Richard Dix
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Richard Dix (July 18, 1893 - September 20, 1949) was an American actor. Born Ernest Carlton Brimmer in St. Paul, Minnesota, he had studied to be a surgeon but took most of the leading roles while studying drama in school. After dropping out of the University of Minnesota after one year, he got a job at a bank. He took up with a local stock company, which led to acting work in New York City.
He moved to Hollywood, where he began a career in Western movies. One of the few actors to successfully bridge the transition from silent films to talkies, Dix's best-remembered early role was in Cecil B. Demille's silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Yancey Cravat in Cimarron, in 1931, in which he shared top-billing with Irene Dunne. Cimarron was based on the popular novel by Edna Ferber, and took home the Best Picture award at The Oscars that year. Around this time Dix was seen in another RKO adventure, The Lost Squadron.
Another memorable role for Dix was in 1935's British production of a futuristic yarn entitled, Transatlantic Tunnel, that accurately predicted things to come. It is of note that an original poster for this film was catalogued with an estimated value of between $ 2000 -$ 3000 by Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas in the Summer of 2006.
Dix later starred in The Great Jasper and Blind Alibi in the late 1930s. Dix's popular RKO Radio Pictures co-star in Blind Alibi was "Ace, the Wonder Dog." Dix's human co-stars in that film were Whitney Bourne, Eduardo Ciannelli, and the film was directed by Lew Landers. Blind Alibi's screenplay was by Lionel Houser, Harry Segall, and Ron Ferguson.
In the 1940s he starred in The Whistler, the first of a series of eight "Whistler" films for Columbia Pictures. He retired from acting after making the second to last movie in the Whistler series, The Thirteenth Hour. He died two years later in 1949 of a heart attack and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. He was survived by his three children from his two marriages.
Dix has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine Street.
Contents |
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Silent Films
| Year | No. | Title | Role |
| 1917 | 1 | One of Many | James Lowery |
| 1921 | 2 | Not Guilty | Paul Ellison |
| Arthur Ellison | |||
| 3 | All's Fair in Love | Bobby Cameron | |
| 4 | Dangerous Curve Ahead | Harley Jones | |
| 5 | The Poverty of Riches | John Colby | |
| 1922 | 6 | The Glorious Fool | Billy Grant |
| 7 | Yellow Men and Gold | Parrish | |
| 8 | Fools First | Tommy Frazer | |
| 9 | The Wall Flower | Walt Breen | |
| 10 | The Bonded Woman | Lee Marvin | |
| 11 | The Sin Flood | Bill Bear | |
| 1923 | 12 | The Christian | John Storm |
| 13 | Quicksands | Lieutenant Bill | |
| 14 | Souls for Sale | Frank Claymore | |
| 15 | The Woman with Four Faces | Richard Templar | |
| 16 | Racing Hearts | Robby Smith | |
| 17 | To the Last Man | Jean Isbel | |
| 18 | The Ten Commandments | John McTavish | |
| 19 | The Call of the Canyon | Glenn Kilbourne | |
| 1924 | 20 | The Stranger | Larry Darrant |
| 21 | Icebound | Ben Jordan | |
| 22 | Unguarded Women | Douglas Albright | |
| 23 | Sinners in Heaven | Alan Croft | |
| 24 | Manhattan | Peter Minuit | |
| 25 | Too Many Kisses | Richard Gaylord, Jr | |
| 26 | A Man Must Live | Geoffrey Farnell | |
| 1925 | 27 | The Shock Punch | Randall Lee Savage |
