
Hoot Gibson was a colorful figure, a light-hearted, fun-loving personality on screen and off. Hoot’s cheerful westerns included a significant amount of comedy. His mild, peaceful character rarely carried a gun. As an expert horseman, Hoot was always impressive on a galloping horse. Gibson’s film career began in 1910 with a few films for the Biograph Company interspersed among rodeo competitions. In 1914 he was a stuntman for the serial The Hazards of Helen, doubling the serial’s star Helen Holmes. His stunts included fights on trains and transfers from a train to a horse. He had supporting roles in numerous Western short films, including playing the villain in A Knight of the Range (1916) opposite popular western star Harry Carey. He appeared in three of the Westerns made by Carey and director John Ford in 1917: Straight Shooting, The Secret Man, and A Marked Man. Hoot’s starring career at Universal Studios was launched in two films directed by Ford, Action (1921) and Sure Fire (1921). In these films, Hoot plays a wandering cowboy who rescues the pretty young co-star from outlaws. Hoot became a popular western star for Universal. Film titles such as Ridin’ Wild (1922), Thrill Chaser (1923), Hit and Run (1924), Hurricane Kid (1925), and Galloping Fury (1927) guaranteed Hoot’s fans five reels of action and fun. Hoot’s easygoing approach gave his films a lighthearted tone. A deft comedian, he featured as much comedy as drama. As talkies arrived, Hoot continued as a Western star, but with lower budget producers such as M.H. Hoffman Inc. (distributed on a state rights basis by Allied Pictures Corporation) and Walker Futter Productions (Diversion Pictures). In 1935, Hoot co-starred with Harry Carey in Powdersmoke Range, advertised by RKO as the "Barnum and Bailey of Westerns" (whatever that means). The cast list of this "all star" (B western stars) film included Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Tom Tyler, William Farnum, and other Westerners from the silent era. In 1937 at Republic, he made a serial, The Painted Stallion, in support of new cowboy star Ray Corrigan. An aging Hoot retained his fine horsemanship and comic flair, but fan interest had moved to the new singing cowboys, especially Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Hoot’s Westerns had lost their appeal. In the late thirties, out of movies, Hoot toured with circuses and appeared at rodeos and fairs. In 1943, after seven years off the screen, Hoot returned in the Trail Blazer series at Monogram Studios. In these Westerns, Marshall Hoot Gibson, initially co-starred with Ken Maynard and later with Bob Steele and Chief Thundercloud, upholds the law and captures outlaws and crooked businessmen threatening the lives and property of innocent citizens. Hoot made eleven Trail Blazer films; the last was Trigger Law (1944). John Ford brought Hoot back for a cameo role in The Horse Soldiers (1959). His last screen appearance was as a sheriff’s deputy in Ocean’s Eleven (1960), another cameo.

1917

1960

1931

1959

1920

1930

1935

1920

1921

1943

1935

1924

1921

1921

1944

1944

1944

1917

1944

1915

1920

1920

1921

1919

1920

1931

1920

1929

1919

1922

1920

1936

1976

1916

1925

1916

1919

1923

1919

1922

1917

1923

1921

1920

1927

1926

1931

1918

1936

1930

1921

1928

1943

1919

1919

1926

1920

1917

1917

1919

1920

1935

1936

1920

1922

1925

1943

1931

1930

1920

1935

1917

1923

1930

1924

1919

1933

1929

1919

1953

1921

1923

1944

1936

1918

1919

1921

1930

1925

1922

1915

1928

1933

1920

1927

1925

1919

1927

1917

1917

1923

1915

1923

1926

1917

1926

1920

1915

1922

1929

1946

1921

1925

1924

1923

1916

1922

1929

1921

1924

1922

1919

1922

1921

1924

1927

1936

1928

1921

1919

1931

1911

1920

1923

1912

1912

1914

1920

1924

1920

1930

1921

1929

1918

1919

1920

1932

1915

1924

1928

1920

1915

1915

1914

1915

1919

1937

1913

1921

1932

1921

1920

1929

1936

1928

1917

1924

1920

1943

1921

1926

1916

1920

1916

1921

1920

1932

1920

1910

1932

1944

1927

1920

1916

1919

1913

1944

1932

1918

1919

1920

1929

1920

1925

1927

N/A

1926

1914

1918

1921

1914

1920

1928

1927

1920

1916

1923

1920

1921

1923

1927

1928

1920

1929

1929

1920

1919

1920

1918

1916

1920

1926

1921