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