Art Acord

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Arthemus Ward "Art" Acord (April 17, 1890 – January 4, 1931) was an American silent film actor and rodeo champion.

Early life and career

Born to Mormon parents in Glenwood, Utah, as a young man Acord worked as a cowboy and ranch hand. He won the Steer Bulldogging world championship in 1912 and repeated as champion in 1916, defeating challenger and friend Hoot Gibson.

Acord was one of the few cowboys to have ridden the proclaimed bucking horse Steamboat—who later inspired the bucking horse logo on the Wyoming license plate—for the full eight seconds. His rodeo skills had been sharpened when he worked for a time for the Miller Brothers' traveling 101 Ranch Wild West Show. It was with the 101 that he made friends with Tom Mix, Bee Ho Gray, "Broncho Billy" Anderson and Hoot Gibson, all cowboys of the silver screen. He went on to become one of the first true stars of western films. A celebrated rodeo star, Acord not only acted but also wrote scripts and performed as a stunt man. He made over 100 film shorts, all but a few of which have been lost.

Acord enlisted in the United States Army in World War I and served overseas. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery. At war's end, he returned to the motion picture business, appearing in a series of popular film shorts and as "Buck Parvin", the title character for a Universal Pictures serial.

Because of a heavy drinking problem and his inability to adapt to the advent of talkies,Acord's film career faded, and he ended up performing in road shows and mining in Mexico.

Death

Art Acord died in Chihuahua, Mexico, aged 40, on January 4, 1931 from cyanide poisoning and complications related to hepatitis. Official Mexican records called it a suicide, but some of Acord's friends over the years insisted that he had been murdered by a Mexican politician who had caught Acord having an affair with his wife.

He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Acord has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street.

Art Acord films still available:

The Arizona Kid (1928)

Fighters of the Saddle (1929)

The White Outlaw (1929)