Tommy Dix

Tommy Dix was born Thomas Paine Brittain Navard in New York City. He attended the High School of Music & Art that New York mayor Florello H. LaGuardia had established, and became a national sensation when he appeared on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour in 1936. After being chosen to sing "Buckle Down, Winsocki" in the 1941 Broadway musical "Best Foot Forward" he recorded the song with Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, and the 78 rpm record was a major hit. MGM bought the film rights to "Best Foot Forward" and hired a number of the Broadway cast members to be in the movie. Tommy was one of them, but when they got to Hollywood it was decided to give Tommy the lead role so his character could sing the rousing fight song "Buckle Down, Winsocki" at the end of the movie. The final cost of making "Best Foot Forward" (one of only four Technicolor movies made by MGM that year) was $1,410,850. Gross box office receipts for the movie were $2,704,000. Tommy entered the military in September 1943, but suffered medical problems when his childhood Celiac disease flared up again. He reluctantly accepted a medical discharge and became a successful nightclub performer for the rest of the 1940s. He married Margaret Ann "Maggie" Grayson in the summer of 1946 with whom he had two children (Grayson and Brittain). In 1950, Tommy quit Show Business and went to work for his father-in-law who owned a successful construction & lumber business in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1959, after 13 years of marriage, Tommy and his wife divorced and Tommy went into the construction/real estate business in Florida where he was very successful. Tommy now lives in Virginia.