Ernst Carlton Brimmer (born ; July 18, 1893 – September 20, 1949), known professionally as Richard Dix, was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent and sound film. 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).

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. 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. 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.

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; Dix's final seven films were all films in the "Whistler" series. In these offbeat, crime-related stories, Dix did not play "The Whistler" (who was an unseen narrator who recounted strange, ironic tales as he walked by night). Instead Dix essayed a variety of characterizations, playing a completely different starring role in each film -- some sympathetic, others villainous and hard-boiled, but all of them victims of fate and circumstances conspiring against them. Dix retired from acting after the seventh of these films, The Thirteenth Hour. He suffered a heart attack in October 1948 and continued to have heart trouble until his death within the year.

Personal life

Dix supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.

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 or while on board a ship returning from France). He died eight days later at the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

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.

Filmography

Silent Films

Sound films

References

Bibliography

• Dix, Robert. Out of Hollywood: Two Generations of Actors. Ernest Publishing, 2009.

• Van Neste, Dan. "The Whistler: Stepping Into the Shadows". Albany, GA: BearManor Media, 2011.

External links

• Richard Dix tribute site

• Photographs of Richard Dix