| Robert Mitchum | |
|---|---|
 in My Forbidden Past (1951) |
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| Born | Robert Charles Durman Mitchum August 6, 1917 Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| Died | July 1, 1997 (aged 79) Santa Barbara, California |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy Spence (1940-1997) |
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an Academy Award nominated American film actor and singer. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County California, United States. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation
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Life and career
Early life and career
Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to shipyard and railroad worker James Thomas Mitchum and Ann Harriet Gunderson, a Norwegian immigrant and sea captain's daughter. Norwegians See also History of Norway and Demography of Norway. His father was a former soldier and known barroom brawler of Scots-Irish ancestry (on his father's side) and Blackfoot descent (on his mother's side). The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi (meaning "original people" c James Mitchum was crushed to death in a railyard accident when Mitchum was eighteen months old, leaving Ann to find work as a linotype operator at a newspaper.
Throughout Mitchum's childhood, he was known as a prankster, often involved in fistfights and mischief. When he was 12, Ann sent Robert to live with his grandparents in Felton, Delaware, where he was promptly expelled from his middle school for scuffling with a principal. Felton is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. A year later, in 1930, he moved in with his older sister, waitress and stage actress Julie Mitchum, in New York's Hell's Kitchen. Julie Mitchum (July 23 1914-February 21 2003 was born Annette Mitchum in Bridgeport Connecticut, to James Thomas Mitchum and Ann Harriet Gunderson The City of New York Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that includes roughly the area between After being expelled from Haaran High School, he left his sister and traveled throughout the country on railroad cars, taking a number of jobs including a ditch-digger for the Civilian Conservation Corps and a professional boxer. Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC) was a Work relief program for young men from unemployed families established on March 21, 1933, by U He experienced numerous adventures during his years as one of the Depression era's "wild boys of the road. " In Savannah, Georgia, he was arrested for vagrancy and put on a local chain gang. Savannah is a city located in the state of Georgia, United States. A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging labor, such as chipping stone often along a highway or rail bed By Mitchum's own account, he escaped and returned to his family in Delaware. It was during this time, while recovering from injuries that nearly lost him a leg, that he met the woman he would marry, a teenaged Dorothy Spence. He soon went back on the road, eventually riding the rails to California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
Mitchum arrived in Long Beach, California, in 1936, staying again with his sister Julie. Long Beach is a city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast Soon the rest of the Mitchum family joined them in Long Beach. It was sister Julie who convinced Robert to join the local theater guild with her. In his years with the Players Guild of Long Beach, he made a living as a stagehand and occasional bit player in plays. He also wrote several short pieces which were performed by the guild. According to Lee Server's biography (Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care), Mitchum put a talent for poetry to work writing song lyrics and monologues for his sister Julie's nightclub performances. Lee Server is an American writer Books Ava Gardner "Love is Nothing" (2006 Robert Mitchum "Baby I Don’t Care" In 1940 he returned East to marry Dorothy, taking her back to California. He remained a footloose character until the birth of their first child, Jim, nicknamed Josh (two more children would follow, Christopher and Petrine). Robert then got a steady job as a machine operator with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta
An apparent nervous breakdown from this encounter with conformity led Mitchum to look for work as an actor or extra in movies. An agent he had met got him an interview with the producer of the Hopalong Cassidy series of B-westerns; he was hired to play the villain in several films in the series between 1942 and 1943. Hopalong Cassidy is a Cowboy -hero created in 1904 by Clarence E A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double He continued to find further work as an extra and supporting actor in numerous productions for various studios. After impressing director Mervyn LeRoy during the making of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Mitchum signed a seven-year contract with RKO Radio Pictures. Mervyn LeRoy ( October 15, 1900 - September 13, 1987) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM War film. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. He found himself groomed for B Western stardom in a series of Zane Grey adaptations. Zane Grey ( January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author best known for his popular adventure Novels and
