YESTERYEAR'S ICONS: FRED THOMSON

Think of an early western movie star - chances are names like Tom Mix, Buck Jones and Ken Maynard spring up and yet Fred Thomson was a big a star as any of them. He made over 31 movies, of which only two are known to have survived.

Thomson was born in 1890 in California. His father was a Presbyterian minister. The young boy was athletic and excelled at all sports - in 1910 he won a national track and field event scoring 7.000 points. He repeated this a year later and in 1913 he scored 7,499 points in the New Jersey Track and Field competition to beat the legendary Jim Thorp's world record.

After graduation Thomson was ordained a minister and soon afterwards he married Gail Jepson.

The couple were gloriously happy but in 1916 Gail became seriously ill and passed away. Thomson was heartbroken and he left the ministry and joined the army.

He was posted overseas during the First World War and saw action in France. When the war was over Thomson looked up a pretty young girl who had visited him when in the army hospital. This was Frances Marion, a girl with Hollywood connections, and many movie stars attended their wedding.


Because of Thomson's good looks and athletic build he was persuaded to take a screen test and he was soon cast in an high budget serial, The Eagle's Talons. His second movie was a western and he became a big star shortly afterwards.

His trademark was the pure white stallion, Silver King which he rose in almost all his westerns. He was the clean cut hero - didn't smoke or drink and was kind to animals.

The westerns he made for F.B.O studios were massive hits and Thomson was ranked at the box office alongside the likes of Buck Jones and Tom Mix.

In December of 1928, while making the movie Jesse James for Paramount, Thomson became ill and died on Christmas Day of that year. He was 38 years old and was buried at Forest Lawn, Los Angeles.

He had made 31 films in his short time as an actor.

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The photograph below is of a framed set of old western lobby cards that I bought off Ebay for £3 - bargain or what. It's got pride of place above my desk in my den.