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Richard Dix
Richard Dix
	Dix in 1923
Born	Ernst Carlton Brimmer; July 18, 1893; Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	September 20, 1949 (aged 56); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1914–1947
Spouses	; Winifred Coe (m. 1931; div. 1933) ; Virginia Webster (m. 1934)
Children	4
Awards	Hollywood Walk of Fame

Richard Dix (born Ernst Carlton Brimmer;^[1] July 18, 1893 – September 20, 1949) was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent and sound film.^[2] His standard on-screen image was that of the rugged and stalwart hero. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his lead role in the Best Picture-winning epic Cimarron (1931).^[3]

Dix appeared in 101 film roles, credited from his first appearance. Plagued by alcoholism, he died at 56, just two years after his film career had ended.

Early life

Dix was born Ernst Carlton Brimmer on July 18, 1893, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.^[4] He received his schooling there, intending to become a surgeon to please his father. Standing 6 feet and weighing 180 pounds, Dix excelled in sports, especially football and baseball. His obvious acting talent in his school dramatic club also led him to leading roles in most of the school plays. After a year at the University of Minnesota, he took a position at a bank, and trained for the stage in the evening. His professional start was with a local stock company, and this led to similar work in New York City. He then went to Los Angeles and became leading man for the Morosco Stock Company.^[5] His success there earned him a contract with Paramount Pictures.

Career

Upon arrival at Paramount studios Brimmer changed his name to Richard Dix. He began his Hollywood film career in dramas and romantic comedies. His first Western was in 1923, To the Last Man, his seventeenth picture, immediately followed by his best-remembered early role in Cecil B. Demille's silent version of The Ten Commandments.

Able to successfully bridge the transition from silent films to talkies and remain a leading man, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1931 for his performance as Yancey Cravat in RKO's Cimarron. Based on the popular novel by Edna Ferber, it took the Best Picture award. Another memorable starring role for Dix was in a followup RKO blockbuster, the adventure The Lost Squadron.

*Redskin* in 1929 was Dix's last silent film

Plagued by alcoholism, Dix was unable to maintain his A-list leading man status, and spiraled into B pictures. He starred in the 1935 British futuristic film The Tunnel, as well as The Great Jasper and Blind Alibi in the late 1930s. Dix also starred as the homicidal Captain Stone in the Val Lewton production of The Ghost Ship.

In 1941, Dix played Wild Bill Hickok in Badlands of Dakota and portrayed Wyatt Earp the following year in Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die.

In 1944, he starred in The Whistler, a feature film produced by Columbia Pictures based on the popular radio program. The film adaptation was popular enough to become a series. In these offbeat, crime-related stories, Dix did not play "The Whistler" (who was an unseen narrator representing the central character's conscience). He appeared in a variety of characterizations, some sympathetic, others hard-boiled, but always victims of fate and circumstances conspiring against him. Dix retired from acting after the seventh of these films, The Thirteenth Hour. He suffered a heart attack in October 1948^[6] and continued to have heart trouble until his death within the year.

Personal life

According to the July 1934 Movies magazine, Dix raised thousands of chickens and turkeys each year on his ranch near Hollywood, the location of which he kept a close secret. He also had a collection of thousands of smoking pipes, and at one time had 36 Scotties and English setters. He also read at least five books a week.

Richard Dix married Winifred Coe on October 20, 1931. A daughter, Martha Mary Ellen, followed. They divorced in 1933. He married Virginia Webster, on June 29, 1934. They had twin boys, Richard Jr. and Robert Dix (1935–2018), and adopted a daughter, Sara Sue.

Dix supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.^[7]

After years of fighting alcoholism, Dix suffered a serious heart attack at 56 on September 12, 1949, either on a train from New York to Los Angeles^[8]^[4]) or while on board a ship returning from France.^[9] He died eight days later at the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital,^[9] and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.^[10]

Legacy

Dix has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Motion Pictures section at 1610 Vine Street. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.^[11]

Dix is mentioned in the film Blazing Saddles, when Olson Johnson tries to rouse the townspeople: "Our fathers came across the prairies, fought Indians, fought drought, fought locusts, fought Dix... Remember when Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over this town?"

