Comics'' from 1937 to 1938.

==Legacy==

By most accounts, Tom Mix made 336 movies throughout his career. In 2007 only about 10% of these were reportedly available for viewing, although it was unclear how many Mix films had been irretrievably lost.

[[Ralston Purina]], a sponsor of the radio series, produced nine issues of ''Tom Mix Comics'' in 1940–1941, and three issues of ''Tom Mix Commandos Comics'' in 1942. The 36-page comics were available by mail order, for two [[boxtops]] of any Ralston cereal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=59}}</ref>

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Tom Mix has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1708 Vine Street. His cowboy boot prints, palm prints and his famous horse Tony's hoof prints are at [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1958 he was inducted posthumously into the [[Western Performers Hall of Fame]] at the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]. There is a Tom Mix museum in [[Dewey, Oklahoma]] and another in [[Mix Run, Pennsylvania|Mix Run]], [[Pennsylvania]]. Between 1980 and 2004, 21 Tom Mix festivals were held during the month of September, most of them in [[DuBois, Pennsylvania]].

[[Fawcett Comics]] published 61 issues of ''Tom Mix Western'' from 1948 to 1953.

==Cultural references==

By the 21st century, most people were more familiar with Tom Mix's name through cultural references which have echoed long after his death, rather than from having seen his films.

Comics featuring Tom Mix were also published in Sweden, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, including [[L. Miller & Son]]'s ''Tom Mix Western Comics'', which ran 85 issues from 1948 to 1951.

* Cereal boxtop premiums from the 1940s relating to Mix are still traded by collectors.

* Mix is referred to in [[Conny Froboess]]' [[1951]] song "''Pack' die Badehose ein''".

* He is featured with many other 20th century celebrities on the cover of [[Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]].

* [[Bruce Willis]] played Tom Mix in the [[Blake Edwards]] film [[Sunset (movie)|Sunset]] with [[James Garner]] as [[Wyatt Earp]].

* [[Daryl Ponicsan]]'s novel ''Tom Mix Died for Your Sins'' ([[1975]]) evokes Mix's life and personality.

* [[James Horwitz]]'s book ''They Went Thataway'' (1975) ends with Horwitz visiting Tom Mix Wash (where Mix died) and leaving his childhood cowboy boots at the foot of the monument.

* A resurrected Tom Mix appeared in two of [[Philip José Farmer]]'s [[Riverworld]] novels, ''[[The Dark Design]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Magic Labyrinth]]'' (1980), along with a short story featured in the anthology ''[[Riverworld and Other Stories]]'' (1979).

* In an episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'' a Tom Mix pocket knife is used to perform an emergency tracheotomy.

* Philip K.Dick's sci-fi novel ''The Penultimate Truth'' mentions Mix's name.

* In ''[[Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop]]'' ([[1993 in comics|1993]]) Tom Mix is one of the high profile figures in Gotham society and takes up Houdini's offer of a free punch to the stomach.

* The menacing cowboy character in [[David Lynch]]'s film [[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]] contains oblique references to Mix.

* In 2004 the ghost of Tom Mix haunts a Hollywood couple in the supernatural thriller [[The Ghosts of Edendale]].

* Ralston-Purina briely revived its Tom Mix boxtop fan club during the 1980s

* In 2007 Ralston Foods had Tom Mix pages on the company's website.

== Cultural references ==

==Trivia==

{{Cleanup section|reason=This section contains a list of [[WP:V|mostly-unreferenced]] trivial [[MOS:POPCULT|references]]|date=November 2017}}

* Mix was a pallbearer at the funeral of [[Wyatt Earp]] (he reportedly wept but this could be a Hollywood embellishment).

[[File:Tom Mix and Victoria Forde.jpg|right|thumb|Mix with fourth wife, actress [[Victoria Forde]], c. 1926]]

* He rode in [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s inaugural parade, led by [[Seth Bullock]]

* [[Bruce Cockburn]] in his song [[Nicaragua]] refers to [[Augusto César Sandino]] wearing a Tom Mix hat.

* Texas governor [[Homer Allred]] named Mix an honorary [[Texas Ranger]] in 1935, late in his career.

* "Lynching in Mixville" is a short story by L.J. Washburn where Mix is almost arrested for the murder of a cowboy extra. The story appears in ''American Pulp,'' by Edward Gorman (Editor), Bill Pronzini (Editor), Martin Harry Greenberg (Editor) (1997) {{ISBN|1568655088}}.

