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 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, 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 and War and Remembrance. His sons James Mitchum and Christopher Mitchum are actors, as is his grandson Bentley Mitchum. His last film was James Dean: Race with Destiny with Casper Van Dien as James Dean.


Agency (1980): $500,000
Ryan's Daughter (1970/I) (1980): $870,000
Young Billy Young (1969): $200,000 + 20% of gross
Secret Ceremony (1968): $150,000
Mister Moses (1965): $400,000
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961): $100,000
The Sundowners (1960): $200,000
Home from the Hill (1960): $200,000 + % of gross
River of No Return (1954): $5,000/week
Rachel and the Stranger (1948): $3,000/week
Out of the Past (1947): $10,400
Desire Me (1947): $25,000
Undercurrent (1946): $25,000
Minesweeper (1943): $75/day
Border Patrol (1943): $100/week
Aerial Gunner (1943): $75/day
Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943): $100/week

Father of James Mitchum, Christopher Mitchum, and Trini Mitchum Grandfather of actor Bentley Mitchum, actress Carrie Mitchum and male model Kian Mitchum. 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.". 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. Because Charles Laughton had a personal dislike for children, Mitchum actually directed his child co-stars for the whole shoot of The Night of the Hunter (1955). He was voted the 61st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. In the 1950s he was selected by Howard Hughes to appear in a series of films he was producing. Hughes considered Mitchum a "friend," but (as a paranoid recluse) hardly met the actor. Mitchum was halfway put off and halfway amused by the "crazy old man" and clearly saw that he was a surrogate for Hughes as the strapping actor "romanced" young starlets on screen. Was a close friend of Richard Egan, and served as a pallbearer at his funeral in 1987. Great-grandfather of Cappy Van Dien and Grace Van Dien. Ex-grandfather-in-law of their father, Casper Van Dien. Treated for alcoholism at the Betty Ford Center in 1984. Biography in: "American National Biography." Supplement 1, pp. 414-416. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Addressed the Republican National Convention in 1992. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea by wife Dorothy Mitchum and neighbor Jane Russell. At Mitchum's insistence, no memorial service was held. 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. Referenced by name in the song "The Fun Machine Took a Sh-t and Died" by Queens of the Stone Age. Was the defendant in FTC (Federal Taxation Commissioner) v. Mitchum (1965), a famous taxation case in Australia, in relation to income earned in Australia while working there on The Sundowners (1960). 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. His performance as Rev. Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter (1955) is ranked #71 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. He seriously considered retiring from acting in 1968 due to concerns over the quality of his recent movies. After a year's absence, during which he spent much of the time driving around America visiting old friends and staying in motels, he was lured back to star in Ryan's Daughter (1970/I). He was fired from Blood Alley (1955), allegedly for getting drunk and arguing with a crew member whom he then proceeded to throw into a nearby river, a charge Mitchum has always denied. 5 Card Stud (1968), the showdown between Hollywood's two deities of indifference, produced no sparks on or off the screen. Dean Martin remained in his trailer watching television after filming was completed, and delivered his lines as though he had memorized them phonetically. The only excitement came when a massive camera collapsed and nearly hammered Mitchum into the ground. Instead, the star moved casually aside while thousands of dollars worth of equipment smashed around him. President Dwight D. Eisenhower would never allow any of Mitchum's movies to be played in the White House, due to the actor's marijuana possession conviction. 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. 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. Presented with a People's Choice Award backstage by Charlton Heston for "War and Remembrance" (1988) during the 1989 ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. 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. He claimed his famous eyes were the result of a combination of injuries from his boxing days and chronic insomnia, which he suffered from throughout his life. The 60-year-old Mitchum impressed Oliver Reed, Britain's legendary hellraiser, by drinking a whole bottle of gin in 55 minutes on the set of The Big Sleep (1978). Early in his career many newspapers and fan magazines promoted him as a "new" Clark Gable, perhaps because both actors had strongly masculine images and powerful, distinctive voices. With Out of the Past (1947) however, Mitchum proved that he was a great star in his own right. Was the inspiration for the Kurt Busiek's Astro City character "Steeljack". Mitchum was cast by Howard Hughes in Holiday Affair because Hughes felt that Mitchum needed to "soften" his image after his marijuana conviction and prison sentence.