Other Cowboy Stars – Hoot Gibson

As editor of my high school yearbook, I met regularly with the representative from the yearbook company.  His name was Hoot Gibson.  He was a nice guy, your classic salesman.  He had a big meaty face, always smiling, couldn’t remember my name so he called me “T”.  My co-editor was named Todd, so he was “T” as well.  Together, we were “T n T.”  Guess why?  “Cuz you guys are dynamite!”

If you met the guy, you wouldn’t mistake him for a Western Movie Star.   But, then again, you wouldn’t mistake the actor in the leading role of 1936’s “Riding Avenger” for one either.  Paunchy, goofy-looking with big flabby cheeks and jowls, Hoot Gibson at 44 could fit no one’s idea of a cowboy hero.

Now, I understand he was a rodeo star in his youth, and made a ton of silent films.  I will have to see one of them.  Maybe he was great back then.

But to answer the question I regularly pose here, what was this cowboy star doing in 1936, when Charles Starrett was becoming a B-Western star?  Hoot Gibson was embarrassing himself.