Ruth Mix
Mix at right in still from That Girl Oklahoma (1926)
Born(1912-07-13)July 13, 1912
Dewey, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedSeptember 21, 1977(1977-09-21) (aged 65)
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
OccupationFilm actress
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1930; ann. 1932)​
Harry Knight
​
​
(m. 1935, divorced)​
John A. Guthrie
​
​
(m. 1938, divorced)​
[1]
Howard Cragg
​
​
(m. 1939; died 1942)​
[2]
William Hickman Hill
​
​
(died 1976)​
[3]
Children3[3]
Parents

Nadine Ruth Mix[4] or Ruth Jane Mix[5] (July 13, 1912 – September 21, 1977) was an actress.

Early years

Mix was born in Dewey, Oklahoma,[citation needed] to Tom and Olive Stokes Mix.[6] She had a half-sister, Thomasina Mix.[7][8]

After they divorced, when Mix was 15, her mother asked a Los Angeles court to order that the girl's allowance be increased from $50 per month to $1,500 per month. The judge denied the request until someone was appointed guardian of her estate and said she would have to become a "boarding pupil" rather than a "day school pupil".[6] By January 1929, her monthly allowance had been increased to $225, but her spending led a judge to chastise her when a debt-collection agency attached an allowance check after she ran up a $1,000 hotel bill in New York. The judge admonished her to "try to be more modest about her ways of living."[5] The monthly allocation ended via another court ruling in 1930 after she married.[9]

Career

Mix started her acting career following in her father's footsteps. In the mid-1920s she starred in several silent films. She made a total of twelve westerns, particularly The Tonto Kid, Fighting Pioneers, Saddle Aces and Gunfire, all made in 1935. In 1936 she starred in three cliffhanger serials, The Black Coin, The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand, and Custer's Last Stand. She played the female lead in a few B-westerns, starring alongside Wally Walls and Hoot Gibson.

Mix retired from acting, becoming a roping artist and trick rider for her father's circus and wild west show.[10] In 1929, she performed in vaudeville, performing "in a novelty offering including singing and dancing"[11] and heading a Rodeo Revue show.[12] The Rodeo Revue had a cast of 35, featuring comedian Jed Dooley and including Toby Tobias and his orchestra and an eight-woman ballet group in addition to Mix and her horse, Lindy.[13]

Her father's show went bankrupt by the end of the 1930s, during the Great Depression.[citation needed] In 1939, she was part of the Wild West Show at the New York World's Fair,[14] and in 1941 she, along with Howard Cragg and B. H. Jones, headed a rodeo show that appeared at fairs.[15]

Personal life

On June 9, 1930, Mix married actor Douglas Gilmore in Yuma, Arizona. They separated in July 1931, with Mix planning to go to court to seek an annulment.[16] The annulment was granted in July 1932, to become effective automatically 90 days later.[4] Mix and Harry Knight, a "champion Canadian bronco buster" eloped to Reno, Nevada, and were married on June 5, 1935.[17]

Death

On September 21, 1977, Mix died in Corpus Christi, Texas, aged 65. Her name then was Ruth Hill, and she had lived in Corpus Christi since 1954.[10]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1926 That Girl Oklahoma
1926 Tex
1927 The Little Boss
1928 Four Sons Johann's Girl uncredited
1931 Red Fork Range Ruth Farell
1934 The Tonto Kid Nancy Cahill
1934 Gunfire Mary Vance
1935 Fighting Pioneers Wa-No-Na
1935 Saddle Aces Jane Langton
1936 Custer's Last Stand Elizabeth Custer serial
1936 The Clutching Hand Shirley McMillan serial
1936 The Riding Avenger Chita Ringer
1936 The Black Coin Dorothy Dale

References

  1. ^ "Ruth Mix wed". San Pedro News Pilot. December 29, 1938. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  2. ^ Jensen, Richard D. (2005). The Amazing Tom Mix: The Most Famous Cowboy of the Movies. !Universe. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-595-35949-3.
  3. ^ a b "Obituary William H. Hill Sr". Brownsville Herald. March 11, 1976. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Tom Mix's daughter free". The New York Times. July 8, 1932. p. 22. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Judge cautions Ruth Mix". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 6, 1929. p. 33. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Denies Ruth Mix's plea". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 3, 1928. p. 10. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "Tom Mix's Daughter to Wed". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 21, 1940. p. 22. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Tuska, Jon (1 October 1999). The Vanishing Legion: A History of Mascot Pictures, 1927-1935. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0749-1. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Mix wins allowance suit". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 5, 1930. p. 24. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Daughter of Tom Mix Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. p. 28. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Sharp Stock Offers Play Never Seen Here". The Pittsburgh Press. May 12, 1929. p. 84. Retrieved August 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Vaudeville". The New York Times. June 30, 1929. p. X 1. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ruth Mix and Horse 'Lindy' Star in Revue". The Minneapolis Star. October 19, 1929. p. 34. Retrieved August 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Taylor, Stephen (2006). Fats Waller on the Air: The Radio Broadcasts and Discography. Scarecrow Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8108-5656-1. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  15. ^ "Fair Program". Valley Morning Star. Texas, Harlingen. November 26, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved August 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Confirms Gilmore rift". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 10, 1931. p. 4. ProQuest 99215124. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "Tom Mix's Daughter Elopes". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 6, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved August 21, 2021.

External links

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