Jack Hoxie

American cowboy star of silent films, Jack Hoxie was raised in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and in Idaho, learning riding and roping at an early age. He became a popular and successful rodeo star, winning national championships. In 1914, after touring the U.S. in a Wild West show, he came to Hollywood and got work as a stuntman. He had a handsome, stalwart quality that, along with his skills as a cowhand, quickly gained him the attention of producers and studios. Born John Stone, he changed his name to Hartford Hoxie and then to Art Hoxie when producer Anthony J. Xydias of Sunset Productions signed him for a series of low-budget Westerns. By 1921 Hoxie was successful enough to catch the eye of Universal Pictures, which hired him away and placed in him in more prestigious westerns. Although not a star of the magnitude of Douglas Fairbanks or Charles Chaplin, Hoxie was a prominent name among western stars. His career faded quickly after sound, as even though he looked the part of a cowboy, his skills did not extend to sounding like one (he could barely read). He continued to appear, albeit in smaller roles, well into the 1930s, when he left Hollywood to star in his own western-style circus. By the end of the 1930s he had retired to a ranch in Oklahoma, where he lived out his days in obscurity. He died in Kansas in 1965 at the age of 80. He was survived by his brother, lesser-known cowboy actor Al Hoxie.