Following the moderately successful western Nevada, Mitchum was lent from RKO to United Artists for the William Wellman-helmed The Story of G.I. Joe. William Augustus Wellman (29 February &ndash19 December) was an American Movie director, noted for directing the film which received the first Academy Award The Story of GI Joe ( 1945) is a War film directed by William Wellman and starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum In the film, he portrayed war-weary officer Bill Walker, who remains resolute despite the troubles he faces. The film, which followed the life of an ordinary soldier through the eyes of journalist Ernie Pyle (played by Burgess Meredith), became an instant critical and commercial success. Ernest Taylor Pyle ( August 3 1900 &ndash April 18 1945) was an American Journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent Oliver Burgess Meredith ( November 16, 1908 He graduated from Hoosac School in 1926 Shortly after making the film, Mitchum himself was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving at Fort MacArthur, California. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. Fort MacArthur is a former US Army installation in San Pedro California (now the port community of Los Angeles) named for General Arthur MacArthur At the 1946 Academy Awards, the film was nominated for four Oscars, including Mitchum's only nomination for Best Supporting Actor. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts He finished the year off with a western (West of the Pecos) and a story of returning Marine veterans (Till the End of Time), before transitioning into a genre that came to define both Mitchum's career and screen persona: film noir. A veteran (from Latin vetus, meaning "old" is a person who has or is working in the armed forces
Work in film noir
Mitchum would become a signature actor in the style of film known as film noir (a style used in many genres but most commonly in gangster and crime movies). Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation His first entry into this world of dark crime stories was the well-regarded B-movie, When Strangers Marry, about a psychotic serial killer. A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double When Strangers Marry is a 1944 Suspense film directed by William Castle. One of Mitchum's early film noir outings, Undercurrent, featured him playing against type as a troubled, sensitive man entangled in the affairs of his brother (Robert Taylor) and his brother's suspicious wife (Katharine Hepburn). Undercurrent ( 1946) is a Film noir drama directed by Vincente Minnelli. Robert Taylor (August 5 1911 &ndash June 8 1969 was an American Actor. Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12 1907 – June 29 2003 was an American actress of film television and stage The ill-received film was Vincente Minnelli's first and last film noir as a director. Vincente Minnelli ( February 28, 1903 &ndash July 25, 1986) was a famous Academy Award -winning Hollywood director
John Brahm's The Locket (1946) featured Mitchum as a bitter ex-husband to Laraine Day's femme fatale, while the Raoul Walsh-helmed Pursued (1947) combined the western and film noir genres, with Mitchum's character trying to remember his past and find those responsible for killing his family. John Brahm ( August 17, 1893 - October 12, 1982) was a film and television director possibly best known today for directing a dozen of the original The Locket ( 1946) is a suspense film directed by John Brahm, starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, and Laraine Day ( October 13 1920 &ndash November 10 2007) was an American actress. A femme fatale (plural femmes fatales) is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into Raoul Walsh (born March 11, 1887 in New York City, died December 31, 1980 in Simi Valley CA) was an American Pursued is a 1947 movie starring Robert Mitchum that combines western, Film noir and psychological Melodrama. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Crossfire, also released in 1947 featured Mitchum as a member of a group of soldiers, one of whom killed a Jew. Crossfire ( 1947) is a Film noir Drama film which deals with the theme of anti-Semitism, as did that year's Academy Award for It featured themes of anti-Semitism and the failings of military training. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility The film, directed by Edward Dmytryk, was one of the most critically acclaimed of the year, garnering five Academy Award nominations. Edward Dmytryk ( September 4, 1908 &ndash July 1, 1999) was an American Film director who was amongst the Hollywood "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.
