History Creator / RobertMitchum

=>''"People can't make up their minds whether I'm the greatest actor in the world - or the worst. Matter of fact, neither can I."''

After a colorful youth spent traveling across the country during TheGreatDepression, jumping railroad cars (with or without the company of motley hobos) and at one point getting arrested and put on a [[WorkingOnTheChainGang chain gang]] for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to "Robert Marshall", a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

When his RKO days came to an end Mitchum took on one of his two most iconic roles in 1955's ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter'', in which he played Harry Powell, a sadistic woman-hating con man who marries a widow and then murders her before chasing her kids to get money that their late father stole, and then in 1962 he was Max Cady in ''Film/CapeFear'', the sadistic rapist who has come back to seek revenge on the righteous lawyer Sam Bowden (Creator/GregoryPeck) who helped send him to jail years earlier - he later [[RemakeCameo appeared]] in the early 90s remake, ironically as a LawfulGood sheriff while Peck's cameo had him playing an evil lawyer. Other noteworthy roles include ''Film/ThunderRoad'' (which inspired a Music/BruceSpringsteen song), ''Film/OutOfThePast'', ''Film/HeavenKnowsMrAllison'', ''Film/TheSundowners'', ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (PlayingAgainstType as a romantically lacking priest) and the TV miniseries ''The Winds of War''.

* 1943 ''Film/TheHumanComedy'' as Horse (a bit part)

After a colorful youth spent traveling across the country during TheGreatDepression, jumping railroad cars (with or without the company of motley hobos), and at one point getting arrested and put on a [[WorkingOnTheChainGang chain gang]] for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to "Robert Marshall", a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

After a colorful youth spent jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during TheGreatDepression (with or without the company of motley hobos) and at one point getting arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to "Robert Marshall", a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

After a colorful youth spent jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during TheGreatDepression (sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos) and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to "Robert Marshall", a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during TheGreatDepression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to "Robert Marshall", a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

* 1982 ''Film/ThatChampionshipSeason'' as Coach Daniel P. Delaney

* 1982 ''Film/ThatChampionshipSeason'' as Coach

After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during the Great Depression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to ''Robert Marshall'', a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in such films as ''Film/ThirtySecondsOverTokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he ''was'' the soldier he portrayed, and for which he received an AcademyAward nomination as Best Supporting Actor). A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes -- who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum -- kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during the Great Depression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves a Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts -- and refusing to change his professional name to ''Robert Marshall'', a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce -- he started to get leading roles in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he '''was''' the soldier he portrayed and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes - who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum - kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during the Great Depression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves A Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts - and refusing to change his professional name to ''Robert Marshall'' a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce - he started to get leading roles in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he '''was''' the soldier he portrayed and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Creator/HowardHughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes - who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum - kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

When his RKO days came to an end Mitchum took on one of his two most iconic roles in 1955's ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter'', in which he played Harry Powell, a sadistic woman-hating con man who marries a widow and then murders her before chasing her kids to get money that their late father stole, and then in 1962 he was Max Cady in ''Film/CapeFear'', the sadistic rapist who has come back to seek revenge on the righteous lawyer Sam Bowden (Creator/GregoryPeck) who helped send him to jail years earlier - he later [[RemakeCameo appeared]] in the early 90s remake, ironically as a LawfulGood sheriff while Peck's cameo had him playing an evil lawyer. Other noteworthy roles include ''Film/ThunderRoad'' (which inspired a Bruce Springsteen song), ''Film/OutOfThePast'', ''Film/HeavenKnowsMrAllison'', ''Film/TheSundowners'', ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (PlayingAgainstType as a romantically lacking priest) and the TV miniseries ''The Winds of War''.

[[quoteright:311:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Night_of_the_hunter.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:311:"Baby, I don't care."]]

