 (11
January 1885, Kingfisher Creek, between Kingfisher and Guthrie,
Oklahoma - 28 March 1965, Elkhart, Kansas)
John Hartford Hoxie was a cowboy star of silent films. Raised in the
Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and in Idaho, Hoxie learned 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 Harford Hoxie
and then to Art Hoxie when producer 'Anthony Xydias' signed him for
a series of Westerns. By 1921, he was successful enough to catch the
eye of Universal Pictures, which hired him for more prestigious
Westerns. Although not a star of the likes of Fairbanks or Chaplin,
Hoxie was a prominent name among Western stars.
Through the early 1920s, Jack Hoxie became an extremely popular
Western film star and worked for such film companies as Pathé,
Arrow, National Film Corp. and Sunset Productions. In 1923,
Universal Pictures head Carl Laemmle put Hoxie under contract and
soon Hoxie's career was on par with that of other Western stars of
the era: Art Acord, Harry Carey and Hoot Gibson. Hoxie appeared in
such high profile films as 1923's Where Is This West? with newcomer
Mary Philbin and 1924's Universal promotional film Hello, 'Frisco,
alongside such popular actors of the era as: Jackie Coogan, Norman
Kerry, Barbara La Marr, Antonio Moreno, Anna Q. Nilsson, Bebe
Daniels and Rin Tin Tin. The film was designed to showcase
Universal's roster of their most popular actors. Hoxie, often atop
his horses Fender and Dynamite, would star alongside such actresses
as Marceline Day, Alice Day, Helen Holmes, Lottie Pickford and Fay
Wray in Westerns throughout the silent era of the 1910s and 1920s.
His career faded quickly after sound, as his cowboy skills did
not extend to believable speaking onscreen. 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
was retired to a ranch in Oklahoma, where he lived out his days in
obscurity. |