Following Crossfire, Mitchum starred in what was arguably the definitive film of his career, Out of the Past (aka Build My Gallows High), directed by Jacques Tourneur and benefiting from the cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca. Out of the Past (originally released in Britain as Build My Gallows High) ( 1947) is a Film noir directed by Jacques Jacques Tourneur ( November 12, 1904 &ndash December 19, 1977) was a French - American Film director. Nicholas Musuraca ( Riace Italy October 25, 1892 - Los Angeles September 3, 1975) was a Motion-picture Mitchum played Jeff Markham, a small-town gas station owner whose unfinished business with gambler Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) and one of the most memorable of all femmes fatales, Kathie Moffett (Jane Greer), comes back to haunt him. Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, Jane Greer ( September 9, 1924 &ndash August 24, 2001) was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as Femme Though the film was ignored by most critics upon its release, the film was a modest box office hit and has steadily gained the highest critical praise from both film journalists and filmmakers since its release. Mitchum was photographed again by Musuraca in the Robert Wise "psychological western" Blood on the Moon the following year. Robert Wise ( September 10, 1914 &ndash September 14, 2005) was an American sound effects editor film editor and Academy Blood on the Moon ( 1948) is an RKO Black-and-white "psychological" western directed by Robert Wise with
Mitchum's cynical, mischievous attitude continued through adulthood and led him to shrug off fame as a fluke. On the set, he often played pranks on fellow actors and crew. His expulsion from 1955's Blood Alley is frequently attributed to his pranks, especially one in which he reportedly threw the film's transportation manager into San Francisco Bay. Blood Alley is a 1955 seafaring adventure movie starring John Wayne and Lauren Bacall. San Francisco Bay is a shallow productive Estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento On September 1, 1948, after a string of successful films for RKO, he and actress Lila Leeds were arrested for possession of marijuana. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lila Leeds (born Lila Lee Wilkinson January 28, 1928 in Dodge City Kansas, died September 15, 1999) was an American Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a The arrest was the result of a sting operation designed to capture other Hollywood partiers as well, but Mitchum and Leeds did not receive the tip-off. After serving a week at the county jail, Mitchum spent 43 days (February 16 to March 30) at a Castaic, California, prison farm, with Life right there snapping photos of him mopping up in his prison uniform. Castaic California ( 2000 Census population 22173 in the 91384 ZIP Code) and Area code 661 is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles A prison farm is a large Correctional facility where Hard labor convicts are put to economical use in a 'farm' (in the wide sense of a productive unit usually [1] The arrest became the inspiration for the exploitation film She Shoulda Said No! (1949), which starred Leeds. "She Shoulda Said 'No'!" (also known as Wild Weed; Marijuana the Devil's Weed; The Story of Lila Leeds and The arrest did little to affect Mitchum's career in the long term, but was seen as an embarrassment by his studio, who ordered Mitchum to clean up his act. The conviction was later overturned by the Los Angeles court and District Attorney's office on January 31, 1951, with the following statement, after it was exposed as a set-up. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January
"After an exhaustive investigation of the evidence and testimony presented at the trial, the court orders that the verdict of guilty be set aside and that a plea of not guilty be entered and that the information or complaint be dismissed. "
Despite troubles with the law and his studio, the films released immediately after his arrest were box-office hits. Rachel and the Stranger (1948) featured Mitchum in a supporting role as a mountain man interested in gaining the hand of Loretta Young, the indentured servant and wife of William Holden, while the John Steinbeck adaptation The Red Pony as a trusted cowhand to a ranching family. Rachel and the Stranger was a Black-and-white 1948 western film starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Loretta Young ( January 6, 1913 &ndash August 12, 2000) was an American actress William Holden ( April 17, 1918 &ndash November 12, 1981) was an Academy Award -winning American film Actor John Steinbeck III (February 27 1902—December 20 1968 was one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century "The Red Pony" is a novella written by American author John Steinbeck in 1933.
Mitchum returned to true film noir in 1949's The Big Steal, pairing Mitchum and Jane Greer once again in an early Don Siegel film. The Big Steal is also a 1990 Australian film starring Ben Mendelsohn and Claudia Karvan. Donald Siegel ( October 26, 1912 - April 20, 1991) was an influential American Film director and producer In Where Danger Lives (1950) he played a doctor who comes between a mentally unbalanced Faith Domergue and cuckolded Claude Rains. Faith Domergue ( June 16, 1924 - April 4, 1999) was a film actress William Claude Rains (10 November &ndash30 May) was an English award-winning Actor and Film star whose career spanned 47 years The Racket was a noir remake of the early crime drama The Racket and featured Mitchum as a police captain fighting corruption in his precinct. The Racket ( 1951) is a remake of the 1928 film of the same name. The Racket is an Academy Award -nominated 1928 American Crime film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Thomas The Josef von Sternberg film Macao (1952) saw Mitchum a victim of mistaken identity at an exotic resort casino, playing opposite Jane Russell. Josef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg ( 29 May 1894, Vienna, Austria &ndash 22 December 1969, Los Macao ( 1952) is a Black-and-white Film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Jane Russell (born June 21) is an American film actress and Sex symbol. Otto Preminger's Angel Face saw the first of three collaborations between Mitchum and British stage actress Jean Simmons. Otto Ludwig Preminger ( December 5[[ 906]]&ndash April 23[[ 986]] was an Austrian born Film director who moved from the theatre to Hollywood Angel Face ( 1952) is a Black-and-white Film noir directed by Otto Preminger. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Jean Merilyn Simmons OBE (born January 31 1929 is an Oscar -nominated English actress In the film, Simmons plays an insane heiress who plans to use young ambulance driver Mitchum to kill for her.
