In 1904 he was a bartender and marshal in the small town of Dewey, OK, which is also the hometown of actor/filmmaker Adam Ropp. Ropp is a close friend of the Tom Mix Museum and visits on a regular basis. Ironically, Ropp's directorial debut (Last Conversation (2003)) was shot in Dewey and starred Mix's great, great grandnephew, Bret Mix.
In the 2008 movie Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, the mysterious little boy claiming to be Walter Collins finally confesses to the police that the reason he ran away to Los Angeles was in hopes of meeting Tom Mix and his horse Tony.
In the series Bewitched in the episode "Serena's Youth Pill", Darin tries to convince young Larry Tate to drink the magic antidote by telling him it would help Larry grow up to be a cowboy like Tom Mix.
In Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig, archival footage is shown of Tom Mix attending a party at Hearst Castle near San Simeon, California.
Made over $6,000,000 during his career but an extravagant lifestyle had sharply reduced his estate to a modest amount by the time he died.
Never had kind words for John Wayne because, many believe, he was afraid that Wayne would push him out of the limelight. That hatred grew as Wayne's star rose and, due to the fact that Mix wouldn't take a pay cut to do radio, his own star began to fall. Asked by a journalist what he thought of Wayne, Mix only replied, "The only Christian words that I could use are 'no-talent upstart'". Wayne, for his part, had disliked Mix since Wayne's college days at USC, when Mix told several members of the football team (Wayne among them) to stop by Fox Studios and he would get them jobs in the movies. Wayne and several others did so a few weeks later, only to be informed that Mix had never told anyone at the studio about his promises of employment, and they were thrown off the lot. Wayne never forgave Mix.
On October 12, 1940, while driving his 1937 Cord Sportsman through the Arizona desert he took a turn too fast, a suitcase broke loose and struck him in the head and his car plunged into a ravine. The ravine was later named "The Tom Mix Wash" in his honor. A plaque at the location reads: "TOM MIX January 6, 1880 - October 12, 1940 Whose spirit left his body on this spot and whose characterization and portrayals in life served to better fix memories of the old west in the minds of living men.".
Profiled in "Back in the Saddle: Essays on Western Film and Television Actors", Gary Yoggy, ed. (McFarland, 1998).
Rumors that that Mix's radio career never got off the ground after he left films because his voice was high-pitched are not true. His voice, in fact, was deep and husky in tone. Radio was such a low-paying profession that it could not support his high-on-the-hog style of living. He loved sports cars, wild parties and fancy clothes. He owned a huge Hollywood mansion that had his name emblazoned above it in neon lights and had numerous ex-wives to support. Mix instead left films for his true passion, the circus. He became one of its greatest showmen.
Served as a pallbearer at the funeral of legendary western lawman Wyatt Earp in 1929.
There is a Tom Mix museum in Dewey, Oklahoma and another in Mix Run, Pennsylvania.
Tom Mix is mentioned as being a pall bearer and weeping at the funeral for Wyatt Earp at the beginning of the end credits for the 1993 George P. Cosmatos film Tombstone.
Tom Mix reportedly made over $6,000,000 (approaching $400 million in early 21st century, inflation-adjusted values) during his 26-year film career.
Tom's parents were Edwin and Elizabeth Mix. They named him Thomas Hezikiah Mix. When he enlisted in the Army in 1898, he listed his name as Thomas E. Mix (for Edwin).
Was portrayed by Bruce Willis in Sunset (1988).
When an injury caused football player John Wayne to drop out of USC, Tom Mix helped him get a job moving props in the back lot of Fox Studios.
When an injury caused football player John Wayne to drop out of USC, Tom Mix helped him get a job moving props in the back lot of Fox Studios.