Dixey, Henry E.

Dixey, Henry E. (1859–1943), actor. After making his debut at the age of ten at the Howard Athenaeum in his native Boston playing Peanuts in Under the Gaslight, he trained with the pantomimist James S. Maffitt, then made his first New York “appearance” as one‐half of the heifer in E. E. Rice's Evangeline (1874). Subsequently, Dixey appeared in numerous other musicals before creating the role for which he was afterward famous, the statue brought to life as Adonis (1884), the first show in Broadway history to run more than five hundred performances. He played the part for several seasons and later returned to tour with it occasionally. Unlike most comedians, Dixey was an exceptionally handsome man, who later sought roles that allowed him to display his figure in tight‐fitting period costumes. Unfortunately, the rest of his career was anticlimactic. Two major musicals written especially for him, The Seven Ages (1889) and Rip (1890), both failed. Thereafter, he alternated between musicals and straight plays, usually comedies, but never again savored the acclaim he had won in Adonis. One of his better later roles was the absurdly troublesome Peter Swallow opposite Mrs. Fiske in Mrs. Bumpstead‐Leigh (1911).