A ‘Poor Husband’ but ‘Good Father’: Inside the Life of Late Actor Robert Mitchum

Whether he was playing a cowboya psychopath or a private detectiveRobert Mitchum could say more with a raised eyebrow or a dark look than most actors could in a two-minute monologue. Yet in lifethe star of filmsincluding Night of the Hunter and The Longest Daycovered his true feelings with jokessarcasm and a world-weary toughness — even though he felt things deeply.

A native of the East CoastRobert brought his brideDorothy Spenceto Los Angeles in 1940. The couple had known each other since they were teenagers but were used to long separations. From childhoodRobert had a habit of running away for weeks or months to explore life in other places.

“He always returned,” Dorothy wrote in Photoplay magazine in 1954. “My family hoped that I’d forget himyet somehow I couldn’t.”

The bond between Robert and Dorothy allowed their marriage to survive fameinfidelityscandaland the ups and downs of a Hollywood career for 57 years.

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Robertwho received his sole Academy Award nomination for 1945’s The Story of G.I. Joeencouraged his reputation as a rebelbut he could be extremely charmingtoo.

“He was taciturn unless you got to know him,” says Jerry Robertsauthor of Robert Mitchum: A Bio-Bibliography.

The actor punctuated his amusing stories with dead-on impressions of friends and Hollywood luminaries like director John Huston.

“OnceI almost fell off the couch from laughing,” Roberts says. “It was that the story was funnybut also told in such an original way.”

Robert’s famewit and charisma attracted women like moths to a lighthouse.

“He had been a pinup favorite of mine when I was a teenager,” confessed Shirley MacLainewho carried on a three-year affair with the star. “His angular face and protective arms made me swoon.”

But no woman — no matter how famous or beautiful — could replace Dorothy in Robert’s life.

“There’s not one of ’em — and I’ve met the best of ’em — worth lighting a candle for alongside her,” he said.

Dorothya writer and society hostess who founded a charitable organization to benefit the mentally challengedreally was quite formidable.

“She was a very nice ladybut very tough and had an independent streak,” says Roberts. “She was the glue that kept their family together.”

Dorothy admitted it wasn’t always easy.

“Sometimes the women would elbow me out of the way to get to Bob,” she said. “But … whatever he doeshe always comes back.”

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In his later yearsRobert took pride and comfort in his familyadmitting he had been a “poor husband” to Dorothy but a “good father” to his childrenJamesChristopher and Trini. The longtime smoker passed away in 1997predeceasing Dorothy by 17 years. After her passing at age 94Dorothy’s ashes were scattered in the same place at sea that Robert’s had beenin hope they would find each other again in eternity.