Career in the 1950s and 1960s
Though Mitchum continued to star in a number of crime dramas, some classified within the film noir genre, 1955 marked his last true noir outing and his first film as a freelance actor, the Charles Laughton helmed The Night of the Hunter. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Charles Laughton ( 1 July, 1899 &ndash 15 December, 1962) was an English Academy Award -winning stage and The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 Film noir, starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, and the only film Charles Laughton Many considered this to be Mitchum's best performance. Following a series of conventional westerns and films noir, including the Marilyn Monroe vehicle River of No Return (1954), The Night of the Hunter would become one of the landmark films of the decade. Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1 1926 &ndash August 5 1962 baptized Norma River of No Return is a 1954 western film made by 20th Century Fox in CinemaScope and directed by Otto Preminger. Based on a novel by Davis Grubb, the film noir thriller starred Mitchum as a psychotic criminal posing as a preacher to find money hidden by his cellmate in the cellmate's home. Davis Grubb ( July 23, 1919 - July 24, 1980) was an American Novelist and Short story writer The film remains one of the most chilling and suspenseful thrillers of the decade, though it was a critical and commercial failure upon its first release. While The Night of the Hunter was a box office flop which went on to become critically acclaimed decades afterward, Stanley Kramer's melodrama Not as a Stranger, also released in 1955, was a box office hit for Mitchum, which has been largely forgotten today. Stanley Kramer ( September 29, 1913 &ndash February 19, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film director Not as a Stranger was a 1954 novel written by Morton Thompson. The film starred Mitchum against type, as an idealistic young doctor, who marries an older nurse (Olivia de Havilland), only to question his morality many years later. Olivia Mary de Havilland (born July 1, 1916) is a two-time Academy Award -winning actress. However, the film was not critically acclaimed, especially since Mitchum, Frank Sinatra and Lee Marvin were all too old for their characters. Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Lee Marvin ( February 19, 1924 &ndash August 29, 1987) was an American Film actor
Following a succession of average westerns and the poorly received Foreign Intrigue (1956), Mitchum starred in the first of three screen collaborations with British actress Deborah Kerr. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, CBE (30 September 1921 &ndash 16 October 2007 was a Scottish stage television and film actress The intriguing John Huston war drama Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison starred Mitchum as a marine corporal shipwrecked on a Pacific Island only to discover his sole companion is a nun, Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). John Marcellus Huston ( August 5 1906 &ndash August 28 1987) was an American Film director and Actor. Heaven Knows Mr Allison is a 1957 Cinemascope film which tells the story of two people stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, CBE (30 September 1921 &ndash 16 October 2007 was a Scottish stage television and film actress The character study centers on the relationship between the two as they fight for survival from the elements and the invading Japanese army. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. For his role, Mitchum was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation Mitchum and Kerr were paired again in 1960, first for the critically acclaimed Fred Zinnemann film, The Sundowners, where they played husband and wife struggling in Depression-era Australia. Fred Zinnemann ( April 29, 1907 &ndash March 14, 1997) was an Academy Award -winning Austrian American The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian Outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Opposite Mitchum, Kerr was nominated for yet another Academy Award for Best Actress, while the film was nominated for a total of five Oscars. Robert Mitchum was awarded that year's National Board of Review award for Best Actor for his performance. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor The award also recognized his superior performance in the Vincente Minnelli western drama Home from the Hill. Vincente Minnelli ( February 28, 1903 &ndash July 25, 1986) was a famous Academy Award -winning Hollywood director The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. He was teamed with both Kerr and previous leading lady Jean Simmons as well as Cary Grant for the extremely offbeat Stanley Donen ensemble comedy The Grass Is Greener the same year. Jean Merilyn Simmons OBE (born January 31 1929 is an Oscar -nominated English actress Stanley Donen (born April 13, 1924) is an American film director and Choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as "the King of the Hollywood The Grass Is Greener is a 1960 comedy Film directed by Stanley Donen and featuring an ensemble cast consisting of screen veterans
