Al Hoxie

Biography: American leading man of silent Westerns whose career was much overshadowed by that of his more famous brother Jack Hoxie. He grew up in the backwoods and mountains of Idaho. His older brother had become a champion rodeo rider, a talent he parlayed into early success in cowboy movies. Following in his brother's footsteps, Al Hoxie moved to Los Angeles, not yet twenty years old. His brother Jack soon got him work as a stuntman and wrangler, and Al doubled for his brother and other actors in numerous films of the early 1920s. He began to get bit parts, and then bigger roles, in his brother's films and then on his own. A Poverty Row studio called Anchor Films saw potential in the strapping cowboy with the famous (last) name. They signed him to play the lead in a series of Westerns, which then led to a new series contract with producer Bud Barsky. None of these pictures ventured far beyond mediocre, and with the coming of sound in the late 1920s, Hoxie, with no great following, quit the business. He returned to his Northwest roots for several years, then returned to Los Angeles, this time to work as a conductor on the Red Line streetcars. For a few years he was a forest ranger, then went into law enforcement, first for the Anaheim, California, police department, and then for the Patton State Hospital. While there, Hoxie regained some public attention by disarming a deranged man with hostages. He was presented California's highest award for bravery, the California Medal of Honor. He retired thereafter and spent his remaining years in Redlands, California, where he died in 1982, seventeen years after the death of his more famous older brother.