Fred Thomson

Infobox actor
name = Fred Thomson


imagesize = 250px
caption = (1927 or 1928)
birthname = Frederick Clifton Thomson
birthdate = birth date|1890|2|26|mf=y
location = Pasadena, California, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1928|12|25|1890|2|26|mf=y
deathplace = Los Angeles, California
spouse =Gail Dubois Jepson (1913 - 1916)
Frances Marion (1919 - 1928)

Frederick Clifton Thomson (February 26 1890–December 25 1928) was an American silent film cowboy. He was a natural actor who rivaled Tom Mix in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus.

Birth and athletic achievement

Born in Pasadena, California to Williell and Clara Thomson, he was the third of four sons. After graduating college, Fred competed in the "National Amateur Athletic Union’s" Field and Track Championship Meet in the summer of 1910. He won the event with 7009 points and the title of "All-Around Champion." ["More Than A Cowboy: The Life and Times of Fred Thomson and Silver King" (1988), Edgar M Wyatt, Wyatt Classics, page 23.]

He attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1910 to 1913 and won the "All-Around Champion" title in 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" [ibid, page 38.] ) 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. It was love at first sight and within 10 days Fred and Frances agreed to marry after the war was over. [ibid, page 39.]

The 143rd were sent to France in August 1918, but did not see any action before the armistice on November 11 1918.

Movie career

Fred and Marion were married on November 2 1919 at the "Memorial Baptist Church" in New York City. 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, Fred starred in his own action serial "The Eagle's Talons" in which he performed his own stunts.

Fred was the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927. [imdb name|0861000|Fred Thomson]

Death

In early December 1928, he stepped on a nail while working in his stables. Contracting tetanus, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed, he died in Los Angeles on Christmas Day in 1928.

ilver King

Silver King was a white Palomino 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. Fred trained him to do certain things and expected him to perform them." ["More Than A Cowboy: The Life and Times of Fred Thomson and Silver King" (1988), Edgar M Wyatt, Wyatt Classics, page 52.]

After Thomson's death, Silver King appeared in a series of three-reel Westerns from Imperial Studios, starring Wally Wales. [ibid, page 110.]

Filmography

Only two of Fred 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", Fred 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 Fred recovered from his injury.
* "Just Around the Corner" (1921)
* "The Love Light" (1921)
* "Penrod" (1922)
* "Oath-Bound" (1922)
* "The Eagle's Talons" (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)

References

Further reading

*"More Than A Cowboy: The Life and Times of Fred Thomson and Silver King" (1988), Edgar M Wyatt, Wyatt Classics.

External links

*imdb name|id=0861000|name=Fred Thomson
* [http://www.liss.olm.net/buster/fredthomson.html Fred Thomson Collectible Cards]
*findagrave|11564 Retrieved on 2008-03-19