When his RKO days came to an end Mitchum took on one of his two most iconic roles in 1955's ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter'', in which he played Harry Powell, a sadistic woman-hating con man who marries a widow and then murders her before chasing her kids to get money that their late father stole, and then in 1962 he was Max Cady in ''Film/CapeFear'', the sadistic rapist who has come back to seek revenge on the righteous lawyer Sam Bowden (Creator/GregoryPeck) who helped send him to jail years earlier - he later [[TheCameo appeared]] in the early 90s remake, ironically as a LawfulGood sheriff while Peck's cameo had him playing an evil lawyer. Other noteworthy roles include ''Film/ThunderRoad'' (which inspired a Bruce Springsteen song), ''Film/OutOfThePast'', ''Heaven Knows Mr. Allison'', ''The Sundowners'', ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (PlayingAgainstType as a romantically lacking priest) and the TV miniseries ''The Winds of War''.

* 1960 ''The Sundowners'' as Paddy Carmody

After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during the Great Depression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to trying out boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves A Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts - and refusing to change his professional name to ''Robert Marshall'' a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce - he started to get leading roles in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he '''was''' the soldier he portrayed and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Howard Hughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes - who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum - kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

When his RKO days came to an end Mitchum took on one of his two most iconic roles in 1955's ''The Night of the Hunter'', in which he played Harry Powell, a sadistic woman hating con man who marries a widow and then murders her before chasing her kids to get money that their late father stole. In 1962 he got his other most iconic role, that of Max Cady, the sadistic rapist who has come back to seek revenge on the righteous lawyer Sam Bowden (GregoryPeck) for helping send him to jail years earlier - he later appeared in the early 90s remake, ironically as a LawfulGood sheriff while Peck's cameo had him playing an evil lawyer. Other noteworthy roles include ''Film/ThunderRoad'' (which inspired a Bruce Springsteen song), ''Film/OutOfThePast'', ''Heaven Knows Mr. Allison'', ''The Sundowners'', ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (PlayingAgainstType as a romantically lacking priest) and ''The Winds of War''.

Mitchum built his screen persona on an image of casual indifference, which was at least partially true of his real life self - he never really lied about the fact that many of his films were far from great art and usually just done for the money and he never really took himself that seriously as an actor. In fact the title of his biography was ''Baby, I Don't Care'', taken from one of his early film noir roles. His indifference was such that when the notoriously temperamental Creator/KatharineHepburn caught him doing an accurate but unflattering impression of her to the cast and crew of 1946's ''Undercurrent'' she got in his face bellowing "You can't act! You know you can't act and you would never have gotten a single picture if you weren't handsome! I'm sick of working with people who have nothing to offer!" Mitchum's response? He just shrugged those big old ditch digger shoulders as if to say ''whatever''. Indeed, he carried this attitude to the point that it almost wrapped all the way around back to caring: when offered the lead role in the film ''Film/{{Patton}}'', he turned it down not because he thought it was a bad script (just the opposite) but because he felt his indifference would reduce the film to a mediocre string of tank battles; he even recommended the film's eventual star, Creator/GeorgeCScott, as the kind of actor who would fight to rightly keep the character of Patton as the focus of the film. He famously stated that his skill consisted of only two moods: on a horse and off a horse.

A longtime smoker, Mitchum died a month short of what would have been his 80th birthday due to lung cancer and emphysema. He is survived by his wife Dorothy and their kids (at least two of whom also took up acting, as did his brother John).

Mitchum is often considered one of the most "underrated" stars of the Golden Age. He's been highly influential on later generation of actors. Creator/RobertDeNiro often stated that Mitchum was one of his favorite actors. He was also a favorite of Creator/MichaelMadsen who cited Mitchum as his role model - convenient since he usually gets cast in film noir type roles himself. Mitchum continued to be an actor even in the 90s. He appeared in TheCameo in Creator/MartinScorsese's remake of ''Film/CapeFear'' (the original had Mitchum in De Niro's role). His final role was in Creator/JimJarmusch's ''Film/DeadMan''.

Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (1917–1997) was an American actor, one of the earliest of the more understated "say a lot while saying very little" types, which may be at least one of the reasons why he was often cast as drifters and loners during his career.

