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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 18, 1893
Died
September 20, 1949
Place of Birth
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As
- Ernest Carlton Brimmer
Richard Dix
0.3 Popularity
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
5.8
Steve Reynolds
The Thirteenth Hour
1947
5.9
Ralph Harrison
The Secret of the Whistler
1946
5.9
Don Gale
Mysterious Intruder
1946
5.7
John Sinclair / John Carter
Voice of the Whistler
1945
5.8
William Everest
The Power of the Whistler
1945
6.0
Lee Selfridge Nugent
The Mark of the Whistler
1944
6.1
Earl C. Conrad
The Whistler
1944
6.3
Capt. Will Stone
The Ghost Ship
1943
0.0
Tom Warren
Top Man
1943
5.4
John Bonniwell
The Kansan
1943
Credits
The Thirteenth Hour
as Steve Reynolds
1947
5.8
The Secret of the Whistler
as Ralph Harrison
1946
5.9
Mysterious Intruder
as Don Gale
1946
5.9
Voice of the Whistler
as John Sinclair / John Carter
1945
5.7
The Power of the Whistler
as William Everest
1945
5.8
The Mark of the Whistler
as Lee Selfridge Nugent
1944
6.0
The Whistler
as Earl C. Conrad
1944
6.1
The Ghost Ship
as Capt. Will Stone
1943
6.3
Top Man
as Tom Warren
1943
0.0
The Kansan
as John Bonniwell
1943
5.4
Buckskin Frontier
as Stephen Brent
1943
6.0
American Empire
as Dan Taylor
1942
3.8
Eyes of the Underworld
as Police Chief Richard Bryan
1942
4.8
Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die
as Wyatt Earp
1942
5.4
Badlands of Dakota
as James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
1941
5.9
The Roundup
as Steve Payson
1941
8.0
Cherokee Strip
as Marshal Dave Lovell
1940
4.0
Men Against the Sky
as Phil Mercedes
1940
3.8
The Marines Fly High
as Lt. Danny Darrick
1940
4.8
Reno
as William Shayne
1939
6.0
Here I Am a Stranger
as Duke Allen
1939
7.0
Man of Conquest
as Sam Houston
1939
5.0
Twelve Crowded Hours
as Nick Green
1939
5.2
Sky Giant
as Capt. W.R. 'Stag' Cahill
1938
4.7
Blind Alibi
as Paul Dover
1938
5.8
It Happened in Hollywood
as Tim Bart
1937
6.1
The Devil Is Driving
as Paul Driscoll
1937
5.0
Devil's Playground
as Jack Dorgan
1937
5.8
Special Investigator
as Bill Fenwick
1936
5.2
Devil's Squadron
as Paul Redmond
1936
6.0
Yellow Dust
as Bob Culpepper
1936
3.8
The Tunnel
as Richard 'Mack' McAllan
1935
5.3
The Arizonian
as Clay Tallant
1935
0.0
West of the Pecos
as Pecos Smith
1934
0.0
His Greatest Gamble
as Phillip
1934
5.0
Stingaree
as Stingaree
1934
5.8
Day of Reckoning
as John Day
1933
4.4
Ace of Aces
as Rex 'Rocky' Thorne
1933
5.3
No Marriage Ties
as Bruce Foster
1933
4.2
The Great Jasper
as Jasper Horn
1933
0.0
The Conquerors
as Roger Standish / Roger Lennox
1932
4.8
Hell's Highway
as Frank 'Duke' Ellis
1932
5.9
Roar of the Dragon
as Carson
1932
6.0
The Lost Squadron
as Capt. 'Gibby' Gibson
1932
6.3
Secret Service
as Lewis Dumont
1931
6.0
The Public Defender
as Pike Winslow
1931
6.0
Young Donovan's Kid
as Jim Donovan
1931
0.0
The Stolen Jools
as Richard Dix
1931
5.6
Cimarron
as Yancey Cravat
1931
5.6
Shooting Straight
as Larry Sheldon / Ted Walters
1930
6.0
Lovin' the Ladies
as Peter
1930
3.7
Seven Keys to Baldpate
as William Magee
1929
6.5
Redskin
as Wing Foot
1929
5.8
The Wheel of Life
as Capt. Leslie Yeullet
1929
0.0
A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic
as Self
1929
4.0
Nothing But the Truth
as Robert Bennett
1929
4.6
The Love Doctor
as Dr. Gerald Summer
1929
0.0
Moran of the Marines
as Michael Moran
1928
0.0
Warming Up
as Bert Tulliver
1928
0.0
Easy Come, Easy Go
as Robert Parker
1928
0.0
Sporting Goods
as Richard Shelby
1928
0.0
The Gay Defender
as Joaquin Murrieta
1927
0.0
Shanghai Bound
as Jim Bucklin
1927
0.0
Man Power
as Tom Roberts
1927
0.0
Knockout Reilly
as Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly
1927
0.0
Paradise for Two
as Steve Porter
1927
0.0
The Quarterback
as Jack Stone
1926
6.0
Say It Again
as Bob Howard
1926
0.0
Fascinating Youth
as Richard Dix
1926
0.0
Let's Get Married
as Billy Dexter
1926
0.0
Womanhandled
as Bill Dana
1925
7.0
The Vanishing American
as Nophaie
1925
6.5
The Lucky Devil
as Randy Farnum
1925
6.5
Men and Women
as Will Prescott
1925
0.0
The Shock Punch
as Randall Lee Savage
1925
6.0
A Man Must Live
as Geoffrey Farnell
1925
0.0
Too Many Kisses
as Richard Gaylord, Jr.
1925
5.5
Manhattan
as Peter Minuit
1924
6.0
Sinners in Heaven
as Alan Croft
1924
0.0
Unguarded Women
as Douglas Albright
1924
0.0
Icebound
as Ben Jordan
1924
0.0
The Stranger
as Larry Darrant
1924
0.0
The Call of the Canyon
as Glenn Kilbourne
1923
0.0
The Ten Commandments
as John McTavish
1923
6.5
To the Last Man
as Jean Isbel
1923
0.0
Racing Hearts
as Robby Smith
1923
0.0
The Woman with Four Faces
as Richard Templar
1923
0.0
Souls for Sale
as Frank Claymore
1923
6.2
Quicksands
as Lt. Bill
1923
5.0
The Christian
as John Storm
1923
0.0
The Sin Flood
as Bill Bear
1922
0.0
The Bonded Woman
as Lee Marvin
1922
3.0
Fools First
as Tommy Frazer
1922
0.0
Yellow Men and Gold
as Parrish
1922
0.0
The Wall Flower
as Walt Breen
1922
0.0
The Glorious Fool
as Billy Grant
1922
0.0
The Poverty of Riches
as John Colby
1921
0.0
Dangerous Curve Ahead
as Harley Jones
1921
0.0
All's Fair in Love
as Bobby Cameron
1921
0.0
Not Guilty
as Paul / Arthur Ellison (twins)
1921
0.0
One of Many
as James Lowery - Butler
1917
0.0