Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

83 What His Sister Thinks of Richard Dix Josephine Dix frankly discusses her famous brother, revealing a side of him that only a person very close to him could know. By William H. McKegg MY brother as I know him?" Richard Dix's sister pondered a while, smiling, probably wondering what Brother Richard would think, in far-off New York, if he knew that his reputation was about to be torn to shreds by a callous sisterly discourse. '"And," I put in — in case she might be tempted to shield him — "let me know his faults rather than his virtues." "Oh, I meant to ! For he has both," came the reply from his sister Joe. "He's not all good and he's by no means bad — merely human." I first came to know of Richard's sister when he used to speak of "my kid sister Joe"— short for Josephine — when, about two years ago, he was making fame for himself on the Vine Street lot. So, recently, figuring that Joe ought to know more about the real Richard than almost any one else, I decided to see if I could persuade her to talk about him. And what sister is afraid to tell the truth about her brother ? "I'll commence with his faults," Joe began. ."When I was a very little girl, Richard was given a present of some tools and he tested the force of the hammer on my poor doll's head. To me that was the first sin he ever committed. "Since he has been on the stage and the screen, he has been away so much that he has escaped to a considerable degree my sisterly scrutiny. For a long time now, he has been making his pictures in the East. New York has always appealed to him. You know what it is, with its theaters, cafes, and so forth. "When he came home last December he arrived just three days too late to be present at my wedding. I was going to put that down as the second big sin he had ever committed, but the fault really wasn't his. Some unforeseen delay in the filming of "The Vanishing American' had prevented him from getting home as soon asihe had expected. He was terribly disappointed about it himself. However, he did get home in time for Christmas, so all was well. "Richard worked awfully hard in that picture. Before starting out on location, he wrote me about it and what a wonderful part he had. His letter plainly revealed how very eager he was to get started. It was a big task and he went at it with his usual vim. Yet, when it was all over, instead of longing for a good rest, he was ready, a couple of weeks after Christmas, to pack up and start off again for New York, as if he had never been there before in his life. Photo by ChidnoS For his "kid sister Joe" it's hard to think of Richard as a famous movie star — to her he is still just her "big brother." "I am beginning to suspect that there is some other attraction back East for him besides the theaters and cafes ! But to be fair to him I must admit that it is a common characteristic of his ever to be ready to tackle something new. He never rests on his laurels. The harder a thing seems, the better Richard likes to go at it. When it is all over, he looks for new fields to conquer with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. "I think his ambition for acting burst into flame when he played in amateur pieces in a high school in St. Paul " "St. Paul!" I interrupted. "Don't I know he comes from there ! Every fan who has written me from that city has made allusion to the fact. I get such statements as 'Richard Dix went to the same high school I go to, and it just thrills me to think of it !' and, 'Dix used to live here! One grand honor for St. Paul, don't you think ?' And so on." "That's the kind of feeling Richard inspires in all his friends," said his sister. "Once he makes a friend, he never loses him — or her. He has always been like that. And the people who attract Richard most are those who know considerably more than he. A person who is well read on many subjects never fails to hold his attention. And that brings me to the Richard I like best to talk about — for there are really two Richards. "Interviewers invariably declare that his real personality is the one he mostly uses — ■ the ever-smiling, jovial Richard, the one you see in his comedies That is one side of him — his everyday personality. The other side is one we very rarely see. Only those nearest him know the Richard of grim determination, who can tackle any responsibility, showing a fortitude that very few others could equal under similar circumstances. "Like most people, we have had our troubles. Richard had plenty while trying to get ahead on the stage. Everybody thought it the height of folly for him to take up such a career. About that time our older brother, a doctor, died, leaving a young wife and a baby girl. Things looked bad, but Richard stepped in and set things right for us all. We needed his help and he gave, it to us unhesitatingly. "To-day, Richard thinks a lot of his little niece. He took her about with him a great deal when he was last in Hollywood, causing the know-it-alls to declare that Richard Dix had a child. Continued on page 105