Western Actor, Rodeo Champion. Hoot Gibson was the idol of millions of American kids in the ’20s and well into the ’30s.  They packed the front seats for the Hoot Gibson Saturday matinees knowing ahead of time, the well worn scripts.  With the damsel in distress and things looking hopeless, it was common knowledge, Hoot astride his horse Goldie, was lurking nearby to set things right.  They stamped their feet drowning out the piano and shouted in unison…Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!  Almost as if hearing their chants, he rode onto the scene to the rescue.  His career would span some 200 silent and 75 sound films.  He was born as Edmund Richard Gibson in rural Nebraska near the small town of Tekamah.  At the age of seven, he was already proficient in horse back riding when along with his mother moved to Los Angeles.  At age fifteen, he began work for the Owl Drug store delivering prescriptions resulting in his moniker, “Hoot Owl” later simply “Hoot.”  With many horse ranches in the area and his love of horses, he found work while perfecting the skills of a rodeo performer which were good enough to win the all-around championship at the Western Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon and in the same year the steer roping World Championship at the Calgary Stampede. Gibson followed the rodeo circuit in the summers and then return to Los Angeles working for the studios performing stunts and doubling for stars in western films. The demand for cowboy pictures was so great that Hoot began receiving offers for leading roles including the first western movie by Director John Ford. Gibson portrayed an unusual cowboy, more of a comedian than an action hero and rarely carried a gun.  From the 1920s through the 1940’s, Gibson was a major film attraction successfully making the transition to talkies. He interrupted his movie career to serve in World War I in the Tank Corps. He became one of Universal’s mainstays performing in such hits as “Hit and Run” “Calgary Stampede” “Flaming Frontier” and the “King of the Rodeo.”  In 1930, Universal suspended Western production and Hoot signed with a succession of independent producers resulting in a series of cheap horse operas…”Wild Horse” “The Boiling Point” “Sunset Range” and “The Riding Avenger.”  He then teamed with Ken Maynard turning out the ultracheap “Trail Blazer” series for Monogram. His final movie was in a supporting role, “The Horse Soldiers” starring John Wayne in 1959 and after, Gibson was out of work and broke.  The six million he made was gone to bad investments, fast living and many marriages.  Diagnosed with cancer, he was ladened with medical bills. He continued to work until the end, taking any job to earn money.  A greeter at a Las Vegas casino for a time, then carnivals hired him for his name which still had value to the promoters.  As the disease progressed, he was admitted to the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills where he passed away at the age of 71.   His Legacy…For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Hoot has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 1979, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.   (bio by: Donald Greyfield)  Family links:  Spouses:  Helen Gibson (1892 – 1977)*  Sally Eilers (1908 – 1978)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Cancer Inscription:Beloved Cowboy Of The World