Frederick Clifton Thomson (February 26, 1890 – December 25, 1928) was an American silent film cowboy[1] who rivaled Tom Mix in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus.

[3] His brother Samuel Harrison Thomson also attended Princeton University and won the all-round athlete of America title for 1919.

Movie star Mary Pickford visited the patients in the hospital ward with her friend, screenwriter Frances Marion.

[citation needed] Thomson and Marion were married on November 2, 1919, at the Memorial Baptist Church in New York City, with Pickford as maid of honor.

Signed by Joseph P. Kennedy's studio Film Booking Offices of America, he made his debut for FBO in 1924's The Mask of Lopez.

His April 1925 contract paid him $10,000 a week (equivalent to approximately $173,738 in 2023 dollars[14]) and also gave Thomson his own independent production unit at the studio.

[15] In 1927, Kennedy—sensing that Thomson had reached the peak of his popularity and seeing a financial opportunity for FBO—arranged a four-picture deal with Paramount Pictures, one of the major Hollywood studios.

[16] Paramount's exhibition circuit was more prestigious than FBO's, and its theaters, many located in larger cities, charged a premium for a ticket.

[18]After Thomson's death, Silver King appeared in a series of three-reel Westerns from Imperial Studios, starring Wally Wales.