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Hoot Gibson

For other people named Hoot Gibson, see Hoot Gibson (disambiguation).

Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitioned from silent films to become a leading performer in Hollywood's growing cowboy film industry.

Hoot Gibson
Black and white portrait photograph of Hoot Gibson in about 1922.
Gibson, c. 1922
Born
Edmund Richard Gibson

(1892-08-06)August 6, 1892
Tekamah, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedAugust 23, 1962(1962-08-23) (aged 70)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Resting placeInglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California
Other namesEd "Hoot" Gibson
Edward Gibson
Hall Gibson
Ed Hall
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • producer
Years active1910–1960
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1913; div. 1920)​
Helen Johnson
​
​
(m. 1922; div. 1930)​
​
​
(m. 1930; div. 1933)​
Dorothea Dunstan
​
(m. 1942)​
Children1

During the period between World War I and World War II, he was second only to cowboy film legend Tom Mix as a box office draw. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Early life

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Born Edmund Richard Gibson[1] in Tekamah, Nebraska,on August 6 1892 [2] he learned to ride a horse as a young boy. His family moved to California when he was seven years old. As a teenager, he worked with horses on a ranch, which led to competition on bucking broncos at area rodeos.[citation needed]

Given the nickname "Hoot Owl" by co-workers, the name evolved to just "Hoot". (Michael Wallis' book, The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West, says that Gibson "picked up the nickname 'Hoot' while working as a bicycle messenger for Owl Drug Company."[3] Dan L. Thrapp's Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography says that Gibson "is said to have been nicknamed because he once hunted owls in a cave.")[4] Hoot, himself, stated in an episode of "You Bet Your Life" (January 19. 1956), that he acquired the nickname "Hoot", when he used to look for hoot owls in caves as a child in Nebraska.

Career

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While acting for Gibson was a minor sideline, he continued competing in rodeos to make a living. In 1912, he won the all-around championship at the famous Pendleton Round-Up[3] in Pendleton, Oregon and the steer roping world championship at the Calgary Stampede.[citation needed]

Gibson's career was temporarily interrupted with service in the United States Army during World War I as a sergeant in the Tank Corps.[5] When the war ended, he returned to the rodeo business and became good friends with Art Acord, a fellow cowboy and movie actor. The two participated in summer rodeo, then went back to Hollywood for the winter to do stunt work. For several years, Gibson had secondary film roles (primarily in Westerns) with stars such as Harry Carey. By 1921, the demand for cowboy pictures was so great, Gibson began receiving offers for leading roles. Some of these offers came from up-and-coming film director John Ford, with whom Gibson developed a lasting friendship and working relationship.[citation needed]

Financial difficulties and later life

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Unlucky Person (1920) with Gibson
 
Lobby card for Gibson's film The Winged Horseman (1929)

Gibson's years of substantial earnings did not see him through his retirement. He had squandered much of his income on high living and poor investments. By the 1950s, Gibson faced financial ruin, in part due to costly medical bills from serious health problems. To get by and pay his bills, he earned money as a greeter at a Las Vegas casino. For a time, he worked in a carnival and took virtually any job his dwindling name value could obtain. At one point he hosted a booth at rodeos that encouraged ranchers to raise nutria. He also appeared in an episode of Groucho's You Bet Your Life, filmed in December 1955. He made the final game with his contestant, but did not win the big money, though he earned himself a share of the $440 prize money for the show.[6]

Personal life

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On September 6, 1913, Gibson married Rose August Wenger, a rodeo performer.[7] They had met at the Pendleton Round-Up in Oregon sometime between 1911 and 1913. Under the name Helen Gibson, she became a major film star in her own right for a time, notably in the lead role of The Hazards of Helen. Census records for 1920 indicate they were living separately; Hoot Gibson listed himself as married; Helen listed herself as widowed.[8]

Gibson married vaudeville actress Helen Johnson on April 20, 1922, in Riverside, California.[9] They had one child, Lois Charlotte Gibson. They were divorced on February 2, 1929, in Hollywood, California.[10]

Gibson married film actress Sally Eilers on June 28, 1930.[11] The marriage ended in 1933.[citation needed]

Gibson married a final time to Dorothy Dunstan, a 22-year-old yodeler, on July 3, 1942.[12]

