Robert Mitchum

Robert Charles Durman Mitchum
1917 - 1997 (lung cancer and emphysema)
American born Bridgeport, Connecticut

Nickname Mitch, Old Rumple Eyes . Height 6' 1" (1.85 m) . Underrated American leading man of enormous ability who sublimates his talents beneath an air of disinterest. Born to a railroad worker who died in a train accident when he was two, Robert Mitchum and his siblings (including brother John Mitchum, later also an actor) were raised by his mother and stepfather (a British army major) in Connecticut, New York and Delaware. An early contempt for authority led to discipline problems, and Mitchum spent good portions of his teen years adventuring on the open road. On one of these trips, at the age of 14, he was charged with vagrancy and sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, from which he escaped. Working a wide variety of jobs (including ghostwriter for astrologist Carroll Righter), Mitchum discovered acting in a Long Beach, California, amateur theater company. He worked at Lockheed Aircraft, where job stress caused him to suffer temporary blindness. About this time he began to obtain small roles in films, appearing in dozens within a very brief time. In 1945 he was cast as Lt. Walker in Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His star ascended rapidly, and he became an icon of 1940s film noir, though equally adept at westerns and romantic dramas. His apparently lazy style and seen-it-all demeanor proved highly attractive to men and women, and by the 1950s he was a true superstar despite a brief prison term for marijuana usage in 1949, which seemed to enhance rather than diminish his "bad boy" appeal. Though seemingly dismissive of "art", he worked in tremendously artistically thoughtful projects such as Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955), and even co-wrote and composed an oratorio produced at the Hollywood Bowl by Orson Welles. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he can bring to a project that he finds compelling. He moved into television in the 1980s as his film opportunities diminished, winning new fans with "The Winds of War" (1983) (mini) and "War and Remembrance" (1988) (mini). His sons James Mitchum and Christopher Mitchum are actors, as is his grandson Bentley Mitchum. His last film was James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) (TV) with Casper Van Dien as James Dean. Spouse Dorothy Mitchum (15 March 1940 - 1 July 1997) (his death) 3 children.

James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) , "The Marshal" (1995) , Pakten (1995) , Dead Man (1995) , Backfire! (1995), Tombstone (1993) , Woman of Desire (1993) , Sept péchés capitaux, Les (1992) , Cape Fear (1991) , "African Skies" (1991) , "A Family for Joe" (1990) , Présumé dangereux (1990) , A Family for Joe (1990) , Midnight Ride (1990) , Waiting for the Wind (1990) , Jake Spanner, Private Eye (1989) , Brotherhood of the Rose (1989) , Eyes of War (1989) , Scrooged (1988) , "War and Remembrance" (1988) , Mr. North (1988) , "Saturday Night Live" (1987) , "The Equalizer" (1987) , Thompson's Last Run (1986) , "North and South" (1985) , Promises to Keep (1985) , Reunion at Fairborough (1985) , The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) , Maria's Lovers (1984) , The Ambassador (1984) , A Killer in the Family (1983) , "The Winds of War" (1983) , That Championship Season (1982) , One Shoe Makes It Murder (1982) , Nightkill (1980) , Agency (1980) , Steiner - Das eiserne Kreuz, 2. Teil (1979) , Matilda (1978) , The Big Sleep (1978) , The Amsterdam Kill (1977) , The Last Tycoon (1976) , Midway (1976) , Farewell, My Lovely (1975) , The Yakuza (1974) , The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) , America on the Rocks (1973) , The Wrath of God (1972) , Going Home (1971) , Ryan's Daughter (1970) , The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) , Young Billy Young (1969) , Secret Ceremony (1968) , 5 Card Stud (1968) , Anzio (1968) , Villa Rides (1968) , A Movable Scene (1968), The Way West (1967) , El Dorado (1966) , Mister Moses (1965) , What a Way to Go! (1964) , Man in the Middle (1964), Rampage (1963) , The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) , "The Dick Powell Show" (1963) , Two for the Seesaw (1962) , The Longest Day (1962) , Cape Fear (1962) , The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) , The Grass Is Greener (1960) , The Sundowners (1960) , A Terrible Beauty (1960) , Home from the Hill (1960) , The Wonderful Country (1959) , The Angry Hills (1959) , The Hunters (1958) , Thunder Road (1958) , The Enemy Below (1957) , Fire Down Below (1957) , Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) , Bandido (1956) , Foreign Intrigue (1956) , Man with the Gun (1955) , The Night of the Hunter (1955) , Not as a Stranger (1955) , Track of the Cat (1954) , River of No Return (1954) , She Couldn't Say No (1954) , Second Chance (1953) , White Witch Doctor (1953) , Angel Face (1952) , The Lusty Men (1952) , One Minute to Zero (1952) , Macao (1952) , The Racket (1951) , His Kind of Woman (1951) , My Forbidden Past (1951) , Where Danger Lives (1950) , Holiday Affair (1949) , The Big Steal (1949) , The Red Pony (1949) , Blood on the Moon (1948) , Rachel and the Stranger (1948) , Out of the Past (1947) , Desire Me (1947) , Crossfire (1947) , Pursued (1947) , The Locket (1946) , Undercurrent (1946) , Till the End of Time (1946) , West of the Pecos (1945) , Story of G.I. Joe (1945) , Nevada (1944) , Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) , Girl Rush (1944) , When Strangers Marry (1944) , Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) , Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More (1944) , 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943) , Riders of the Deadline (1943) , Cry 'Havoc' (1943) , The Dancing Masters (1943) , Minesweeper (1943) , False Colors (1943) , Doughboys in Ireland (1943) , Bar 20 (1943) , Corvette K-225 (1943) , Beyond the Last Frontier (1943) , Lone Star Trail (1943) , We've Never Been Licked (1943) , Colt Comrades (1943) , Leather Burners (1943) , Follow the Band (1943) , Border Patrol (1943) , Aerial Gunner (1943) , Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943) , The Human Comedy (1943) , Saboteur (1942)