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Cameron Mitchell (actor)
Encyclopedia
Cameron Mitchell was an American
film, television and Broadway
actor with close ties to one of Canada
's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg
, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City
.
to Rev. Charles and Kathryn Mitzel, young Cameron moved to Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania in 1921 when his dad was accepted as pastor of the St. John's Reformed Church of Donegal Township, Pennsylvania.
Mitchell served as a bombardier with the United States Army Air Forces
during World War II
. His film career began with minor roles in films dating back to 1945, including They Were Expendable
(with John Wayne
and Robert Montgomery
, but he quickly rose to young leading man status opposite such stars as Wallace Beery
in The Mighty McGurk
, Doris Day
and James Cagney
in Love Me or Leave Me
, Lana Turner
and Spencer Tracy
in Cass Timberlane
, Clark Gable
and Jane Russell
in The Tall Men
, and Marlon Brando
, Merle Oberon
, and Jean Simmons
in Désirée.
Some of his best known films were the 1951 adaptation of Death of a Salesman
(he originated the role of Happy on Broadway), Les Misérables in 1952, the 1953 comedy How to Marry a Millionaire
(with Marilyn Monroe
), and 1956's film version of Carousel
.
During the 1960s, Mitchell starred in numerous Italian
horror, fantasy, and thriller films, several of which were directed by Mario Bava
, including Erik the Conqueror
(1961), Blood and Black Lace
(1964), and Knives of the Avenger (1966). He portrayed right-wing General Edwin A. Walker in Prince Jack
(1985).
It was on TV where Mitchell had the greatest effect during the latter part of his career, and he is best remembered for starring as Uncle Buck in the 1960s NBC
western series, The High Chaparral
. He also made an appearance on an episode of Bonanza
and ABC
's S.W.A.T.
He guest starred on the brief The Swiss Family Robinson TV series and the 'Landslide' episode of "Movin' On" in 1975. He appeared on Gene Evans
's short-lived Spencer's Pilots
on CBS
in the fall of 1976. He also provided the voice of Jesus in The Robe
.
Between the first and second world wars, during his years as a young actor in Alfred Lunt
and Lynn Fontanne
's National Theater Company, Fontanne suggested that Cameron's surname sounded "a bit too much like the Hun" and insisted he change it to "Mitchell."
business tycoon Fred Mendel. The Mendel family was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Fred Mendel founded Intercontinental Packers, a major family-owned meat packing operation.
Johanna Mitchell gave birth to their first son, Robert Cameron Mitchell, in New York on July 4, 1941. Although Mitchell and Johanna divorced in 1960, he maintained close ties to Canada. His children by Johanna hold dual US/Canada citizenship. Their daughter, Camille Mitchell
, and son, Cameron Mitchell, Jr., are both actors. Another son, Fred Mitchell, was president of Intercontinental Packers for many years working alongside his mother, Johanna Mitchell, who was Chairwoman of the Board. Today the company is known as Mitchell's Gourmet Foods and still operates out of Saskatoon, now owned by Maple Leaf Foods
.
Mitchell's children from his second marriage - Jake, Jono, and Kate Mitchell - live in Los Angeles, California
.
, aged 75, on July 7, 1994, in Pacific Palisades, California. He is buried in Desert Memorial Park
in Cathedral City, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film, television and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actor with close ties to one of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early life and career
Born Cameron MacDowell Mitzel in Dallastown, PennsylvaniaDallastown, Pennsylvania
Dallastown is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,049 at the 2010 census.-History:Dallastown was named after George M. Dallas of Philadelphia during the presidential campaign of 1844...
to Rev. Charles and Kathryn Mitzel, young Cameron moved to Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania in 1921 when his dad was accepted as pastor of the St. John's Reformed Church of Donegal Township, Pennsylvania.
Mitchell served as a bombardier with the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His film career began with minor roles in films dating back to 1945, including They Were Expendable
They Were Expendable
They Were Expendable is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford and starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne. The film is based on the book by William L. White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese...
(with John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
, but he quickly rose to young leading man status opposite such stars as Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
in The Mighty McGurk
The Mighty McGurk
The Mighty McGurk is a 1947 film starring Wallace Beery as a boozing ex-boxer working as a bouncer in a Bowery saloon. The movie was directed by John Waters, although not the same John Waters who directed Pink Flamingos and Hairspray .-Cast:*Wallace Beery as Slag McGurk*Dean Stockwell as...
, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
and James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
in Love Me or Leave Me
Love Me or Leave Me (film)
Love Me or Leave Me is a 1955 biographical film which tells the life story of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dancer to movie star. It stars Doris Day as Etting, James Cagney as gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder, her first husband and manager, and Cameron Mitchell as pianist/ arranger Myrl...
, Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
in Cass Timberlane
Cass Timberlane
Cass Timberlane is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1945. It is Sinclair Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.It was made into a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, directed by George Sidney, and released in 1947.Timberlane is a minor character in...
, Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
in The Tall Men
The Tall Men (film)
The Tall Men is a 1955 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Clark Gable, Jane Russell, and Robert Ryan.The 20th Century Fox film was produced by William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks. Sydney Boehm and Frank S...