Death

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Hoot Gibson died of cancer in 1962 in Woodland Hills, California at age 70, and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.[13][14]

Legacy

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In 1960, for his contribution to film, Gibson was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was honored with a star at 1765 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section.[15] In 1979, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[16]

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References to Gibson in American media include:

  • From Here to Eternity (1951): "'I wonder,' he said,' what ever happened to old Hoot Gibson? I can just barely remember him. My God, he had grey hair when I was just a kid."[1]
  • The Carpetbaggers (1961): "'The Bijou's got a new Hoot Gibson picture,' Tommy said."[1]
  • The Bullwinkle Show: Hoot Gibson is mentioned in "The Lion and the Aardvark" episode of Aesop and Son.
  • The Beverly Hillbillies (1963): A phony relative, Jake Clampett, manipulates the Clampett family into pursuing Hollywood dreams in an attempt to further his own filmmaking ambitions. Granny is on to him when he isn't familiar with Hoot Gibson, but Jake wins her over by promising her a role in a Hoot Gibson picture.[17]
  • Petticoat Junction (1966): In Season 3 Episode 27, "Second Honeymoon", Charlie and Floyd (The Cannonball engineers) are discussing the poetic quote, "As each returning spring renews the promise of youth, so a second honeymoon renews the dream of love in two blissful hearts."[18] Charlie attributes the quote to Hoot Gibson. Charlie adds, "He said it to his horse."[18]
  • Myra Breckinridge (1968 novel): "More than ever was Buck, revoltingly, the Singin' Shootin' Cowboy, so inferior in every way to Hoot Gibson."[1]
  • Laverne & Shirley (1977): Hoot Gibson is mentioned in "Guilty Until Proven Not Innocent" Season 2 Episode 11. Shirley exclaims, "Good God! It’s the devil and Hoot Gibson!"
  • Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1987 novel): "Most of those guards are pretty simpleminded old boys ... they'll go to a picture show and see Tom Mix or Hoot Gibson and then they come back and ride around the farm, pulling their guns, trying to be cowboys."[1]

Filmography

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Main article: Hoot Gibson filmography

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Hoffmann, Henryk (2012). Western Movie References in American Literature. McFarland. pp. 68–69. ISBN 9780786493241. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  2. ^ "Hoot Gibson". History Nebraska. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Wallis, Michael (July 17, 2000). The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West. Macmillan. p. 446. ISBN 9780312263812. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Thrapp, Dan L. (1991). Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: G-O. U of Nebraska Press. p. 553. ISBN 0803294190. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  5. ^ "Hoot Gibson". Nebraskahistory.org. January 11, 2006. Archived from the original on November 15, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  7. ^ "Cupid Ropes Ed 'Hoot' Gibson". East Oregonian. Oregon, Pendleton. September 8, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ 1920 United States Census for Los Angeles, California, Sheets No. 19A and 10B
  9. ^ "'Hoot' Gibson Weds Helen Johnson". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri, St. Louis. Associated Press. April 21, 1922. p. 19. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  10. ^ "Mrs. Hoot Gibson Given Divorce". The Indiana Gazette. Pennsylvania, Indiana. International News Service. February 7, 1929. p. 13. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ "Hoot Gibson Weds Miss Sally Eilers". Lebanon Daily News. Pennsylvania, Lebanon. Associated Press. June 28, 1930. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  12. ^ "Dorothy Dunstan Bride of Hoot Gibson at Las Vegas". The Wilkes-Barre Record. Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. July 29, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  13. ^ "Hoot Gibson, Film Cowboy, Dies. Made His First Movie in 1915; Broke Into Motion Pictures as a Stunt Man. Last Role Was in 'Horse Soldiers'". New York Times. August 24, 1962. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  14. ^ Brooker, John (2017). The Happiest Trails. Lulu.com. p. 366. ISBN 9781365741227.
  15. ^ "Hoot Gibson". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  16. ^ "Great Western Performers". National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  17. ^ "The Clampetts Go Hollywood". The Beverly Hillbillies. Season 2. Episode 9. November 20, 1963.
  18. ^ a b "Petticoat Junction: Season 3, Episode 27 script | Subs like Script". subslikescript.com. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
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