Lee Dixon (actor)

This article is about the actor. For the footballer, see Lee Dixon.

Lee Dixon
Lee Dixon sings and plays the concertina between scenes of the comedic musical Ready, Willing and Able
Born	(1910-01-22)January 22, 1910 Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died	January 8, 1953(1953-01-08) (aged 42) New York City, New York, USA
Occupation	Stage & vaudeville actor
Years active	1932–1947

Lee Dixon (January 22, 1910 – January 8, 1953) was a tap dancer, singer, musician and actor in the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in Hollywood musicals and other films as well as on the Broadway stage.

Career

Dixon is best remembered for creating the role of Will Parker in the original Broadway production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! In the summer of 1942, Dixon created the role of the Scarecrow, at The Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis, in the first stage production of The Wizard of Oz to use the songs from the 1939 MGM film. Evelyn Wyckoff played Dorothy Gale, Donald Burr played the Tin Man, Edmund Dorsey played the Cowardly Lion, Helen Raymond played the Wicked Witch of the West, Patricia Bowman played the Sorceress of the North, aka Glinda, and John Cherry played the Wizard of Oz.

Death

Dixon died of alcoholism on January 8, 1953, in New York City, fourteen days before his forty-third birthday.

Filmography

• A Modern Cinderella (1932, short) as Male Dancer, uncredited
• Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936) as Boop Oglethorpe
• Ready, Willing and Able (1937) as Pinky Blair
• The Singing Marine (1937) as Slim Baxter
• Varsity Show (1937) as Johnny 'Rubberlegs' Stevens
• Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue (1938, short) as Dixon
• Double or Nothing (1940, short) as Bill
• Double Rhythm (a.k.a. Musical Parade: Double Rhythm) (1946, short) as Happy
• Angel and the Badman (a.k.a. The Angel and the Outlaw) (1947) as Randy McCall, final film role

Broadway

• Oklahoma! (1943-1948)
• Higher and Higher (1940)

External links

• Lee Dixon at IMDb
• Lee Dixon at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lee Dixon at Find a Grave