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
Stingaree (1934)
as Stingaree
Ace of Aces (1933)
as Rex 'Rocky' Thorne
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as John McTavish
Shanghai Bound (1927)
as Jim Bucklin
Unguarded Women (1924)
as Douglas Albright
The Roundup (1941)
as Steve Payson
Icebound (1924)
as Ben Jordan
The Kansan (1943)
as John Bonniwell
Badlands of Dakota (1941)
as James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
The Tunnel (1935)
as Richard 'Mack' McAllan
The Ghost Ship (1943)
as Capt. Will Stone
The Mark of the Whistler (1944)
as Lee Selfridge Nugent
Blind Alibi (1938)
as Paul Dover
Top Man (1943)
as Tom Warren
American Empire (1942)
as Dan Taylor
The Stolen Jools (1931)
as Richard Dix
Souls for Sale (1923)
as Frank Claymore
Voice of the Whistler (1945)
as John Sinclair / John Carter
Eyes of the Underworld (1942)
as Police Chief Richard Bryan
Roar of the Dragon (1932)
as Carson
The Power of the Whistler (1945)
as William Everest
Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942)
as Wyatt Earp
Warming Up (1928)
as Bert Tulliver
The Whistler (1944)
as Earl C. Conrad
Reno (1939)
as William Shayne
The Vanishing American (1925)
as Nophaie
Man of Conquest (1939)
as Sam Houston
It Happened in Hollywood (1937)
as Tim Bart
The Conquerors (1932)
as Roger Standish / Roger Lennox
Twelve Crowded Hours (1939)
as Nick Green
Young Donovan's Kid (1931)
as Jim Donovan
The Wall Flower (1922)
as Walt Breen
The Marines Fly High (1940)
as Lt. Danny Darrick
Yellow Men and Gold (1922)
as Parrish
The Thirteenth Hour (1947)
as Steve Reynolds
The Love Doctor (1929)
as Dr. Gerald Summer
The Devil Is Driving (1937)
as Paul Driscoll
The Quarterback (1926)
as Jack Stone
West of the Pecos (1934)
as Pecos Smith
The Great Jasper (1933)
as Jasper Horn
The Arizonian (1935)
as Clay Tallant
Hell's Highway (1932)
as Frank 'Duke' Ellis
Special Investigator (1936)
as Bill Fenwick
Here I Am a Stranger (1939)
as Duke Allen
Sky Giant (1938)
as Capt. W.R. 'Stag' Cahill
Men Against the Sky (1940)
as Phil Mercedes
The Call of the Canyon (1923)
as Glenn Kilbourne
The Secret of the Whistler (1946)
as Ralph Harrison
Easy Come, Easy Go (1928)
as Robert Parker
The Public Defender (1931)
as Pike Winslow
His Greatest Gamble (1934)
as Phillip
No Marriage Ties (1933)
as Bruce Foster
Buckskin Frontier (1943)
as Stephen Brent
Fascinating Youth (1926)
as Richard Dix
The Lost Squadron (1932)
as Capt. 'Gibby' Gibson
To the Last Man (1923)
as Jean Isbel
A Man Must Live (1925)
as Geoffrey Farnell
Devil's Playground (1937)
as Jack Dorgan
Devil's Squadron (1936)
as Paul Redmond
The Woman with Four Faces (1923)
as Richard Templar
Day of Reckoning (1933)
as John Day
The Gay Defender (1927)
as Joaquin Murrieta
The Shock Punch (1925)
as Randall Lee Savage
Cherokee Strip (1940)
as Marshal Dave Lovell
Nothing but the Truth (1929)
as Robert Bennett
The Poverty of Riches (1921)
as John Colby
Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929)
as William Magee
The Lucky Devil (1925)
as Randy Farnum
The Wheel of Life (1929)
as Capt. Leslie Yeullet
A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (1929)
as Self
Sinners in Heaven (1924)
as Alan Croft
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Michael Moran
The Stranger (1924)
as Larry Darrant
Too Many Kisses (1925)
as Richard Gaylord, Jr.
Lovin' the Ladies (1930)
as Peter
Quicksands (1923)
as Lt. Bill
The Christian (1923)
as John Storm
Mysterious Intruder (1946)
as Don Gale
Manhattan (1924)
as Peter Minuit
Redskin (1929)
as Wing Foot
The Sin Flood (1922)
as Bill Bear
Womanhandled (1925)
as Bill Dana
Shooting Straight (1930)
as Larry Sheldon / Ted Walters
All's Fair in Love (1921)
as Bobby Cameron
Not Guilty (1921)
as Paul / Arthur Ellison (twins)
The Bonded Woman (1922)
as Lee Marvin
Secret Service (1931)
as Lewis Dumont
Racing Hearts (1923)
as Robby Smith
Fools First (1922)
as Tommy Frazer
Yellow Dust (1936)
as Bob Culpepper
One of Many (1917)
as James Lowery - Butler
Dangerous Curve Ahead (1921)
as Harley Jones
Let's Get Married (1926)
as Billy Dexter
Sporting Goods (1928)
as Richard Shelby
Men and Women (1925)
as Will Prescott
Knockout Reilly (1927)
as Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly
Man Power (1927)
as Tom Roberts
The Glorious Fool (1922)
as Billy Grant
Paradise for Two (1927)
as Steve Porter
Say It Again (1926)
as Bob Howard