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Actor Tom Mix killed in 1940....
Actor Tom Mix killed in 1940....
Item # 629010
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October 14, 1940
THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 14, 1940
* Western actor Tom Mix killed
* Arizona car accident
Page 19 has one column headings: "Mix's Body Flown West" "Military Rites for Cowboy Will Be Held in Glendale"
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Complete in 40 pages, this is the rare rag edition that was produced on very high quality newsprint, with a high percentage of cotton & linen content, allowing the issues to remain very white & sturdy into the present. Given the subscription cost, libraries & institutions rather than individuals were the primary subscribers of these high-quality editions. Nice condition.
wikipedia notes: Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) 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. He was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed. He bears a resemblance to current actor, Woody Harrelson.
On the afternoon of October 12, 1940, Mix was driving his 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton near Florence, Arizona, (between Tucson and Phoenix) on Arizona State Route 79 when he came upon construction barriers at a bridge previously washed away by a flash flood. A work crew watched as he was unable to brake in time and his car slid into a gully. A large polished aluminum suitcase he had put on the seat behind him flew forward and struck Mix in the back of the head, shattering his skull and breaking his neck. The 60-year-old actor was killed almost instantly. Accounts vary as to whether Mix was speeding before the accident and as to whether alcohol consumption by Mix may have played a role.
The site of his death is located on what is now State Route 79. There is a historical marker and the gully is named Tom Mix Wash. Mix is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
