
Hoot Gibson
Biography
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.
Acting (174 movies)

Burning the Wind
1929

The Fire Eater
1921

Sure Fire
1921

Spurs
1930

The Denver Dude
1927

40-Horse Hawkins
1924

Ride for Your Life
1924

The Telltale Knife
1914

Ridin' Wild
1922

Let 'er Buck
1925

The Silent Rider
1927

Galloping Fury
1927

Life in Hollywood No. 3
1927

The Horse Soldiers
1959

His Only Son
1912

Cavalcade of the West
1936

The Flyin' Cowboy
1928

A Knight of the Range
1916

The New Superintendent
1911

The Hazards of Helen
1917

Shotgun Jones
1914

Buckshot John
1915

The Death Train
1915

The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915

In Danger's Path
1915

The Capture of Red Stanley
1916

The Night Riders
1916

The Voice on the Wire
1917

The Mysterious Cipher
1916

A 44-Calibre Mystery
1917

The Golden Bullet
1917

The Painted Stallion
1937

Clearing the Range
1931

Wild Horse
1931

Frontier Justice
1936

The Hard Hombre
1931

West Is Best
1920

Roarin' Dan
1920

The Sheriff's Oath
1920

Runnin' Straight
1920

Hair Trigger Stuff
1920

Thieves' Clothes
1920

Held Up for the Makin's
1920

The Texas Kid
1920

The Champion Liar
1920

The Sawdust Trail
1924

Hit and Run
1924

The Shootin' Kid
1920

The Broncho Kid
1920

The Smilin' Kid
1920

The Winged Horseman
1929

The Cowboy Counsellor
1932

The Shootin' Fool
1920

The Tell-Tale Wire
1919

A Trick of Hearts
1928

Clearing the Trail
1928

Riding for Fame
1929

The Wild West Show
1928

The Danger Rider
1928

Courtin' Wildcats
1929

Painted Ponies
1927

Danger, Go Slow
1918

The Mounted Stranger
1930

The Jack of Hearts
1919

The Four-Bit Man
1919

The Lone Hand
1922

The Double Hold-Up
1919

Trigger Tricks
1930

The Face in the Watch
1919

The Lone Hand
1919

The Trail of the Holdup Man
1919

One Law for All
1920

Trimmed
1922

The Jay Bird
1920

Cinders
1920

Double Danger
1920

Marked Trails
1944

Lucky Terror
1936

Step on It!
1922

The Loaded Door
1922

The Galloping Kid
1922

The Gentleman from America
1923

Kindled Courage
1923

Single Handed
1923

Dead Game
1923

Double Dealing
1923

Shootin' for Love
1923

Out of Luck
1923

Blinky
1923

A Man's Land
1932

The Ramblin' Kid
1923

Hook and Ladder
1924

Broadway or Bust
1924

The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
1924

The Hurricane Kid
1925

The Two Brothers
1910

The Phantom Bullet
1926

Hey! Hey! Cowboy
1927

A Hero on Horseback
1927

The Local Bad Man
1932
Directing (8 movies)
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| The Thrill Chaser | 1923 | Producer | 
| The Long, Long Trail | 1929 | Producer |