Hoot Gibson
Acting • Born 1892-08-05 – Died 1962-08-23
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.
Filmography
224 credits
Burning the Wind
Movie • 1929
Richard Gordon Jr
Sure Fire
Movie • 1921
Jeff Bransford
The Fire Eater
Movie • 1921
Bob Corey
Spurs
Movie • 1930
Bob Merril
The Denver Dude
Movie • 1927
Rodeo Randall
40-Horse Hawkins
Movie • 1924
Luke Hawkins
Ride for Your Life
Movie • 1924
Bud Watkins
The Man from the East
Movie • 1914
Butler
The Telltale Knife
Movie • 1914
Ridin' Wild
Movie • 1922
Cyril Henderson (as Edward 'Hoot' Gibson)
Let 'er Buck
Movie • 1925
Bob Carson
The Silent Rider
Movie • 1927
Jerry Alton
Galloping Fury
Movie • 1927
Billy Halen
Life in Hollywood No. 3
Movie • 1927
Self
The Horse Soldiers
Movie • 1959
Sgt. Brown
His Only Son
Movie • 1912
Cavalcade of the West
Movie • 1936
Clint Knox
The Flyin' Cowboy
Movie • 1928
Bill Hammond
Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings
Movie • 1915
A Knight of the Range
Movie • 1916
Bob Graham
The Passing of Hell's Crown
Movie • 1916
The Cowboy
The Wedding Guest
Movie • 1916
Cowboy Sports and Pastimes
Movie • 1913
A Four-Footed Hero
Movie • 1912
Broncho Rider (uncredited)
In the Secret Service
Movie • 1913
The New Superintendent
Movie • 1911
Kid Pink and the Maharajah
Movie • 1914
Shotgun Jones
Movie • 1914
Tom Lattier - the Son
The Hazards of Helen
Movie • 1917
Messenger / Etzer
Buckshot John
Movie • 1915
Medicine Show Crowd Member (uncredited)
Stampede in the Night
Movie • 1916
Jack Harding
The Death Train
Movie • 1915
Etzer - Doyle's Pal
In Danger's Path
Movie • 1915
Train Crew (uncredited)
The Capture of Red Stanley
Movie • 1916
Stanley's Henchman
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
Movie • 1915
Messenger on Motorcycle
The Ring of Destiny
Movie • 1915
Jack
The Mysterious Cipher
Movie • 1916
Blanding
The Voice on the Wire
Movie • 1917
The Night Riders
Movie • 1916
A 44-Calibre Mystery
Movie • 1917
Joe
The Golden Bullet
Movie • 1917
'Red' Johnson
The Wrong Man
Movie • 1917
Chip's Pal
The Painted Stallion
Movie • 1937
Walter Jamison
Clearing the Range
Movie • 1931
Curt 'El Capitan' Fremont
Frontier Justice
Movie • 1936
Brent Halston
Wild Horse
Movie • 1931
Jim Wright
The Hard Hombre
Movie • 1931
William Penn 'Peaceful' Patton
Roarin' Dan
Movie • 1920
Roarin' Dan
West Is Best
Movie • 1920
The Sheriff's Oath
Movie • 1920
Runnin' Straight
Movie • 1920
Hair Trigger Stuff
Movie • 1920
The Texas Kid
Movie • 1920
Held Up for the Makin's
Movie • 1920
Masked
Movie • 1920
The Shootin' Kid
Movie • 1920
Wolf Tracks
Movie • 1920
The Broncho Kid
Movie • 1920
The Champion Liar
Movie • 1920
Thieves' Clothes
Movie • 1920
The Smilin' Kid
Movie • 1920
The Winged Horseman
Movie • 1929
Skyball Smith
Hit and Run
Movie • 1924
'Swat' Anderson
The Big Catch
Movie • 1920
Billy Reeves - the Foreman of the Ranch
The Sawdust Trail
Movie • 1924
Clarence Elwood Butts
The Cowboy Counsellor
Movie • 1932
Dan Alton
The Shootin' Fool
Movie • 1920
The Tell-Tale Wire
Movie • 1919
Steve Larmon
A Trick of Hearts
Movie • 1928
Benjamin Franklin Tully
Clearing the Trail
Movie • 1928
Pete Watson
Riding for Fame
Movie • 1929
Scratch 'Em Hank Scott
Play Straight or Fight
Movie • 1918
