From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals. Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma, and attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time All-American for the school's football team. After his Olympic success in 1912, which included a record score in the decathlon, he added a victory in the All-Around Championship of the Amateur Athletic Union. In 1913, Thorpe signed with the New York Giants, and he played six seasons in Major League Baseball between 1913 and 1919. Thorpe joined the Canton Bulldogs American football team in 1915, helping them win three professional championships; he later played for six teams in the National Football League (NFL). He played as part of several all-American Indian teams throughout his career, and barnstormed as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of American Indians. From 1920 to 1921, Thorpe was nominally the first president of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which became the NFL in 1922. He played professional sports until age 41, the end of his sports career coinciding with the start of the Great Depression. He struggled to earn a living after that, working several odd jobs. He suffered from alcoholism, and lived his last years in failing health and poverty. He was married three times and had eight children, before suffering from heart failure and dying in 1953. Thorpe has received various accolades for his athletic accomplishments. The Associated Press named him the "greatest athlete" from the first 50 years of the 20th century, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him as part of its inaugural class in 1963. A Pennsylvania town was named in his honor and a monument site there is the site of his remains, which were the subject of legal action. Thorpe appeared in several films and was portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe – All-American.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 22, 1887
- March 28, 1953 (aged 65)
- Prague, Indian Territory [now Oklahoma], USA
- Actor, also writer
- 21 on MovieCove · 50 credits in all
What are Jim Thorpe's films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Morality.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 1
A split, not a type: Grounded 3 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 4 · Intense 0
Steady 1 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Jim Thorpe's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 21 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Jim Thorpe's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
50 credits, 21 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Wagon Master(1950)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
White Heat(1949)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Road to Utopia(1945)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Vampire's Ghost (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1945)
Outlaw Trail(1944)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Meet John Doe(1941)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Mexican Spitfire Out West (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
Prairie Schooners (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
Arizona Frontier (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
Henry Goes Arizona (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)
The Man from Texas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)
Frontier Scout(1938)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Start Cheering(1938)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Big City (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)
Trailin' West (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Wildcat Trooper (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Hill-Tillies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Silly Billies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Sutter's Gold (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Klondike Annie(1936)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Captain Blood(1935)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
The Ivory-Handled Gun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
Moonlight on the Prairie(1935)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Fighting Youth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
The Last Days of Pompeii(1935)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Barbary Coast(1935)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
It's in the Air(1935)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Wanderer of the Wasteland (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
The Daring Young Man(1935)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
She(1935)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
The Arizonian (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
Code of the Mounted (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
One Run Elmer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
Rustlers of Red Dog (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
Behold My Wife! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
The Red Rider (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Sweepings(1933)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
King Kong(1933)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Wild Horse Mesa(1932)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Air Mail (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
The Golden West (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
Always Kickin' (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
Off His Base (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
The Dark Horse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
My Pal, the King (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
Battling with Buffalo Bill (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)
Career shape
Star power in the 64th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 50 titles from 1931 to 1951.
Film career
- 1935Screen debut· She
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Jim Thorpe's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 55th percentile, the median of all 21; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 60th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
8 of their 21 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved5
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser8
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the acting 57/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 63, detractors 37. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Jim Thorpe work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jim Thorpe's MovieCove titles; Randolph Scott shares the most, 2.
- Randolph ScottShared titles: She (1935), Wild Horse Mesa (1932)See all 2 shared titles with Randolph Scott
- Max SteinerShared titles: Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951), She (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Max Steiner
