Slim was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Hebert and Hallie Cole.[3] His mother's father, Nathan Cole, was once mayor of St. Louis.[4] Joseph Hebert, Slim's father, died when Slim was a toddler, and he was raised by his mother in the Los Angeles area.[5][6][7]
While working as a forest ranger in the San Bernardino Mountains, he learned how to ride a motorcycle, a skill that would serve him well when he entered the motion picture industry around 1915.[8] "They laughed at me when I started patrolling the forests on motorcycle, but after I got the knack for following old trails and making new ones, I showed them that I could cover as much territory as four rangers on mounted horses."[1]
After being spotted by a motion picture director, Slim was soon in demand for his willingness to perform all sorts of death-defying stunts. He often worked with fellow stunt performer and actress Grace Cunard. Early on, he was employed by Charlie Chaplin's studio.[9]
In 1922, he briefly returned to St. Louis with the ambition of starting a motion picture industry in his hometown. He also aimed to give his body a rest after years of being roughed up on the job. "I'm getting too old for the business," he told a reporter with The St. Louis Post Dispatch. "I'm only 29, but I've been through a lot, and I don't have to wait for a psychic hunch."
He did continue to act, but his roles got smaller and smaller until he was pretty much only landing bit parts.[6]
Cole married Katherine Fay in 1915; the couple divorced in 1921.[10] After his last film was released in 1932, it's unknown what happened to Cole.