Mitchum's performance as the menacing southern rapist Max Cady in 1962's Cape Fear brought him even more attention and furthered his renown as playing cool, predatory characters. Cape Fear is a 1962 film about an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal whom he helped to send to jail The 1960s were marked by a number of lesser films and missed opportunities. Among the films Mitchum passed on during the decade was John Huston's The Misfits, the last film of its stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, the Academy Award-winning Patton, and Clint Eastwood's breakthrough film Dirty Harry. John Marcellus Huston ( August 5 1906 &ndash August 28 1987) was an American Film director and Actor. The Misfits is a 1961 American Drama film, written by Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring Clark Clark Gable (February 1 &ndashNovember 16) was an iconic American Actor nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1 1926 &ndash August 5 1962 baptized Norma "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Patton (UK Patton Lust for Glory) is a 1970 biography drama War film, which tells the story of General George S Clinton "Clint" Eastwood Jr (born May 31 1930 is a four-time Academy Award winning American Actor and Filmmaker. Dirty Harry is a 1971 Crime film produced and directed by Don Siegel. The most notable of his films later in the decade included the war epics The Longest Day (1962) and Anzio (1968), the Shirley MacLaine comedy-musical What a Way to Go! (1964), and the Howard Hawks western El Dorado (1966), a remake of Rio Bravo (1959), in which Mitchum took over Dean Martin's role of the drunk who comes to the aid of John Wayne. The Longest Day is a 3-hour-long War film with a very large cast based on the 1959 history The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an American Academy Award -winning Film and Theater Actress, well-known The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative What A Way To Go! is a 1964 American Comedy film directed by J Howard Winchester Hawks ( May 30, 1896 &ndash December 26, 1977) was an American Film director, producer and El Dorado is a 1967 Western movie starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Rio Bravo is a 1959 Western Film, directed by Howard Hawks. The script was written by Jules Furthman and Leigh Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7 1917 &ndash December 25 1995 was an American Singer, Film Actor, television personality John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American
Music career
One of the lesser known aspects of Mitchum's career was his forays into music. His voice had long been used instead of the professional singers when characters portrayed by Mitchum sang in his films. Notable productions featuring Mitchum's own singing voice included Rachel and the Stranger (1948), River of No Return (1954) and The Night of the Hunter (1955). Rachel and the Stranger was a Black-and-white 1948 western film starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert River of No Return is a 1954 western film made by 20th Century Fox in CinemaScope and directed by Otto Preminger. The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 Film noir, starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, and the only film Charles Laughton After hearing traditional calypso music and meeting artists such as Mighty Sparrow and Lord Invader while filming Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in the Caribbean island of Tobago, he recorded Calypso — Is Like So. Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean Music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago at about the start of the 20th century Mighty Sparrow or Birdie (born Slinger Francisco, July 9, 1935, in Grandroy Bay, Grenada, West Indies) is a Lord Invader (* 1915 as Rupert Westmore Grant in San Fernando, Trinidad;; † 15 Heaven Knows Mr Allison is a 1957 Cinemascope film which tells the story of two people stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II For the region see Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea (kəˈrɪbiən or /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ is a tropical Sea in the Western Hemisphere Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. . . in March of 1957. On the album, released through Capitol Records, he emulated the calypso sound and style, even adopting the style's unique pronunciations and slang. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as A year later he recorded a song he had written for the film Thunder Road, titled "The Ballad of Thunder Road. Thunder Road is the title of a 1958 movie about running Moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1950s The Ballad of Thunder Road is a song written by Actor Robert Mitchum in 1957. " The country-styled song became a modest hit for Mitchum, reaching #69 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. The song was included as a bonus track on a successful reissue of Calypso. . . and helped market the film to a wider audience.
