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