Movie Cowboy: Hoot Gibson was a major movie cowboy star with a comedic bent who actually began his career in the rodeo then began doing stunts for silent films.
He was born Edmund Richard Gibson on August 6, 1892 in Tekamah, Nebraska and supposedly got his nickname because of a love of owl hunting.In 1912, Gibson won the title of The World’s All-Around Cowboy Champion in Pendleton, Oregon, then went on to serve in the U.S. Army during World War I.
Hoot purchased the Baker Ranch Rodeo in 1930. It later became know as the Saugus Speedway. He worked with director John Ford in a series of westerns, beginning a career that would span some 200 silent and 75 sound films, in which he functioned mostly as a comedic foil to the hero.
He retired in 1939 but made a comeback of sorts when he appeared in “The Horse Soldiers” in 1959 starring John Wayne. He died August 23,1962.