October the 12th
marks the 73rd anniversary of the death of cowboy-movie star Tom Mix.
He was killed when he lost control of his car and rolled into a dry wash near
Florence, Arizona. According to his ‘biography’, he was a genuine cowboy and
hero of the Wild West: born in Texas; served in the Spanish-American War, and was
a sheriff in Kansas, a U.S. marshal in Oklahoma and a Texas Ranger. The truth
was not quite so majestic. The truth was that Mix was born in Driftwood,
Pennsylvania; had deserted the Army in 1902; and went off to Hollywood in 1909.
Fortunately for Mix, none of these less than stellar facts prevented Mix from
becoming one of the greatest silent-film stars in history. Mix’s press agent
created an illusion that fans bought into. Be wary of what may be an illusion
in front of you. In a previous post I mentioned that some silent stars did not
make the transition well into the talkies.
Mix was one of those actors. It was said that the actor's high pitched
voice undermined his macho cowboy image and Mix’s movie career as a headliner
was over. In the crash, Mix was hit in the head by a heavy aluminum suitcases
he was carrying in the convertible's backseat. The impact broke the actor's
neck and he died almost instantly.
