Editing Richard Dix (section)

==Career==
[[File:The Wall Flower (1922) - 1.jpg|thumb|[[Gertrude Astor]], [[Colleen Moore]] and Dix filming ''[[The Wall Flower]]'' in 1922]]

Upon arrival at [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] studios Brimmer changed his name to Richard Dix. He began his [[Cinema of the United States#Classical Hollywood cinema and the Golden Age of Hollywood|Hollywood]] film career in dramas and romantic comedies.  His first [[Western movie|Western]] was in 1923, ''[[To the Last Man (1923 film)|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 (1923 film)|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 (1931 film)|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]].''

[[File:RedSkin2.jpg|thumb|''[[Redskin (film)|Redskin]]'' in 1929 was Dix's last silent film]]
[[File:The Ghost Ship (1943 poster).jpg|thumb|Dix was deep into [[B film]]s by 1943; the budget for ''[[The Ghost Ship]]'' was a mere $150,000.]]

Plagued by alcoholism, Dix was unable to maintain his [[feature film|A-list]] leading man status, and spiraled into [[B movie|B pictures]].  He starred in the 1935 British futuristic film ''[[The Tunnel (1935 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]]''.

[[File:Richard Dix (crop) The Kansan (1943).jpg|thumb|''[[The Kansan (film)|The Kansan]]'' in 1943 was another B picture, and Dix's last Western]]
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 (1944 film)|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 (1947 film)|The Thirteenth Hour]]''. He suffered a heart attack in October 1948<ref>''Motion Picture Daily'', "Richard Dix Is Ill," October 27, 1948, p. 2.</ref> and continued to have heart trouble until his death within the year.