* [[Bruce Willis]] played Tom Mix in the 1988 [[Blake Edwards]] film ''[[Sunset (1988 film)|Sunset]]'', with [[James Garner]] as [[Wyatt Earp]]. The film was very loosely based on the fact that Earp and Mix knew each other when Earp was serving as a consultant during the silent film era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096193/ | title=Sunset|publisher = IMDb | access-date=February 27, 2019}}</ref>

* [[Daryl Ponicsan]]'s novel ''Tom Mix Died for Your Sins'' (1975) evokes Mix's life and personality.

* [[Clifford Irving]] offered a pseudo-autobiographical version of Mix's early adulthood, drawing him as a brash young gringo who befriends and then joins up with the Mexican revolutionary [[Pancho Villa]] in the novel ''Tom Mix and Pancho Villa'' (1982).

* The protagonist of [[Philip K. Dick]]'s science fiction novel ''The Penultimate Truth'' (1964) lives in a subterranean shelter named after Tom Mix.

* In the 1998 film ''[[Smoke Signals (film)|Smoke Signals]]'', the Native protagonists Victor and Thomas have their seats taken by two white men. They then discuss how the cowboys always win. They discuss Tom Mix and John Wayne, and wind up singing a song about John Wayne's teeth, and how they are never visible in his movies.

* A resurrected Mix appeared in two of [[Philip José Farmer]]'s ''[[Riverworld]]'' novels, ''[[The Dark Design]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Magic Labyrinth]]'' (1980), as a traveling companion of [[Jack London]], along with a short story featured in the anthology ''Riverworld and Other Stories'' (1979).

* The ghost of Tom Mix haunted a Hollywood couple in the supernatural thriller ''[[The Ghosts of Edendale]]'' (2004).

* The [[United States Postal Service]] has commemorated Mix on a first-class mail postage stamp.

* There is a street named Tom Mix Trail in Prescott, Arizona and many streets in the Yavapai Hills neighborhood are named after Tom Mix's movies.

* There is a street in Westfield, North Carolina named Tom Mix Rd Westfield, NC 27053

* In the 2008 Clint Eastwood film ''[[Changeling (film)|Changeling]]'', the "imposter" son of [[Angelina Jolie]]'s character cites meeting Tom Mix and riding his horse as his motive for concocting his false story.

* In the 2010 ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'' episode "[[The Emerald City (Boardwalk Empire)|The Emerald City]]", Nucky Thompson's servant Eddie Kessler offers to [[frisking|frisk]] someone who's come to see him. Nucky chides him: "You're Tom Mix all of a sudden?"<ref name="nj">{{cite web|last=Venutolo |first=Anthony |title='Boardwalk Empire' Recap: Nucky Strikes Back Against the D'Alessios |date=November 22, 2010 |publisher=NJ.com |url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/11/boardwalk_empire_recap_nucky_s_1.html |access-date=June 2, 2012}}</ref>

* In the third episode of the second season of the 2014 Netflix show ''[[Peaky Blinders (TV series)|Peaky Blinders]]'', [[Tommy Shelby]] interviews a prospective fall guy for his gang who is partial to homemade western garb and asks "Spend a lotta time at the pictures eh? Cowboy pictures, Tom Mix, Yeah?"

* The American artist Robert Ecker has incorporated Mix's trademark ten-gallon hat and his image in several works, including ''End of an Era'' (mezzotint, 1982) and ''Persistence of Imagery #25'' (painting, 2013).

* In the season five episode entitled "Mulcahy's War" of the television series ''[[M*A*S*H (season 5)|M*A*S*H]]'', Father Mulcahy performs an emergency tracheotomy on an injured soldier with his Tom Mix pocketknife.

* An image of Mix appears prominently on the cover of the Beatles' 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.

* In the film ''[[Tombstone (film)|Tombstone]]'', starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, during the closing credits reference is made to the fact that "Tom Mix wept" at Wyatt Earp's funeral.

* A passing reference is made about Mix in [[Downton Abbey (season 3)|Season 3, Episode 2]] of ''[[Downton Abbey]]''.

* In the first episode of ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]'', Jed Clampett mentions that he likes Tom Mix.

