Tom Mix
Gibson Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The famous cowboy star of cinema and circus was born here, January 6, 1880. A soldier during the Spanish-American War, he won renown for his "wild west" roles in hundreds of motion pictures - both silent and sound - between 1910 and 1935. Tom Mix died in an auto accident in Arizona on October 12, 1940.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Tom Mix, born in this corner of Pennsylvania on January 6, 1880, became one of Hollywood's first great Western stars. After service as a soldier during the Spanish-American War, he rode to fame in hundreds of silent and sound films between 1910 and 1935, defining the movie cowboy for a generation. He died in an Arizona auto accident in 1940.
Why it matters
Mix helped invent the on-screen cowboy, shaping how America and the world imagined its own frontier past through the new art of film.
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Related people
- ¡ Tom Mix
Themes & tags
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