Richard Dix
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1893-07-18
Deathday 1949-09-20 (56 years old)
Place of Birth Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As Ernest Carlton Brimmer
Richard Dix
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, 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
Actor
as Steve Reynolds
as Ralph Harrison
as Don Gale
as John Sinclair / John Carter
as William Everest
as Lee Selfridge Nugent
as Earl C. Conrad
as Capt. Will Stone
as Tom Warren
as John Bonniwell
as Stephen Brent
as Dan Taylor
as Police Chief Richard Bryan
as Wyatt Earp
as James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
as Steve Payson
as Marshal Dave Lovell
as Phil Mercedes
as Lt. Danny Darrick
as William Shayne
as Duke Allen
as Sam Houston
as Nick Green
as Capt. W.R. 'Stag' Cahill
as Paul Dover
as Tim Bart
as Paul Driscoll
as Jack Dorgan
as Bill Fenwick
as Paul Redmond
as Bob Culpepper
as Richard 'Mack' McAllan
as Clay Tallant
as Pecos Smith
as Phillip
as Stingaree
as John Day
as Rex 'Rocky' Thorne
as Bruce Foster
as Jasper Horn
as Roger Standish / Roger Lennox
as Frank 'Duke' Ellis
as Carson
as Capt. 'Gibby' Gibson
as Lewis Dumont
as Pike Winslow
as Jim Donovan
as Richard Dix
as Yancey Cravat
as Larry Sheldon / Ted Walters
as Peter
as William Magee
as Wing Foot
as Capt. Leslie Yeullet
as Self
as Robert Bennett
as Dr. Gerald Summer
as Michael Moran
as Bert Tulliver
as Robert Parker
as Richard Shelby
as Joaquin Murrieta
as Jim Bucklin
as Tom Roberts
as Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly
as Steve Porter
as Jack Stone
as Bob Howard
as Richard Dix
as Billy Dexter
as Bill Dana
as Nophaie
as Randy Farnum
as Will Prescott
as Randall Lee Savage
as Geoffrey Farnell
as Richard Gaylord, Jr.
as Peter Minuit
as Alan Croft
as Douglas Albright
as Ben Jordan
as Larry Darrant
as Glenn Kilbourne
as John McTavish
as Jean Isbel
as Robby Smith
as Richard Templar
as Frank Claymore
as Lt. Bill
as John Storm
as Bill Bear
as Lee Marvin
as Tommy Frazer
as Parrish
as Walt Breen
as Billy Grant
as John Colby
as Harley Jones
as Bobby Cameron
as Paul / Arthur Ellison (twins)
as James Lowery - Butler
Producer
as Producer