Many stars of the silent era are long forgotten. But the name, Tom Mix may still be remembered by some. He was one of the biggest cowboy stars of his time. At the peak of his popularity he was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, earning as much as $17,500 a week. He made more than 300 movies, only around nine were talkies. Like many actors of the time talkies were not kind to him and he faded from the movies moving to live shows. He had been a pall bearer at the funeral of Wyatt Earp and had helped a fledgling John Wayne.
According to the media of the time the cinema going public were watching a real life hero. Tom, they read, was a genuine cowboy and hero of the Wild West. He was born in Texas, fought in the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Boer War, and served as a sheriff in Kansas, a U.S. marshal in Oklahoma and a Texas Ranger. Someone the kids could look up to. Like the stories they watched on the silver screen, none of this was true.
He was born in Pennsylvania, joined, then deserted, the army, and the epitome of his military career was as a drum major in the Oklahoma Territorial Cavalry Band.
He would die on a lonely road in Arizona, 60 years old in 1940. He was on a road trip and had brought some luggage with him. One was a heavy suitcase which he put in the back fo the car, just behind his head. It was not tied down.
Speeding along in a bright-yellow Cord Phaeton sports car he failed to see that an upcoming bridge was down. Braking quickly the suitcase behind him kept travelling crashing into the back of his head at tremendous speed, breaking his neck and killing him instantly.
Beside the car in which he would die.
The removal of Tom to his last resting place.
His death was bigger than the upcoming invasion of Greece.
‘The suitcase of death’ at Tom’s museum.
Where he died with 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.”
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