Fred Thomson, a silent movie westerner, was a prominent figure in the 1920s film industry, rivaling the popularity of Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. Born Frederick Clifton Thomson in Pasadena, California in 1890, he was a natural athlete, playing football at Occidental College and Princeton Theological Seminary, where he broke numerous records.
Initially interested in the ministry, Thomson became a pastor in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, and married his college sweetheart, Gail Jepson, in 1913. After her tragic death from tuberculosis in 1916, he left his fellowship and enlisted in the military, serving as a technical adviser for the film Johanna Enlists (1918) and later as an Army chaplain.
Thomson met his second wife, pioneer screenwriter/director Frances Marion, through Mary Pickford, and they married in 1919. Initially interested in directing, he ended up starring in one of Frances' films, Just Around the Corner (1921),when an actor failed to show up for a shoot. The movie was a hit, and Thomson was signed to star in his own action serial, The Eagle's Talons (1923),in which he performed his own stunts.
Over the years, Thomson provided heroics in numerous westerns, including The Dangerous Coward (1924),Ridin' the Wind (1925),The Lone Hand Texan (1924),and Lone Hand Saunders (1926). Towards the end of his career, he played the legendary Jesse James and Kit Carson, and became the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927.
Tragically, Thomson's life was cut short when he contracted tetanus after breaking the skin of his foot stepping on a nail while working at his stables. The doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition, and he died in Los Angeles on Christmas Day in 1928, at the age of 38. His wife and two young sons survived him.
