Robert Mitchum(1917-1997)

Robert Mitchum was an underrated American leading man of enormous abilitywho sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. He was born in BridgeportConnecticutto Ann Harriet (Gunderson)a Norwegian immigrantand James Thomas Mitchuma shipyard/railroad worker. His father died in a train accident when he was twoand Robert and his siblings (including brother John Mitchumlater also an actor) were raised by his mother and stepfather (a British army major) in ConnecticutNew Yorkand Delaware. An early contempt for authority led to discipline problemsand Mitchum spent good portions of his teen years adventuring on the open road. He later claimed that on one of these tripsat the age of 14he was charged with vagrancy and sentenced to a Georgia chain gangfrom which he escaped. Working a wide variety of jobs (including ghostwriter for astrologist Carroll Righter)Mitchum discovered acting in a Long Beach, Californiaamateur 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 filmsappearing in dozens within a very brief time. In 1945he was cast as Lt. Walker in Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His star ascended rapidlyand he became an icon of 1940s film noirthough equally adept at westerns and romantic dramas. His apparently lazy and seen-it-all demeanor proved highly attractive to men and womenand by the 1950she was a true superstar despite a brief prison term for marijuana usage in 1949which 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 (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 imagehe played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalanceleading 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 diminishedwinning new fans with The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988). His sons James Mitchum and Christopher Mitchum are actorsas is his grandson Bentley Mitchum. His last film was James Dean: Live FastDie Young (1997) with Casper Van Dien as James Dean.