, and Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
, and Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
in Désirée.
Some of his best known films were the 1951 adaptation of Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman (1951 film)
Death of a Salesman is a 1951 film adapted from the play of the same name by Arthur Miller. It was directed by László Benedek and written for the screen by Stanley Roberts. It received numerous nominations for awards, and won several of them, including four Golden Globe Awards and the Volpi Cup...
(he originated the role of Happy on Broadway), Les Misérables in 1952, the 1953 comedy How to Marry a Millionaire
How to Marry a Millionaire
How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 romantic comedy film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Jean Negulesco and produced and written by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It by Zoe Akins and Loco by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. The music score...
(with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
), and 1956's film version of Carousel
Carousel (film)
Carousel is a 1956 film adaptation of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name which, in turn, was based on Ferenc Molnár's non-musical play Liliom. The 1956 Carousel film stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, and was directed by Henry King...
.
During the 1960s, Mitchell starred in numerous Italian
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
horror, fantasy, and thriller films, several of which were directed by Mario Bava
Mario Bava
Mario Bava was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.-Biography:Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy...
, including Erik the Conqueror
Erik the Conqueror
Erik the Conqueror is an epic 1961 Italian action–adventure film directed by Mario Bava and starring George Ardisson and Cameron Mitchell as long-lost Viking brothers in the 9th century, one of whom is raised in England, the other in Scandinavia. They finally meet after almost 20 years, as rivals...
(1961), Blood and Black Lace
Blood and Black Lace
Blood and Black Lace is a 1964 Italian thriller film directed by Mario Bava. Bava cowrote the screenplay with Giuseppe Barilla and Marcello Fondato. The film stars Cameron Mitchell and Eva Bartok...
(1964), and Knives of the Avenger (1966). He portrayed right-wing General Edwin A. Walker in Prince Jack
Prince Jack
Prince Jack is 1985 film from Castle Hill Productions which dramatises some of the inner workings of the Kennedy Administration, including efforts by Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy to address the issue of Civil Rights...
(1985).
It was on TV where Mitchell had the greatest effect during the latter part of his career, and he is best remembered for starring as Uncle Buck in the 1960s NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
western series, The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral is a Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The show was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network...
. He also made an appearance on an episode of Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's S.W.A.T.
S.W.A.T.
- S.W.A.T. 1 :Date: October 4, 2006Location: VilniusResults: Valentine Bagdonavicius defeated Richard Damanskas by KO Gediminas Bielskis defeated Mantas Kuslin by KO Saulius Poltanavicius vs Aivaras Juska Draw...
He guest starred on the brief The Swiss Family Robinson TV series and the 'Landslide' episode of "Movin' On" in 1975. He appeared on Gene Evans
Gene Evans
Gene Evans was an American actor.He was born in Holbrook, Arizona, but reared in Colton, California. His acting career began while he was serving in World War II. He performed with a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. Evans made his film debut in 1947 and appeared in dozens of movies and...
's short-lived Spencer's Pilots
Spencer's Pilots
Spencer's Pilots is an American adventure series that aired on CBS from September 17 to November 19, 1976. Created by Larry Rosen, the series stars Gene Evans.-Synopsis:Evans stars as Spencer Parish, the owner of Spencer Aviation...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in the fall of 1976. He also provided the voice of Jesus in The Robe
The Robe
The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, and four weeks later rose to No. 1. It held the position for nearly a year...
.
Between the first and second world wars, during his years as a young actor in Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
and Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne was a British actress and major stage star in the United States for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband Alfred Lunt.She lived in the United States for more than 60 years but never relinquished her British citizenship. Lunt and Fontanne shared a special Tony Award in 1970...
's National Theater Company, Fontanne suggested that Cameron's surname sounded "a bit too much like the Hun" and insisted he change it to "Mitchell."
Personal life
In 1940, Mitchell married Johanna Mendel, the daughter of self-made CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
business tycoon Fred Mendel. The Mendel family was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Fred Mendel founded Intercontinental Packers, a major family-owned meat packing operation.
Johanna Mitchell gave birth to their first son, Robert Cameron Mitchell, in New York on July 4, 1941. Although Mitchell and Johanna divorced in 1960, he maintained close ties to Canada. His children by Johanna hold dual US/Canada citizenship. Their daughter, Camille Mitchell
Camille Mitchell
Camille Mitchell is an award-winning stage and television actress. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Canada, she is the daughter of Cameron Mitchell and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama located in London, England....
, and son, Cameron Mitchell, Jr., are both actors. Another son, Fred Mitchell, was president of Intercontinental Packers for many years working alongside his mother, Johanna Mitchell, who was Chairwoman of the Board. Today the company is known as Mitchell's Gourmet Foods and still operates out of Saskatoon, now owned by Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a major Canadian food processing company, founded in 1927 as a merger of several major Toronto meat packers.-History:The company was originally known as Canada Packers...
.
Mitchell's children from his second marriage - Jake, Jono, and Kate Mitchell - live in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Death
After a decades long career in radio, film, and television, Cameron Mitchell died of lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
, aged 75, on July 7, 1994, in Pacific Palisades, California. He is buried in Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. It is maintained by the Palm Springs Cemetery District...
in Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...
.