Mitchum built his screen persona on an image of casual indifference, which was at least partially true of his real life self - he never really lied about the fact that many of his films were far from great art and usually just done for the money and he never really took himself that seriously as an actor. In fact the title of his biography was ''Baby, I Don't Care'', taken from one of his early film noir roles. His indifference was such that when the notoriously temperamental Creator/KatharineHepburn caught him doing an accurate but unflattering impression of her to the cast and crew of 1946's ''Undercurrent'' she got in his face bellowing "You can't act! You know you can't act and you would never have gotten a single picture if you weren't handsome! I'm sick of working with people who have nothing to offer!" Mitchum's response? He just shrugged those big old ditch digger shoulders as if to say ''whatever''. Indeed, he carried this attitude to the point that it almost wrapped all the way around back to caring: when offered the lead role in the film ''Film/{{Patton}}'', he turned it down not because he thought it was a bad script (just the opposite) but because he felt his indifference would reduce the film to a mediocre string of tank battles; he even recommended the film's eventual star, Creator/GeorgeCScott, as the kind of actor who would fight to rightly keep the character of Patton as the focus of the film.

!Filmography

* 1975 ''Film/FarewellMyLovely'' as Philip Marlowe

[[caption-width-right:311:"Baby I don't care."]]

Robert Mitchum (born '''Robert Charles Durman Mitchum''' 1917-1997) was an American actor, one of the earliest of the more understated "say a lot while saying very little" types, which may be at least one of the reasons why he was often cast as drifters and loners during his career. After a colorful youth jumping trains and railroad cars traveling across the country during the Great Depression, sometimes with or without the company of motley hobos and at one point arrested and put on a chain gang for vagrancy, Mitchum, who initially set out to be a writer while working various labor jobs (including but not limited to trying out boxing), casually drifted into acting at the encouragement of relatives, making his (confirmed) official debut as a henchman in ''Hoppy Serves A Writ'' of the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gradually working his way up from supporting parts - and refusing to change his professional name to ''Robert Marshall'' a request from RKO that he thought was absurd given that his name wasn't particularly difficult to pronounce - he started to get leading roles in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' and ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' where he was so convincing that some people actually thought he '''was''' the soldier he portrayed and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. A favorite for playing anti-heroes in film noir and westerns, his career was nearly destroyed when he did jail time for being caught smoking pot, but upon returning to RKO - which was being run into the ground by the infamous Aviator himself Howard Hughes - Mitchum was forgiven and supported to the public and became "the staff hero" as he put it, since Hughes - who seemed to have a bit of a man crush on Mitchum - kept putting the tall, dark, barrel-chested leading man into the heroic roles he thought suited him.

On the flipside of his stoicism, Mitchum was easily one of Hollywood's most colorful characters - a casual ladies man and professional DeadpanSnarker, he was also known for acts of great generosity, bringing lunch to cast and crew when they needed them in outright defiance of tyrannical directors and offering advice to and support to actors who were just starting out and could benefit from his experience. He was also known for being a natural storyteller, poet, mimic of accents and even a fairly good singer. He was a long time friend of actresses Jane Russell and Deborah Kerr (the latter his leading lady in ''Heaven Knows Mr. Allison'' and ''The Sundowners'').

When his RKO days came to an end Mitchum took on one of his two most iconic roles in 1955's ''The Night of the Hunter'', in which he played Harry Powell, a sadistic woman hating con man who marries a widow and then murders her before chasing her kids to get money that their late father stole. In 1962 he got his other most iconic role, that of Max Cady, the sadistic rapist who has come back to seek revenge on the righteous lawyer Sam Bowden (GregoryPeck) for helping send him to jail years earlier - he later appeared in the early 90s remake, ironically as a LawfulGood sheriff while Peck's cameo had him playing an evil lawyer. Other noteworthy roles include ''Thunder Road'' (which inspired a Bruce Springsteen song), ''Out of the Past'', ''Heaven Knows Mr. Allison'', ''The Sundowners'', ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (PlayingAgainstType as a romantically lacking priest) and ''The Winds of War''.