Dick Rankin
Courtin' Wildcats
Movie • 1929
Clarence Butts
Painted Ponies
Movie • 1927
Bucky Simms
The Wild West Show
Movie • 1928
Rodeo Bill
The Danger Rider
Movie • 1928
Hal 'Tucson Joe' Doyle
The Midnight Flyer
Movie • 1918
Danny Morgan
The Branded Man
Movie • 1918
Sheriff
His Buddy
Movie • 1919
The Four-Bit Man
Movie • 1919
The Lone Hand
Movie • 1919
Jeffrey Halley
The Black Horse Bandit
Movie • 1919
Trigger Tricks
Movie • 1930
Texas Ranger Tim Brennan
The Fighting Heart
Movie • 1919
The Jack of Hearts
Movie • 1919
The Prairie Dog
Kingdom Come
Movie • 1919
Danger, Go Slow
Movie • 1918
Ace High
Movie • 1919
The Mounted Stranger
Movie • 1930
Pete Ainslee aka The Ridin' Kid
The Crow
Movie • 1919
Tim McKenzie - the Crow
The Trail of the Holdup Man
Movie • 1919
Bob Watson
The Face in the Watch
Movie • 1919
The Double Hold-Up
Movie • 1919
The Broncho Kid
The Lone Hand
Movie • 1922
Laramie Lad
A Gamblin' Fool
Movie • 1920
Trimmed
Movie • 1922
Dale Garland
The Fightin' Terror
Movie • 1920
The Jay Bird
Movie • 1920
Tom Jackson
The Grinning Granger
Movie • 1920
One Law for All
Movie • 1920
'in Wrong' Wright
Movie • 1920
'In Wrong' Wright
Cinders
Movie • 1920
Bing Davidson
Double Danger
Movie • 1920
Jim Marvin / Jerry Marvin (Twin Brothers)
Marked Trails
Movie • 1944
Hoot Parkford
Lucky Terror
Movie • 1936
Lucky 'The Lucky Terror' Carson
The Two-Fisted Lover
Movie • 1920
Scot McHale
Step on It!
Movie • 1922
Vic Collins
The Loaded Door
Movie • 1922
Bert Lyons
The Galloping Kid
Movie • 1922
'Simplex' Cox
Kindled Courage
Movie • 1923
Andy Walker
The Gentleman from America
Movie • 1923
Dennis O'Shane
Single Handed
Movie • 1923
Hector MacKnight
Dead Game
Movie • 1923
'Katy' Didd
Double Dealing
Movie • 1923
Ben Slowbell
Shootin' for Love
Movie • 1923
Duke Travis
Out of Luck
Movie • 1923
Sam Pertune
Blinky
Movie • 1923
Geoffrey Arbuthnot 'Blinky' Islip
The Ramblin' Kid
Movie • 1923
The Ramblin' Kid
A Man's Land
Movie • 1932
Tex Mason
Broadway or Bust
Movie • 1924
Dave Hollis
Tipped Off
Movie • 1920
Billy Steele
Hook and Ladder
Movie • 1924
Ace Cooper
The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
Movie • 1924
Bud Watkins
The Hurricane Kid
Movie • 1925
The Hurricane Kid
The Two Brothers
Movie • 1910
The Phantom Bullet
Movie • 1926
'Click' Farlane
A Hero on Horseback
Movie • 1927
Billy Garford
Hey! Hey! Cowboy
Movie • 1927
Jimmie Roberts
The Local Bad Man
Movie • 1932
Jim Bonner
The Stranger
Movie • 1920
Superstition
Movie • 1920
Dave Bodie
The Man with a Punch
Movie • 1920
The Stranger
Fight It Out
Movie • 1920
Sandy Adams
The Brand Blotter
Movie • 1920
The Saddle King
Movie • 1921
The Trail of the Hound
Movie • 1920
The Driftin' Kid
Movie • 1921
The Driftin' Kid
Winning a Home
Movie • 1920
Sweet Revenge
Movie • 1921
Double Crossers
Movie • 1921
The Fightin' Fury
Movie • 1921
The Wild Wild West
Movie • 1921
Crossed Clues
Movie • 1921
Out o' Luck
Movie • 1921
The Cactus Kid
Movie • 1921
Dick Harris
Who Was the Man?
Movie • 1921
The Texas Ranger
The Movie Trail
Movie • 1921
Kickaroo
Movie • 1921
Bandits Beware
Movie • 1921
The Man Who Woke Up
Movie • 1921
Hollywood or Bust
Movie • 1928
Smilin' Guns
Movie • 1929
Jack Purvin
Points West
Movie • 1929
Cole Lawson Jr.