| 28 | Men and Women | Will Prescott | |
| 29 | The Lucky Devil | Randy Farnum | |
| 30 | The Vanishing American | Nophaie | |
| 31 | Womanhandled | Bill Dana | |
| 1926 | 32 | Let's Get Married | Billy Dexter |
| 33 | Fascinating Youth | Guest | |
| 34 | Say It Again | Bob Howard | |
| 35 | The Quarterback | Jack Stone | |
| 1927 | 36 | Paradise for Two | Steve Porter |
| 37 | Knockout Reilly | Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly | |
| 38 | Man Power | Tom Roberts | |
| 39 | Shanghai Bound | Jim Bucklin | |
| 40 | The Gay Defender | Joaquin Murrieta | |
| 1928 | 41 | Sporting Goods | Richard Shelby |
| 42 | Easy Come, Easy Go | Robert Parker | |
| 43 | Warming Up | Bert Tulliver | |
| 44 | Moran of the Marines | Michael Moran | |
| 1929 | 45 | The Love Doctor | Dr. Gerald Summer |
| 46 | Redskin | Wingfoot |
[edit] Sound Films
| Year | No. | Title | Role |
| 1929 | 47 | Nothing But the Truth | Robert Bennett |
| 48 | The Wheel of Life | Captain Leslie Yeullet | |
| 49 | Seven Keys to Baldpate | William Halliwell Magee | |
| 1930 | 50 | Lovin' the Ladies | Peter Darby |
| 51 | Shooting Straight | Larry Sheldon | |
| 1931 | 52 | Cimarron | Yancey Cravat |
| 53 | Young Donovan's Kid | Jim Donovan | |
| 54 | The Public Defender | Pike Winslow | |
| 55 | Secret Service | Captain Lewis Dumont | |
| 1932 | 56 | The Lost Squadron | Capt. 'Gibby' Gibson |
| 57 | Roar of the Dragon | Captain Chauncey Carson | |
| 58 | Hell's Highway | Frank 'Duke' Ellis | |
| 59 | The Conquerors | Roger Standish | |
| Roger Standish Lennox | |||
| 1933 | 60 | The Great Jasper | Jasper Horn |
| 61 | No Marriage Ties | Bruce Foster | |
| 62 | Ace of Aces | 2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne | |
| 63 | Day of Reckoning | John Day | |
| 1934 | 64 | Stingaree | Stingaree |
| 65 | His Greatest Gamble | Phillip Eden | |
| 66 | West of the Pecos | Pecos Smith | |
| 1935 | 67 | The Arizonian | Clay Tallant |
| 68 | The Tunnel | Richard 'Mack' McAllan | |
| 1936 | 69 | Yellow Dust | Bob Culpepper |
| 70 | Special Investigator | William 'Bill' Fenwick | |
| 71 | Devil's Squadron | Paul Redmond | |
| 1937 | 72 | The Devil's Playground | Jack Dorgan |
| 73 | The Devil Is Driving | Paul Driscoll | |
| 74 | It Happened in Hollywood | Tim Bart | |
| 1938 | 75 | Blind Alibi | Paul Dover |
| 76 | Sky Giant | Capt. W.R. 'Stag' Cahill | |
| 1939 | 78 | Man of Conquest | Sam Houston |
| 79 | Here I Am a Stranger | Duke Allen | |
| 80 | Reno | Bill Shear | |
| 1940 | 81 | The Marines Fly High | Lt. Danny Darrick |
| 82 | Men Against the Sky | Phil Mercedes | |
| 83 | Cherokee Strip | Marshal Dave Morrell | |
| 1941 | 84 | The Roundup | Steve Payson |
| 85 | Badlands of Dakota | Wild Bill Hickok | |
| 1942 | 86 | Tombstone | Wyatt Earp |
| 87 | American Empire | Dan Taylor | |
| 1943 | 88 | Eyes of the Underworld | The Chief, Richard Bryan |
| 89 | Buckskin Frontier | Stephen Bent | |
| 90 | The Kansan | John Bonniwell | |
| 91 | Top Man | Tom Warren | |
| 92 | The Ghost Ship | Captain Will Stone | |
| The Whistler Series: | |||
| 1944 | 93 | The Whistler | Earl C. Conrad |
| 94 | The Mark of the Whistler | Lee Selfridge Nugent | |
| 1945 | 95 | The Power of the Whistler | William Everest |
| 96 | Voice of the Whistler | John Sinclair (John Carter) | |
| 1946 | 97 | Mysterious Intruder | Don Gale |
| 98 | The Secret of the Whistler | Ralph Harrison | |
| 1947 | 99 | The Thirteenth Hour | Steve Reynolds |