Though Mitchum continued to use his singing voice in his film work, he waited until 1967 to record his follow-up record, That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings. The album, released by Nashville-based Monument Records, took him further into country music, and featured songs similar to The Ballad of Thunder Road. Monument Records was a Record label founded in 1958 by Fred Foster and Bob Moore. Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. "Little Old Wine Drinker Me," the first single, was a top ten hit at country radio, reaching #9 there, and crossed over onto mainstream radio, where it peaked at #96. Its follow-up, "You Deserve Each Other," also charted on the Billboard Country Singles Chart. Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States
Later career and death
Mitchum made a departure from his typical screen persona with the David Lean classic Ryan's Daughter in 1970. Sir David Lean KBE ( 25 March, 1908 &ndash 16 April, 1991) was an English Film director and producer Ryan's Daughter is David Lean 's 1970 film which tells the story of an Irish girl who has an affair with a British soldier during World In the critically acclaimed film, he starred as Charles Shaughnessy, a mild-mannered schoolmaster in World War I era Ireland. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Though the film was nominated for four Academy Awards (winning two) and Mitchum was much publicized as a contender for a Best Actor nomination, he was passed over. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS to recognize George C. Scott won the award for his performance in Patton, a project which Mitchum had passed over for Ryan's Daughter. George Campbell Scott (October 18 1927 - September 22 1999 was an American stage and film Actor, director, and producer. Patton (UK Patton Lust for Glory) is a 1970 biography drama War film, which tells the story of General George S
The 1970s, however, saw Mitchum in a number of well-received crime dramas. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) saw the actor playing an aging Boston hoodlum caught between the Feds and his criminal friends. The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a 1973 Crime film starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle. Sydney Pollack's The Yakuza (1975) transplanted the typical film noir story arc to the Japanese underworld. Sydney Irwin Pollack ( July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American Film director, producer and Actor. The Yakuza is a 1975 post– Film noir Gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Mitchum's stint as an aging Philip Marlowe in the Raymond Chandler adaptation, Farewell, My Lovely (1975), was well-received by audiences and critics. Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye Raymond Thornton Chandler ( July 23, 1888 &ndash March 26, 1959) was an American Author of crime stories and novels Farewell My Lovely is a 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles private eye Philip He also appeared in 1976's Midway, about the World War II battle of the same name. Midway is a 1976 War film made by The Mirisch Corporation and released by Universal Pictures. Reprising the Marlowe role in 1978's The Big Sleep proved a mistake, however, as Michael Winner took the film at once closer to the source material and farther away from its spirit and context, setting the film in modern day London. The Big Sleep ( 1978) was the second film version of Raymond Chandler 's 1939 novel of the same name. Michael Winner (born 30 October 1935) is an English Film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.
1982 saw Mitchum on-location in Scranton, Pennsylvania, playing Coach Delaney in the film adaptation of playwright/actor Jason Miller's 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning play That Championship Season. Jason Miller (April 22 1939 – May 13 2001 was an American Actor and Pulitzer Prize -winning Playwright. The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism, That Championship Season is Jason Miller's 1982 film version of his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play of the same name.
Mitchum expanded into the medium of television with the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War. A miniseries (also mini-series) in a serial Storytelling medium is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes The Winds of War was best-selling novellist Herman Wouk 's second book about World War II, the first being The Caine Mutiny (1951 The big-budget Herman Wouk adaptation aired on ABC and starred Mitchum as "Pug" Henry, a naval officer and examined the events leading up to America's involvement in World War II. Herman Wouk ( "woke" born May 27, 1915) is a bestselling American Author with a number of notable Novels to his The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including He followed it in 1988 with War and Remembrance, which followed America through the war. War and Remembrance is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in 1978 which is the sequel to The Winds of War. The same year, he returned to the big screen for a memorable supporting role in the Bill Murray A Christmas Carol interpolation, Scrooged. For the British actor see Billy Murray (actor. William James "Bill" Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an A Christmas Carol in Prose Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (commonly known as A Christmas Carol) is a Novella by Charles Dickens Scrooged is a 1988 Comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens 's Novella, A Christmas Carol.