The Lariat Kid
Movie • 1929
Tom Richards
Trailing Trouble
Movie • 1930
Ed King
The Concentratin' Kid
Movie • 1930
Bill Evans -Concentratin' Kid
The Boiling Point
Movie • 1932
Jimmy Duncan
Beating the Game
Movie • 1921
Headin' West
Movie • 1922
Bill Perkins
The Winning Track
Movie • 1921
The Bear Cat
Movie • 1922
The Singin' Kid
The Dude Bandit
Movie • 1933
'Ace' Cooper posing as Tex
By Indian Post
Movie • 1919
Chub -Jode's Helpful Cowboy Friend
Sunset Range
Movie • 1935
Reasonin' Bates
Rainbow's End
Movie • 1935
Neil Gibson Jr.
The Calgary Stampede
Movie • 1925
Dan Malloy
The Rattler's Hiss
Movie • 1920
The Riding Avenger
Movie • 1936
Buck 'The Morning Glory Kid' Bonner
The Fighting Parson
Movie • 1933
Steve Hartley
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
Wild Horse Stampede
Movie • 1943
Marshal Hoot Gibson
The Woman in the Web
Movie • 1918
Vassily - Ivan's Brother
Flight to Nowhere
Movie • 1946
Sheriff Bradley
Outlaw Trail
Movie • 1944
Hoot
The Governor's Special
Movie • 1916
2nd Nash Henchman (as Ed Gibson)
The Law Rides Again
Movie • 1943
U.S. Marshal Hoot Gibson
Blazing Guns
Movie • 1943
Marshal Hoot Gibson
Death Valley Rangers
Movie • 1943
Hoot Gibson
Westward Bound
Movie • 1944
Hoot Gibson
Arizona Whirlwind
Movie • 1944
Hoot Gibson
Straight Shooting
Movie • 1917
Danny Morgan
The Last Outlaw
Movie • 1936
Al Goss
Chip of the Flying U
Movie • 1926
Chip Bennett
The Pay Train
Movie • 1915
Orturo
Ocean's Eleven
Movie • 1960
Roadblock Deputy (uncredited)
The Buckaroo Kid
Movie • 1926
Ed Harley
The Saddle Hawk
Movie • 1925
Ben Johnson
The Flaming Frontier
Movie • 1926
Bob Langdon
Taming the West
Movie • 1925
John Carleton
The Spirit of the West
Movie • 1932
Johnny Ringo - Posing as Ben Bailey
The Prairie King
Movie • 1927
Andy Barden
Trigger Law
Movie • 1944
Hoot Gibson
The Utah Kid
Movie • 1944
Marshal H.R. Higgins
The Texas Streak
Movie • 1926
Chad Pennington
Swifty
Movie • 1935
Swifty
Spook Ranch
Movie • 1925
Bill Bangs
The Marshal's Daughter
Movie • 1953
Marshal Ben Dawson
The Man from Texas
Movie • 1915
Deputy (uncredited)
Powdersmoke Range
Movie • 1935
Stony Brooke
The Gay Buckaroo
Movie • 1931
Clint Hale
Sonora Stagecoach
Movie • 1944
Hoot Gibson
We’re Switching to Hollywood
Movie • 1931
Self (uncredited)
Feud of the West
Movie • 1936
'Whitey' Revel
Cheyenne's Pal
Movie • 1917
Cowboy
The Secret Man
Movie • 1917
Chuck Fadden
A Marked Man
Movie • 1917
Undetermined Role
The Soul Herder
Movie • 1917
Chuck Rafferty
Action
Movie • 1921
Sandy Brouke
The Fighting Brothers
Movie • 1919
Lonnie Larkin
Gun Law
Movie • 1919
Bart 'Smoke Gublen' Stevens
The Gun Packer
Movie • 1919
Gang Leader
The Rustlers
Movie • 1919
The Deputy
Headin' South
Movie • 1918
The Long, Long Trail
Movie • 1929
The Ramblin' Kid
Arizona Sweepstakes
Movie • 1926
Coot Cadigan
Roaring Ranch
Movie • 1930
Jim Dailey
Hello, 'Frisco
Movie • 1924
Hoot Gibson
Red Courage
Movie • 1921
Pinto Peters
The Thrill Chaser
Movie • 1923
Omar K. Jenkins
King of the Rodeo
Movie • 1929
Chip Jr.
The Rawhide Kid
Movie • 1928
Dennis O'Hara
The Man in the Saddle
Movie • 1926
Jeff Morgan Jr.
Pride Of The Range
Movie
I Married Joan
TV • 1952
The Cowboy