Richard Dix
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Richard Dix was a major leading man at RKO Radio Pictures from 1929 through 1943. He was born Ernest Carlton Brimmer July 18, 1893, in St. Paul, Minnesota. There he was educated, and at the desires of his father, studied to be a surgeon. His obvious acting talent in his school dramatic club led him to leading roles in most of the school plays. At 6' 0" and 180 pounds, Dix excelled in sports, especially football and baseball. These skills would serve him well in the vigorous film roles he would go on to play. After a year at the University of Minnesota he took a position at a bank, spending his evenings training for the stage. His professional start was with a local stock company, and this led to similar work in New York. The death of his father left him with a mother and sister to support. He went to Los Angeles, became leading man for the Morosco Stock Company and his success there got him a contract with Paramount Pictures. His rugged good looks and dark features made him a popular player in westerns. His athletic ability led to his starring role in Paramount's Warming Up (1928), a baseball story and also the studio's first feature with synchronized score and sound effects. His deep voice and commanding presence were perfectly suited for the talkies, and he was signed by RKO Radio Pictures in 1929, scoring an early triumph in the all-talking mystery drama, Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929). In 1931 he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his masterful performance in Cimarron (1931), winner of the Best Picture Oscar that year. Throughout the 1930s Dix would be a big box-office draw at RKO, appearing in mystery thrillers, potboilers, westerns and programmers. He appeared in the "Whistler" series of mystery films at Columbia in the mid-40s. He retired from films in 1947. He first married Winifred Coe on October 20, 1931, had a daughter, Martha Mary Ellen, then divorced in 1933. He then married Virginia Webster on June 29, 1934. They had twin boys, Richard Jr. and Robert Dix and an adopted daughter, Sara Sue. Richard Dix the actor, died at age 56 on September 20, 1949.
Known for
Credits
Cimarron (1931)
as Yancey Cravat
Warming Up (1928)
as Bert Tulliver
Stingaree (1934)
as Stingaree
Souls for Sale (1923)
as Frank Claymore
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as John McTavish
Voice of the Whistler (1945)
as John Sinclair / John Carter
The Thirteenth Hour (1947)
as Steve Reynolds
The Whistler (1944)
as Earl C. Conrad
Racing Hearts (1923)
as Robby Smith
Ace of Aces (1933)
as Rex 'Rocky' Thorne
Shanghai Bound (1927)
as Jim Bucklin
It Happened in Hollywood (1937)
as Tim Bart
West of the Pecos (1934)
as Pecos Smith
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Michael Moran
A Man Must Live (1925)
as Geoffrey Farnell
The Woman with Four Faces (1923)
as Richard Templar
Unguarded Women (1924)
as Douglas Albright
The Shock Punch (1925)
as Randall Lee Savage
A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (1929)
as Self
The Gay Defender (1927)
as Joaquin Murrieta
Yellow Men and Gold (1922)
as Parrish
The Call of the Canyon (1923)
as Glenn Kilbourne
Badlands of Dakota (1941)
as James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
Sinners in Heaven (1924)
as Alan Croft
The Ghost Ship (1943)
as Capt. Will Stone
Man of Conquest (1939)
as Sam Houston
The Secret of the Whistler (1946)
as Ralph Harrison
The Vanishing American (1925)
as Nophaie
The Kansan (1943)
as John Bonniwell
Roar of the Dragon (1932)
as Carson
Paradise for Two (1927)
as Steve Porter
The Wall Flower (1922)
as Walt Breen
Eyes of the Underworld (1942)
as Police Chief Richard Bryan
Nothing but the Truth (1929)
as Robert Bennett
The Power of the Whistler (1945)
as William Everest
Mysterious Intruder (1946)
as Don Gale
Let's Get Married (1926)
as Billy Dexter
Knockout Reilly (1927)
as Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly
Day of Reckoning (1933)
as John Day
The Wheel of Life (1929)
as Capt. Leslie Yeullet
Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942)
as Wyatt Earp
The Public Defender (1931)
as Pike Winslow
Devil's Playground (1937)
as Jack Dorgan
The Mark of the Whistler (1944)
as Lee Selfridge Nugent
Here I Am a Stranger (1939)
as Duke Allen
Fascinating Youth (1926)
as Richard Dix
The Stolen Jools (1931)
as Richard Dix
Easy Come, Easy Go (1928)
as Robert Parker
To the Last Man (1923)
as Jean Isbel
Fools First (1922)
as Tommy Frazer
Yellow Dust (1936)
as Bob Culpepper
The Conquerors (1932)
as Roger Standish / Roger Lennox
Blind Alibi (1938)
as Paul Dover
Top Man (1943)
as Tom Warren
Hell's Highway (1932)
as Frank 'Duke' Ellis
The Love Doctor (1929)
as Dr. Gerald Summer
Young Donovan's Kid (1931)
as Jim Donovan
The Marines Fly High (1940)
as Lt. Danny Darrick
The Arizonian (1935)
as Clay Tallant
The Glorious Fool (1922)
as Billy Grant
Devil's Squadron (1936)
as Paul Redmond
Men Against the Sky (1940)
as Phil Mercedes
Special Investigator (1936)
as Bill Fenwick
American Empire (1942)
as Dan Taylor
Say It Again (1926)
as Bob Howard
Shooting Straight (1930)
as Larry Sheldon / Ted Walters
The Great Jasper (1933)
as Jasper Horn
One of Many (1917)
as James Lowery - Butler
The Lost Squadron (1932)
as Capt. 'Gibby' Gibson
Buckskin Frontier (1943)
as Stephen Brent
Cherokee Strip (1940)
as Marshal Dave Lovell
Reno (1939)
as William Shayne
The Poverty of Riches (1921)
as John Colby
Twelve Crowded Hours (1939)
as Nick Green
All's Fair in Love (1921)
as Bobby Cameron
The Roundup (1941)
as Steve Payson
The Sin Flood (1922)
as Bill Bear
Sky Giant (1938)
as Capt. W.R. 'Stag' Cahill
The Christian (1923)
as John Storm
No Marriage Ties (1933)
as Bruce Foster
Lovin' the Ladies (1930)
as Peter
The Quarterback (1926)
as Jack Stone
Man Power (1927)
as Tom Roberts
The Stranger (1924)
as Larry Darrant
The Tunnel (1935)
as Richard 'Mack' McAllan
Manhattan (1924)
as Peter Minuit
The Devil Is Driving (1937)
as Paul Driscoll
Dangerous Curve Ahead (1921)
as Harley Jones
The Lucky Devil (1925)
as Randy Farnum
Sporting Goods (1928)
as Richard Shelby
His Greatest Gamble (1934)
as Phillip
Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929)
as William Magee
Redskin (1929)
as Wing Foot
Icebound (1924)
as Ben Jordan
Quicksands (1923)
as Lt. Bill
The Bonded Woman (1922)
as Lee Marvin
Men and Women (1925)
as Will Prescott
Too Many Kisses (1925)
as Richard Gaylord, Jr.
Womanhandled (1925)
as Bill Dana
Secret Service (1931)
as Lewis Dumont
Not Guilty (1921)
as Paul / Arthur Ellison (twins)