Robert Mitchum

Biography in: "American National Biography." Supplement 1, pp. 414-416. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

After two weeks of shooting on the movie Tombstone (1993), the studio fired writer (director) Kevin Jarre and hired George P. Cosmatos. He, with Kurt Russell's input, cut a number of scenes (for actors) and changed them to new action scenes, weakening a beautifully written script. Part of what was cut was the old man Ike's character. As Mitchum had already signed the contract, they had him do the voice-over instead.

Addressed the Republican National Convention in 1992.

During a break in filming War and Remembrance (1988) in August 1987, Mitchum replaced his friend John Huston as an aging millionaire in Mr. North (1988) after Huston, who suffered from emphysema, was hospitalized with pneumonia. In October 1987, Mitchum filled in for Edward Woodward, who was recovering from a heart attack, in a special two-part episode of The Equalizer (1985).

Was close friends with Richard Egan, and served as a pallbearer at his funeral in 1987.

Treated for alcoholism at the Betty Ford Center in 1984.

He was accused of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial after an interview he gave to Barry Rehfeld of "Esquire" magazine promoting The Winds of War (1983) at his home in February 1983. Mitchum wrote an apologetic letter on 9 March 1983 to Herbert Luft, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's Hollywood columnist. Mitchum claimed he had recited views expressed by the bigoted football coach he had played in That Championship Season (1982), which Rehfeld "mistakenly believed to be my own. From that point on, he approached me as the character in the script and in playing the devil's advocate in a prankish attempt to string him along we compounded a tragedy of errors." Mitchum added he was "truly sorry that this misunderstanding has upset so many people, especially since it is so foreign to my principle. The attendant misfortune is that it has brought me a spate of mail from people and organizations who are encouraged to believe that I share their bigotry and discrimination.".

In 1981, he fired his secretary, Reva Frederick, when he closed his office. Mitchum was subsequently sued as she claimed he owed her a pension back-dated to 1961. There was no paperwork to support this claim, and she dropped her suit when evidence was discovered that she had stolen millions of dollars from Mitchum over the years. As part of the "deal", he agreed not to prosecute. During the course of these events, Ms. Fredrick suffered a stroke from which she never fully recovered.

He moved into television in the 1980s as his film opportunities diminished, winning new fans with The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988). His sons James Mitchum and Christopher Mitchum are actors, as is his grandson Bentley Mitchum.

Died one day before his The Big Sleep (1978) co-star James Stewart.

Though respectful of Robert De Niro's talent, Mitchum was amused by the young Method actor's habit of remaining in character all day as film studio chief Monroe Stahr during the filming of The Last Tycoon (1976). Mitchum gave De Niro the nickname "Kid Monroe", and made many jokes about him with the older actors on the set like Ray Milland and Dana Andrews.

Turned down Gene Hackman's role as drug-busting policeman Popeye Doyle in The French Connection (1971) because he found the story offensive.

Was mentioned by name as part of The Velvet Underground song "New Age" (from the 1970 album "Loaded").

Turned down the leading role in Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece The Wild Bunch (1969), which went to his old friend William Holden, and made 5 Card Stud (1968). His excuse was they were both westerns.

His vocal support for the Vietnam War failed to affect his appeal with American youth, and in 1968, a poll of teenagers declared him the coolest celebrity. Mitchum responded that they must have missed his recent films.

While filming El Dorado (1966) Mitchum was amused by co-star John Wayne's attempts to play his screen persona to the hilt in real life. He recalled that Wayne wore four-inch lifts to increase his height and had the roof of his car raised so he could drive wearing his Stetson.

Was the defendant in FTC (Federal Taxation Commissioner) vs. Mitchum (1965), a famous taxation case in Australia, in relation to income earned in Australia while working there on The Sundowners (1960).

Was one of four actors (with Jack Nicholson, Bette Davis, and Faye Dunaway) to have two villainous roles ranked in the American Film Institute's 100 years of The Greatest Heroes and Villains, as Max Cady in Cape Fear (1962) at #28 and as Reverend Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter (1955) at #29.

He was voted the 61st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

He was a huge fan of Elvis Presley's early music, and wanted Presley to star with him in Thunder Road (1958). Unfortunately, Tom Parker's demands for Presley's salary could not be met in this independent production, which Mitchum was financing himself.

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.

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.

In 1947, he and Gary Gray recorded the songs from Rachel and the Stranger (1948) for Delta Records' soundtrack album. In 1968, he recorded another album, entitled "That Man Robert Mitchum... Sings". It included the track "Little Old Wine Drinker Me", which later became a hit for Dean Martin. In 1998, these songs were released on CD as "Robert Mitchum Sings".

Robert Mitchum was an underrated American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ann Harriet (Gunderson), a Norwegian immigrant, and James Thomas Mitchum, a shipyard/railroad worker. His father died in a train accident when he was two, and Robert 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. He later claimed that 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.