Artemus Ward Acord (April 17, 1890 – January 4, 1931) was an American silent film actor and rodeo champion.
Born to Mormon parents in Prattsville, Utah, as a young man Acord worked as a cowboy and ranch hand. He went on to become one of the first true cowboys of Western films. A celebrated rodeo champion, Acord not only acted, but wrote scipts and performed as a stuntman. He won the Steer Bulldogging world championship in 1912 and repeated as champion in 1916, defeating challenger and friend, Hoot Gibson.
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.
Art Acord died in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, on January 4, 1931. Offical 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.
During his life, Art Acord made over 100 film shorts, all but a few of which have been lost.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Art 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)
See also: Other notable figures in Western films
