Aug. 23, 1962 - Hoot Gibson (pictured in 1936), one of Hollywood’s most famous cowboy stars, died this morning of cancer at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 70 years old. His last film appearance was in 1959 in a bit part in John Wayne’s “The Horse Soldiers.” Mr. Gibson’s film career blossomed in 1925, and for about five years he was one of Hollywood’s leading stars. His salary during these golden days was $14,500 a week, and he was surrounded by fast cars, racehorses, and planes. His recent years were spent in something less than the opulence he once knew. A series of bad business investments left him almost penniless. But he never lost his courage. “I don’t cry,” he said while in a hospital in 1960. “I guess we’ll eat.”
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