Filmography

Silent Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1917	One of Many	James Lowery	Lost film
1921	Not Guilty	Paul Ellison / Arthur Ellison	Lost film
	All's Fair in Love	Bobby Cameron	Lost film
	Dangerous Curve Ahead	Harley Jones	Lost film
	The Poverty of Riches	John Colby	Lost film
1922	Yellow Men and Gold	Parrish	Lost film
	Fools First	Tommy Frazer	Lost film
	The Wall Flower	Walt Breen	Lost film
	The Bonded Woman	Lee Marvin	A copy is held at Gosfilmofond
	The Sin Flood	Bill Bear	Lost film
	The Glorious Fool	Billy Grant	Lost film
1923	The Christian	John Storm	A copy is held at the George Eastman House
	Quicksands	Lieutenant Bill	Lost film
	Souls for Sale	Frank Claymore
	The Woman with Four Faces	Richard Templar	Lost film
	Racing Hearts	Robby Smith	Lost film
	To the Last Man	Jean Isbel	A copy is held at Gosfilmofond
	The Ten Commandments	John McTavish	Copies are held at George Eastman and the Library of Congress
	The Call of the Canyon	Glenn Kilbourne	Copies are held at Gosfilmofond and the Library of Congress
1924	The Stranger	Larry Darrant	Lost film
	Icebound	Ben Jordan	Lost film
	Unguarded Women	Douglas Albright	Lost film
	Sinners In Heaven	Alan Croft	Lost film
	Manhattan	Peter Minuit
1925	Too Many Kisses	Richard Gaylord Jr	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
	A Man Must Live	Geoffrey Farnell	Lost film
	The Shock Punch	Randall Lee Savage	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
	Men and Women	Will Prescott	Lost film
	The Lucky Devil	Randy Farnum	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
	The Vanishing American	Nophaie	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
	Womanhandled	Bill Dana	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
1926	Let's Get Married	Billy Dexter	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
	Fascinating Youth	Himself (cameo)	Lost film
	Say It Again	Bob Howard	Lost film
	The Quarterback	Jack Stone	A copy is held at the Library of Congress
1927	Paradise for Two	Steve Porter	Lost film
	Knockout Reilly	Dundee "Knockout" Reilly	Lost film
	Man Power	Tom Roberts	Lost film
	Shanghai Bound	Jim Bucklin	Lost film
	The Gay Defender	Joaquin Murrieta	Lost film
1928	Sporting Goods	Richard Shelby	Lost film
	Easy Come, Easy Go	Robert Parker	Lost film
	Warming Up	Bert Tulliver	Lost film filmed in silent and Movietone sound version with music and sound effects only
	Moran of the Marines	Michael Moran	Lost film
1929	Redskin	Wingfoot	A copy is held at the Library of Congress; partly filmed in Technicolor

Sound films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1929	Nothing But the Truth	Robert Bennett
	The Wheel of Life	Captain Leslie Yeullet
	The Love Doctor	Dr. Gerald Summer
	Seven Keys to Baldpate	William Halliwell Magee
1930	Lovin' the Ladies	Peter Darby
1930	Shooting Straight	Larry Sheldon
1931	Cimarron	Yancey Cravat	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
	Young Donovan's Kid	Jim Donovan
	The Public Defender	Pike Winslow
	Secret Service	Captain Lewis Dumont
1932	The Lost Squadron	Capt. "Gibby" Gibson
	Roar of the Dragon	Captain Chauncey Carson
	Hell's Highway	Frank 'Duke' Ellis
	The Conquerors	Roger Standish / Roger Standish Lennox
1933	The Great Jasper	Jasper Horn
	No Marriage Ties	Bruce Foster
	Ace of Aces	2nd Lt. Rex "Rocky" Thorne
	Day of Reckoning	John Day
1934	Stingaree	Stingaree
	His Greatest Gamble	Phillip Eden
	West of the Pecos	Pecos Smith
1935	The Arizonian	Clay Tallant
1935	The Tunnel	Richard 'Mack" McAllan
1936	Yellow Dust	Bob Culpepper
	Special Investigator	William "Bill" Fenwick
	Devil's Squadron	Paul Redmond
1937	The Devil's Playground	Jack Dorgan
	The Devil is Driving	Paul Driscoll
	It Happened in Hollywood	Tim Bart
1938	Blind Alibi	Paul Dover
1938	Sky Giant	Capt. W.R. "Stag" Cahill
1939	Twelve Crowded Hours	Nick Green
	Man of Conquest	Sam Houston
	Here I Am a Stranger	Duke Allen
	Reno	William Shayne aka Bill Shear
1940	The Marines Fly High	Lt. Danny Darrick
	Men Against the Sky	Phil Mercedes
	Cherokee Strip	Marshal Dave Lovell
1941	The Round Up	Steve Payson
1941	Badlands of Dakota	Wild Bill Hickok
1942	Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die	Wyatt Earp
	Eyes of the Underworld	Police Chief Richard Bryan
	American Empire	Dan Taylor
1943	Buckskin Frontier	Stephen Bent
	The Kansan	John Bonniwell
	Top Man	Tom Warren
	The Ghost Ship	Captain Will Stone
1944	The Whistler	Earl C. Conrad
1944	The Mark of the Whistler	Lee Selfridge Nugent
1945	The Power of the Whistler	William Everest
1945	Voice of the Whistler	John Sinclair (John Carter)
1946	Mysterious Intruder	Don Gale
1946	The Secret of the Whistler	Ralph Harrison
1947	The Thirteenth Hour	Steve Reynolds

References

^ Stephens, E. J.; Wanamaker, Marc (2014). Early Poverty Row Studios. Arcadia Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 9781439648292. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
^ Obituary Variety, September 21, 1949.
^ "("Richard Dix" search results)". Academy Awards Database. Retrieved May 28, 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b Slide, Anthony (2010). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813127088. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
^ Marsh, Molly (December 16, 1934). "Richard Dix---A Gentleman of the Soil". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. p. 62. Retrieved May 26, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Motion Picture Daily, "Richard Dix Is Ill," October 27, 1948, p. 2.
^ Critchlow, Donald T. (October 21, 2013). When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107650282.
^ The Advertiser (Adelaide), "Richard Dix Ill", September 14, 1949, pg. 1.
^ ^a ^b Katchmer, George A. (2009). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 96. ISBN 9781476609058. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
^ Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
^ "Richard Dix". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.

Bibliography

Dix, Robert. Out of Hollywood: Two Generations of Actors. Ernest Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9822436-0-2
Van Neste, Dan. "The Whistler: Stepping Into the Shadows". Albany, GA: BearManor Media, 2011. ISBN 978-1-59393-402-6