Three years later, after working as a physical fitness instructor, bartender, and peace officer, he was hired as a full-time cowboy for the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch.
His films for Selig were usually one and two-reel shorts that initially emphasized humor in the tradition of Will Rogers but eventually moved into action-oriented stories that displayed Mix's riding and stunting prowess.
During his peak period in the 1920s Mix appeared in action-packed westerns filled with fights and chases which often showed him doing his own stunt work.
[10] Among the notable directors that he worked with during this time were John Ford, Sidney Franklin, Jack Conway, George Marshall, and Roy William Neill.
[9] His leading ladies included Louella Maxam, Colleen Moore, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante, Billie Dove and Clara Bow.
[16] In 1910, Will A. Dickey, owner of the Circle D Ranch Wild West Show and Indian Congress, signed a deal to provide stock and wranglers for the Selig motion picture company.
Dickey had seen Mix perform with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show and asked him if he would be interested in appearing in films.
Mix, however, was not interested in remaining in films and signed with Zack Mulhall's Wild West Show to help organize the Appalachian Exposition in Knoxville, Tennessee, which was scheduled to run in October and November.
[20] In the spring of 1911 Mix left the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Show and resumed his career as an actor with the Selig Polyscope Company.
[20] Early in 1912 Mix left the film industry and joined Guy Weadick, one of his former 101 Ranch associates, to stage the first Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada.
In January 1913 Mix accepted an offer from Selig to return to acting in films as part of a production unit in Prescott, Arizona, until the supervision of actor-director William Duncan.
By that time Mix had been reassigned work with Colin Campbell, one of Selig's top directors, to appear in films produced in Truckee, California.
[23] Later in 1914 Selig gave Mix his own unit, which allowed him to write, direct and star in films made in Glendale, California.
The Selig Company began to experience a decline in its profits around this time, due in part to World War I cutting off its foreign market.
As his Fox films often teamed him with notable directors (such as John Ford, Sidney Franklin, Jack Conway, George Marshall, and Roy William Neill) an extra column now appears to list them.
[239] In November 1931, Mix received an offer from Carl Laemmle of Universal Studios to star in a series of sound westerns.
To help finance this deal Mix signed with film producer Nat Levine's Mascot Pictures to appear in a western serial.