In the early 20th century, there were five active cinemas in downtown Portsmouth. Many offered short films in between vaudeville acts. One star of the silver screen brought his act to the seacoast. Movie star Tom Mix, with friends, is seen below leaning on a cannon at Fort Constitution in New Castle, NH. Tom Mix, who had appeared in almost 300 movies before World War II, was in town in 1937 promoting a Wild West Circus show in Portsmouth. An archived image shows elephants in a local field exiting a Tom Mix Circus Wagon.
A crude newspaper clipping from June 1937 shows the Tom Mix Circus performing in Brackett Field in Portsmouth. In the top photo, Mix shows one of the performers that his gun is really loaded. He poses with his Arabian thoroughbred “Warrior.” The traveling circus also included a zebra and elephants.
READ: Vaudeville and Cinema in 1915
Thomas Hezekiah Mix (1880-1940). From soldier to bartender, Tom Mix got his first silent film role in “Cowboy Millionaire” in 1909. Appearing in hundreds of cowboy shorts, Mix’s salary reached $17,500 a week before he chose to return to performing live in the 1920s. A big earner and a big spender, he lost a fortune in the 1929 stock market crash. Mix was married five times and was honored to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral of the legendary Wyatt Earp. The King of the Cowboys died at age 60 in a car crash.
The cowboy star had been stationed here during the Spanish American War with the 4th U.S. Heavy Artillery from November 24, 1898 to April, 1899. Included in the photo (left to right) are: James Copley, son of Ord. Sgt. James R. Copley, US Ordinance Regt., Tom Mix (in cowboy hat), Chief Fred (“Biscuits”) Amazeen of New Castle Police, Jetta Ernest (who served with Mix at the fort and had gone hunting with him out West), Freddy Pridham, and Sally Ann Hatcher Dockham. At front is Ida Moore, daughter of Sgt. Gene Moore, H.D.P. 8th Reg. CAC.
© J. Dennis Robinson, 2026. Photo courtesy Portsmouth Athenaeum.
Media Mogul Monopolized Movies in 1915