Fred Thomson
Encyclopedia
Frederick Clifton Thomson (February 26, 1890 – December 25, 1928) was an American
silent film
cowboy
who rivaled Tom Mix
in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus
.
to Clara and Williell Thomson, he was the third of four sons. His father was a Presbyterian minister. His brother Samuel Harrison Thomson also attended Princeton University
and won the all-round athlete of America title for 1919.
He attended the Princeton Theological Seminary
from 1910-13 and he won the All-Around Champion title given out by the Amateur Athletic Union
in 1910, 1911 and 1913.
He married his college sweetheart, Gail Jepson and was ordained by the Presbytery of Los Angeles in September 1913. Three years later, Gail Jepson died of tuberculosis
.
During World War I
, Thomson served in the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment (known as the Mary Pickford
Regiment) in Arcadia, California
as U.S. Army Chaplain
. While playing football
, he broke his leg. Mary Pickford
visited the patients in the hospital ward with her friend Frances Marion
. They agreed to marry after the war was over. The 143rd were sent to France
in August 1918, but did not see any action before the armistice
on November 11, 1918.
. Initially interested in directing, he ended up acting in one of Frances' films Just Around the Corner (1921). The movie was a success. Next, he had a co-starring role in another Pickford movie, The Love Light (1921), which was also directed and written by Frances. In 1923, Thomson starred in his own action serial The Eagle's Talons in which he performed his own stunts. Thompson was the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927.
, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed. He died in Los Angeles
on Christmas Day, 1928. He was survived by his widow, and their children Richard Thomson
(adopted) and Frederick C. Thomson.
Thomson was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California, in Whispering Pines, L-163 section. Pallbearers at his funeral included Harold Lloyd, Charles Farrell, Douglas Fairbanks, and George W. Hill; honorary pallbearers included Buster Keaton and movie mogul Joseph M. Schenck.
horse seventeen hands high. Al Rogell who directed Thomson's first seven Western films, told about Silver King:
After Thomson's death, Silver King appeared in a series of three-reel Westerns from Imperial Studios, starring Wally Wales.
In Thundering Hoofs, Thomson performs a dangerous jump from a moving stagecoach to one of the horses pulling the coach. He fell and suffered a compound fracture of his right thigh. Yakima Canutt
completed the stunt. Production of the movie was delayed for weeks while Thomson recovered from his injury.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
who rivaled Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus
Tetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
.
Birth and athletic achievement
Born in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
to Clara and Williell Thomson, he was the third of four sons. His father was a Presbyterian minister. His brother Samuel Harrison Thomson also attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and won the all-round athlete of America title for 1919.
He attended the Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...
from 1910-13 and he won the All-Around Champion title given out by the Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
in 1910, 1911 and 1913.
He married his college sweetheart, Gail Jepson and was ordained by the Presbytery of Los Angeles in September 1913. Three years later, Gail Jepson died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Thomson served in the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment (known as the Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
Regiment) in Arcadia, California
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....
as U.S. Army Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. While playing football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, he broke his leg. Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
visited the patients in the hospital ward with her friend Frances Marion
Frances Marion
Frances Marion was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter often cited as the most renowned female screenwriter of the twentieth century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos.-Career:...
. They agreed to marry after the war was over. The 143rd were sent to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in August 1918, but did not see any action before the armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
on November 11, 1918.
Movie career
Thomson and Marion were married on November 2, 1919, at the Memorial Baptist Church in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Initially interested in directing, he ended up acting in one of Frances' films Just Around the Corner (1921). The movie was a success. Next, he had a co-starring role in another Pickford movie, The Love Light (1921), which was also directed and written by Frances. In 1923, Thomson starred in his own action serial The Eagle's Talons in which he performed his own stunts. Thompson was the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927.
Death
In early December 1928, he stepped on a nail while working in his stables. Contracting tetanusTetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed. He died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on Christmas Day, 1928. He was survived by his widow, and their children Richard Thomson
Richard Thomson
Richard Thomson, sometimes spelled Thompson, was a Dutch-born English theologian and translator. He was Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge and the translator of Martial's epigrams and among the "First Westminster Company" charged by James I of England with the translation of the first 12 books of the...
(adopted) and Frederick C. Thomson.
Thomson was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California, in Whispering Pines, L-163 section. Pallbearers at his funeral included Harold Lloyd, Charles Farrell, Douglas Fairbanks, and George W. Hill; honorary pallbearers included Buster Keaton and movie mogul Joseph M. Schenck.
Silver King
Silver King was a white PalominoPalomino
Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" base coat...
horse seventeen hands high. Al Rogell who directed Thomson's first seven Western films, told about Silver King:
- "He did all of the work...everything in the early pictures—the mouth work, the jumps, the chases, the falls, quick stops—and could untie knots, lift bars, etc. He could wink one eye, nod his head yes or no, push a person with his head. Thomson trained him to do certain things and expected him to perform them."
After Thomson's death, Silver King appeared in a series of three-reel Westerns from Imperial Studios, starring Wally Wales.
Filmography
Only two of Thomson's movies have survived to the present day, The Love Light (VHS & DVD), starring Mary Pickford and Thundering Hoofs (VHS). (Silent movies were printed on nitrate film stock which was extremely flammable.)In Thundering Hoofs, Thomson performs a dangerous jump from a moving stagecoach to one of the horses pulling the coach. He fell and suffered a compound fracture of his right thigh. Yakima Canutt
Yakima Canutt
Yakima Canutt , also known as Yak Canutt, was an American rodeo rider, actor, stuntman and action director.-Biography:...
completed the stunt. Production of the movie was delayed for weeks while Thomson recovered from his injury.
- Just Around the Corner (1921)
- The Love Light (1921)
- Penrod (1922)
- Oath-Bound (1922)
- The Eagle's TalonsThe Eagle's TalonsThe Eagle's Talons is a 1923 film serial directed by Duke Worne. The film is considered to be lost.-Cast:* Fred Thomson - Jack Alden* Ann Little - Enid Markham* Al Wilson - Charles Dean* Herbert Fortier - Gregory Markham* Joseph W...
(1923) - A Chapter in Her Life (1923)
- The Mask of Lopez (1924)
- North of Nevada (1924)
- Galloping Gallagher (1924)
- The Silent Stranger (1924)
- The Dangerous Coward (1924)
- The Fighting Sap (1924)
- Thundering Hoofs (1924)
- That Devil Quemado (1925)
- The Bandit's Baby (1925)
- The Wild Bull's Lair (1925)
- Ridin' the Wind (1925)
- All Around Frying Pan (1925)
- The Tough Guy (1926)
- Hands Across the Border (1926)
- The Two-Gun Man (1926)
- Lone Hand Saunders (1926)
- A Regular Scout (1926)
- Don Mike (1927)
- Silver Comes Through (1927)
- Arizona Nights (1927)
- Jesse James (1927)
- Pioneer Scout (1928)
- The Sunset Legion (1928)
- Kit Carson (1928)
Further reading
- More Than A Cowboy: The Life and Times of Fred Thomson and Silver King (1988), Edgar M Wyatt, Wyatt Classics.
External links
- Fred Thomson Collectible Cards
- Fred Thomson at 'Readers of The Purp[le Sage'
- Fred Thomson "Vanity Fair" article at http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2002/04/joekennedy200204