* Tom Mix is [[rhyming slang]] - especially in [[Bingo (British version)|British bingo]] - for the number 6.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bingo calls |url=https://bingo.betfair.com/info/your-definitive-guide-to-bingo-calls |website=betfair |access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>

* A passing reference is made by the Doctor about his companions dressing as Tom Mix in the 1966 serial '[[The Gunfighters (Doctor Who)|The Gunfighters]]', [[Doctor Who season 3|Season 3]] of [[Doctor Who]].

*

==Further readingFilmography ==

{{Main|Tom Mix filmography}}

Jeanine Basinger (1999), chapter on Tom Mix and [[William S. Hart]] in ''Silent Stars,'' (ISBN 0-8195-6451-6).

==External linksReferences ==

[[File:Tom Mix 1919.jpg|thumb|Advertisement, 1919]]

*{{imdb name|id=0594291|name=Tom Mix}}

{{Reflist}}

*{{tcmdb name|id=133208|name=Tom Mix}}

* [http://www.b-westerns.com/tommix.htm Biographical pages with many illustrations, including Mix's Cord automobile]

* [http://www.hotralston.com/tommix.htm Ralston Foods' Tom Mix pages]

== Further reading ==

<!--

* {{cite book |last=Basinger |first=Jeanine |author-link=Jeanine Basinger |year=1999 |title=Silent Stars |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=0-8195-6451-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/silentstars00basi }}

-->

* {{cite book |last=Birchard |first=Robert S. |year=1993 |title=King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies |___location=Burbank |publisher=Riverwood Press |isbn=1-880756-05-6}}

* {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Richard D. |year=2005 |title=The Amazing Tom Mix: The Most Famous Cowboy of the Movies |publisher=[[iUniverse]] |isbn=978-0-595-35949-3}}

* {{cite book |last1=Mix |first1=Olive Stokes |first2=Eric |last2=Heath |year=1957 |title=The Fabulous Tom Mix |url=https://archive.org/details/fabuloustommix00oliv |___location=New York |publisher=[[Prentice Hall]]}}

* {{cite book |last=Ohmart |first=Ben |year=2002 |title=It's That Time Again |___location=Albany |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=0-9714570-2-6}}

== External links ==

[[Category:1880 births|Mix, Tom]]

{{Portal|Biography}}

[[Category:1940 deaths|Mix, Tom]]

{{Commons category}}

[[Category:American film actors|Mix, Tom]]

* {{IMDb name|id=0594291|name=Tom Mix}}

[[Category:Western film actors|Mix, Tom]]

* {{Tcmdb name}}

[[Category:American silent film actors|Mix, Tom]]

* [http://www.b-westerns.com/tommix.htm B-Westerns]

[[Category:Hollywood Walk of Fame|Mix, Tom]]

* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=774 Tom Mix photographs]

[[Category:People from Pennsylvania|Mix, Tom]]

* [http://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/2014/10/someone-carved-footholes-in-rock-for.html Iverson Movie Ranch]

[[Category:United States Army soldiers|Mix, Tom]]

* {{Find a Grave|721|Tom Mix}}

[[Category:Entertainers who died in a road accident|Mix, Tom]]

* {{YouTube|xkYjMRkJlq4|Raw Footage Tom Mix by Ken Murray in 1940 2 weeks before death in car}}

[[Category:American road accident victims|Mix, Tom]]

* [https://www.tommixmuseum.com/ Tom Mix Museum]

[[Category:Vaudeville performers|Mix, Tom]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mix, Tom}}

[[de:Tom Mix]]

[[frCategory:Tom1880 Mixbirths]]

[[ioCategory:Tom1940 Mixdeaths]]

[[Category:People from Cameron County, Pennsylvania]]

[[it:Tom Mix]]

[[Category:American children's radio programs]]

[[pl:Tom Mix]]

[[Category:American Freemasons]]

[[pt:Tom Mix]]

[[Category:American male film actors]]

[[sv:Tom Mix]]

[[Category:American male silent film actors]]

[[Category:Male actors from Pennsylvania]]

[[Category:Road incident deaths in Arizona]]

[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]

[[Category:Male Western (genre) film actors]]

[[Category:Wild West show performers]]

[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]

[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]

[[Category:20th Century Studios contract players]]

[[Category:Deserters]]