Though Mitchum continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, such as Tombstone and Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, the actor gradually slowed his workrate. Tombstone is a 1993 Western movie written by Kevin Jarre and directed by its star Kurt Russell, with credited director George P Jim Jarmusch (born January 22 1953 in Akron Ohio; ˈdʒɑrməʃ is an American independent Film director. Dead Man is a 1995 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. His last film appearance was in the television biopic, James Dean: Race with Destiny. A biographical motion picture &mdash often shortened to biopic &mdash is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people His last starring role had been in the 1995 Norwegian movie Pakten, a final nod to his Norwegian ancestry. Pakten ( English title: Waiting for Sunset (USA or The Sunset Boys) is a 1995 Norwegian film directed by Leidulv He died on July 1, 1997, in Santa Barbara, California, due to complications of lung cancer and emphysema. "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County California, United States. Lung cancer is a Disease of uncontrolled Cell growth in tissues of the Lung. Emphysema is a chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease ( COPD) formerly termed a chronic obstructive Lung disease (COLD He was survived by his wife, Dorothy Mitchum, and actor sons, James Mitchum, Christopher Mitchum, and daughter Petrina (Trina) Mitchum. Christopher Mitchum (born October 16, 1943 in Los Angeles California) is the second son of Robert and Dorothy Mitchum His grandchildren, Bentley Mitchum and Carrie Mitchum, are also actors, as was his younger brother John Mitchum,who died in 2001. Bentley Mitchum (born in 1967 is an American actor who has appeared in about 40 films and TV series including Sundance grand jury prize winner Ruby in Paradise, Man in John Mitchum ( September 6, 1919 - November 29, 2001) was an American Actor in films and later TV from the 1940s In 1991, he won a lifetime achievement award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globe Awards in 1992. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor The Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in Motion pictures has been given annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and Television programs given out each year during a formal dinner It had been widely predicted for at least a decade that his eventual death would spark a huge fascination with his film canon, but James Stewart died the very next day, immediately eclipsing Mitchum's death in the mainstream media. James Maitland Stewart (20 May 1908 – 2 July 1997 popularly known as Jimmy Stewart, was an American Film and stage Actor
Regardless, Mitchum is today venerated by critics as one of the finest actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Noted critic Roger Ebert called him 'the soul of film noir'. Roger Joseph Ebert (iːbɝt born June 18, 1942) is an American film critic and Screenwriter. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation There probably never was (or ever will be) an actor so unfazed by their ability, success and popularity. On being interviewed once by Barry Norman (The BBC film critic)with Norman being his usual sycophantic self, on this occasion about Mitchum's contribution to cinema, Mitchum stopped him in mid flow and in his typical phlegmatic style. . . 'Look! I have two kinds of acting. One on a horse and one off a horse. That's it'. This summed up the man and actor very well.
Filmography
Features
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Short subjects
- The Magic of Make-up (1942)
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Goes to Bat (1950)
- Waiting for the Wind (1990)
Discography
Albums
- Calypso---is Like So . Scrooged is a 1988 Comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens 's Novella, A Christmas Carol. Cape Fear is a 1991 thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. Tombstone is a 1993 Western movie written by Kevin Jarre and directed by its star Kurt Russell, with credited director George P Dead Man is a 1995 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. . . (1957, Capitol)
- That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings (1967, Monument) Country: #35
Singles
- "The Ballad of Thunder Road" (1958, Capitol) Pop: #62
- "Little Old Wine Drinker Me" (1967, Monument) Country: #9 Pop: #96
- "You Deserve Each Other" (1967, Monument) Country: #55
References
Further reading
- Lee Server (2001). Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as Monument Records was a Record label founded in 1958 by Fred Foster and Bob Moore. The Ballad of Thunder Road is a song written by Actor Robert Mitchum in 1957. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as Monument Records was a Record label founded in 1958 by Fred Foster and Bob Moore. Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States Lee Server is an American writer Books Ava Gardner "Love is Nothing" (2006 Robert Mitchum "Baby I Don’t Care" Robert Mitchum: "Baby, I don't care". New York: St Martin's. ISBN 0-312-26206-X.
- Mike Tomkies The Robert Mitchum Story, "It Sure Beats Working" Ballantine Books, 1972, ISBN 0-345-23484-7
- John Mitchum Them Ornery Mitchum Boys, The Adventures of Robert and John Mitchum, Creatures at Large, 1989, ISBN 0-940064-07-3
- TCM Film Guide, "Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era", Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California, 2006, ISBN 0811854671
External links
- Robert Mitchum at the Internet Movie Database
- Robert Mitchum at the TCM Movie Database
- Profile @ Turner Classic Movies
- Robert Mitchum's ashes at Find-A-Grave
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mitchum, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mitchum, Robert Charles Durman |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American film actor and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 1, 1997 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
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