GIBSON, HOOT

(1892–1962)

Born Edmund Richard Gibson in Nebraska, Hoot Gibson developed a persona of a lighthearted, folksy cowboy who could ride like a rodeo champion—because he was a rodeo champion, having been declared World’s All Around Champion Cowboy in 1922. He worked very much in the Tom Mix tradition. Chip of the Flying U (1926), in fact, is a remake of a Mix film of the same title, both based on B. M. Bower’s best-selling novel. In A Man’s Land (1932), Gibson played a ranch foreman who has inherited a half share in the Triple X ranch. Marion Shilling played the daughter of the original owner who owns the other share. Adele S. Buffington’s script keeps Gibson’s character on his toes as he must deal with rustlers as well as his new partner’s eastern ideas of ranch life. As with other early Western stars, Gibson continued acting in character roles long after his days at the top of the bill. His last Western was John Ford’s The Horse Soldiers (1959).