Arthemus Ward "Art" Acord (April 17, 1890 – January 4, 1931) was an American

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

actor and

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

champion. After his film career ended in 1929, Acord worked in rodeo road shows and as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

in Mexico.

Early life and career

Acord was born in Prattville, Utah, to Valentine Louis Acord and Mary Amelia Acord (née Pedersen), Utah pioneers and members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Acord's father was of German and English descent. The Acord family descends from a Prussian mercenary soldier of the American Revolutionary War whose name was Eckert. Acord's paternal grandmother was a descendant of Frances Latham, an early settler of New England who has been called the "Mother of Governors" and the "Mother of Champion Cowboys". Acord's mother, who was of Danish descent, died when Art was just 19 months old while the family was living in the Stillwater, Oklahoma area. The Acord family had moved there for the mother's health and took part in the September 28, 1891 Oklahoma Land Run. She died a few weeks later on November 28, 1891. After her death, the family moved back to Utah. As a young man, Acord worked as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

, ranch hand and rodeo contestant. He worked on the ranch of Preston Nutter. In 1912, he won the World

Steer Wrestling Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it fall ...

( Bulldogging) Championship at the

Pendleton Round-up The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...

and won that same World Championship title again in 1916, defeating challenger and friend

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitioned ...

. Acord was one of the few cowboys to have ridden the acclaimed bucking horse Steamboat (who later inspired the bucking horse logo on the Wyoming license plate) for a qualified ride and championship. His rodeo skills had been sharpened when he worked for a time for the Miller Brothers' traveling

101 Ranch Wild West Show The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma before statehood. Located near modern-day Ponca City, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army, in 1893.Hoy, JimC ...

. It was with the 101 that he became friends with

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...

Yakima Canutt Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen performing them ...

Bee Ho Gray Bee Ho Gray (born Emberry Cannon Gray; April 7, 1885, in Leon, Oklahoma, Leon, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory – August 3, 1951, in Pueblo, Colorado) was a Western performer who spent 50 years displaying his skills in Wild West shows, vaudevi ...

, "Broncho Billy" Anderson and

. He was sometimes called the "Mormon cowboy" and has been noted as the first real cowboy to become a Hollywood cowboy. He went on to become a noted actor in silent

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

s. Acord also performed as a

stunt man A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. He made over 100 film shorts, most of which are now considered lost. Acord enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and served overseas. He was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

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 Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

serial. Because of a heavy drinking problem and his inability to adapt to the advent of

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

, Acord's film career declined and he ended up performing in road shows and mining in Mexico. In March 1928 Acord was seriously burned in an explosion at his home; the loss of his sight was feared.

Personal life

Acord was married three times. His first marriage was to actress Edythe Sterling in 1913. They divorced in 1916. In 1920, he married former actress Edna May Nores. Nores filed for divorce in April 1924 citing physical abuse and infidelity. The divorce was finalized the following year. His third marriage was to actress

Louise Lorraine Louise Lorraine (born Louise Escovar; October 1, 1904 – February 2, 1981) was an American actress. Life and career Louise Lorraine was born Louise Escovar in San Francisco, California. Lorraine began working in films as an extra and "a bat ...

on April 14, 1926. The couple divorced in June 1928.

Death

On January 4, 1931, Acord died in a Chihuahua, Mexico hospital shortly after taking

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

in a local hotel room. He was depressed and told the doctor who treated him shortly before he died that he had intentionally taken poison because he wanted to die. His body was sent back to California by train. He was given a military funeral with full honors and was buried in the Vale of Memory section in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Acord has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 1709 Vine Street.

Partial filmography

References

External links