Wyatt Earp stands next to a 1926 Packard Model 326 "Opera Coupe" believed to have belonged to actor William S. Hart ~ Vintage Everyday

Wyatt Earp stands next to a 1926 Packard Model 326 “Opera Coupe” that reportedly belonged to silent film actor William S. Hart. Tom Mix preferred flashier cars and didn’t skimp on spending when he went out on the town with Wyatt—the actor earned $7,500 a week at Fox, with virtually no income tax!

While living in Los Angeles, Earp became a volunteer consultant for several silent cowboy films. In 1915, Earp visited the set of director Allan Dwan’s film, The Half-Breedwith Douglas Fairbanks in the lead role. In his autobiography, Dwan recalled: “As was the custom in those days, he (Earp) was invited to join in the fun and mingle with our action in the background.”

Earp became friends with William S. Hart and later Tom Mix, two of the most famous cowboys of their time. Hart was a strong believer in realism in his depictions of Western life, and he may have relied on Earp’s advice.

Earp tried to convince his good friend William S. Hart to help him set the record straight about his life and make a film. “If this story were exploited on the screen by you,” he wrote to Hart, “it would go a long way toward setting me straight before a public that has always been fed lies about me.”