Cameron Mitchell (actor)

Mitchell was born Cameron McDowell Mitzell on November 4, 1918, in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, of Scottish and German descent, one of Rev. Charles Michael Mitzell and Kathryn Isabella (née Ehrhart) Mitzell's seven children. Mitchell moved to Chicora, Pennsylvania, in 1921 when his father was accepted as pastor of the St. John's Reformed Church, Butler, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. The family was poor, and Mitchell wore both shoes and coats handed down from his sisters to school. ==Education==

Mitchell attended Shrewsbury Elementary School in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. He won first place in a 700-student spelling bee contest in 1933 and was awarded a "large Webster's dictionary". He was a 1936 graduate of New Freedom High School in New Freedom, Pennsylvania. Active in boxing and other sports in high school, Mitchell was a star baseball pitcher on his school's team. Mitchell turned away from sports, instead choosing to pursue an acting career. He explained his decision, saying "I decided against playing baseball because I thought there wasn't enough security in it. Isn't that silly? I now know there is nothing less secure than acting". In 1937, Helena Hartenstein, Mitchell's high-school French teacher, lent him the money to travel to New York City, where he auditioned at three acting schools - the Theatre School of Dramatic Arts, the Alviene Master School of the Theatre, and the Academy of Cultural Arts. == Military service ==

From 1943 - 1945, Mitchell served as a bombardier with the United States Army Air Forces MOS 1035-Bombardier group during World War II. Mitchell recalled, "I was a lousy bombardier -- I never hit anything". == Acting career ==

Early years Mitchell recalled his first days in New York City attending acting school, saying, "When I got to New York I had never ridden in an elevator or used a telephone". To make ends meet, he held many jobs, including theatre ushering, mail clerking, and washing dishes in restaurants. He was an NBC page at NBC Radio City with then-unknown fellow actor Gregory Peck. After two years of trying and still hoping to break into acting, Mitchell wrote dozens of letters to actors, agents, and producers in 1939. He received no response from the effort. He said, "I was bitter, mad at everyone. I sat down and wrote a letter to Alfred Lunt. It was the world's worst letter. I hate to think about it. I said I was a better actor than he was, but I was never going to get a chance to prove it". Lunt answered Mitchell and offered him an audition. Mitchell, realizing his impudence, apologized for having written the letter. Lunt's wife, actress Lynn Fontanne, told him, "Don't worry about what you've done. Acting is your life's work, and you're not only going to be a good actor, but you're [also] going to be a great actor". His agent, Ronald Leif, described Mitchell's ability, saying, "A true actor isn't tagged. He isn't a heavy, a comic or a juvenile – he can assume any personality the role demands and play it convincingly. Such a man is Cameron Mitchell". In 1941, he appeared again on Broadway in The Trojan Women. Radio career Mitchell also worked in radio throughout his career, both acting and announcing. In 1942, Mitchell was both station chief announcer and sports announcer at WSRR AM in Stamford, Connecticut. He was reported to have joined the Army Air Forces in July, 1943, and would be stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, where he was scheduled to host a weekly radio show on KFEQ AM in St. Joseph, Missouri. He became an Army Air Corps bombardier, instead. After World War II, Mitchell continued to act in radio dramas. He starred in the CBS daytime radio show Grand Central Station on January 21, 1950, in the episode "Lost and Found". Each week, the show featured an actor who was then currently appearing on Broadway in New York City. Transition to film Mitchell's film career began in 1945 as a contract actor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for three years, with minor roles in films, including brief appearances in What Next, Corporal Hargrove? and They Were Expendable (1945), starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery. He was featured with Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy in Cass Timberlane, and with Wallace Beery in The Mighty McGurk (both 1947). He concluded his MGM period acting in two Clark Gable films, Homecoming and Command Decision (both 1948). Mitchell moved to Columbia Pictures and had his first movie-star role as a prizefighter in the film noir Leather Gloves (1948). He appeared as a deep-sea diver in ''Smuggler's Gold'' (1951). He also starred in Monogram Pictures' Flight To Mars (1951) . Mitchell originated the role of Happy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949) on Broadway. His performance earned him a 1949 Theatre World Award. After its closing, he appeared again in the Broadway production of Southern Exposure (1950). In 1975–1976, he portrayed Jeremiah Worth in the Swiss Family Robinson TV series, and had a supporting role opposite Leo Fong in the Filipino film Enforcer from Death Row (1976). Mitchell was subsequently featured on an episode of Bonanza and ABC's S.W.A.T.. He guest-starred on the "Landslide" episode of ''Movin' On'' in 1975. He appeared on Gene Evans's short-lived ''Spencer's Pilots on CBS in 1976. Mitchell also had roles in horror films and in many exploitation films, such as The Toolbox Murders (1978), the creature feature The Swarm (1978), the slasher film The Demon (1979), and the slasher film Silent Scream (1980). He appeared again on Broadway in the 1978 production of The November People, He had a supporting role in the anthology horror films Night Train to Terror (1985) and From a Whisper to a Scream (1987), as well as roles portraying right-wing General Edwin A. Walker in Prince Jack (1985), and as Captain Alex Jansen in Space Mutiny, a 1988 South African science-fiction film that appeared as an "Experiment" in episode 820 of Mystery Science Theater 3000.'' In 1984, he had the role of Duke Kovak in Partners in Crime. He also appeared in an episode of Knight Rider, playing the role of criminal Bernie Mitchell. Through the end of the decade, Mitchell appeared in many low-budget, direct-to-video films, often in roles only lasting a few minutes. His role in these productions led him to be a recurring subject, and later a running gag, on the internet film review show Best of the Worst. == Aborted sports career ==

Mitchell pitched for the Culver City-Palms semiprofessional baseball team when his acting schedule allowed. In 1947, a scout for the Detroit Tigers said Mitchell had "definite major-league possibilities" and offered him a contract to sign on as a pitcher for the Tigers. Mitchell told the scout, "Gee, I certainly appreciate the offer, but I'm already under contract". When asked to whom, Mitchell answered "To MGM. I'm getting $ 20,000 a year as an actor." (). Mitchell said he kept the unsigned contract throughout his life. On August 18, 1947, he pitched four hitless innings as a member of the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars against the Los Angeles Angels during the 1947 Damon Runyon Cancer Fund game held in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Stars won 4–3. Mitchell was dismayed that newspaper articles about the game referred to him as a "bit player". He said, "If they had only referred to me as an actor. That one remark took away all of the enjoyment I had in the game". Mitchell did sign with the Las Vegas Wranglers as a pitcher on August 31, 1947. Mitchell pitched one game throwing curveballs. Unfortunately, in one inning, his pitching allowed the opposing Ontario Orioles 13 runs, 11 hits, and five walks. The Wranglers cancelled Mitchell's next scheduled appearance, quickly ending his semiprofessional career. ==Personal life==

On August 17, 1940, Mitchell married Johanna Mendel in Lancaster, New Hampshire. Mendel's father, Fred Mendel, had founded Intercontinental Packers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Mitchells' four children held dual US/Canadian citizenship. Daughter Camille Mitchell and son Charles (later known as Cameron Mitchell Jr.) are both actors. Son Michael Fredrick "Fred" Mitchell, became president of Intercontinental Packers. Now known as Mitchell's Gourmet Foods, the company is owned by Maple Leaf Foods. His first wife, Johanna filed a lawsuit alleging cruelty, and sought over $2,000 a month in financial support. Mitchell and Gertz had three children: Kate, Jake, and Jono. In February 1974, Mitchell entered his second bankruptcy, with $2.4 million in debts contrasted against $26 in two bank accounts. He told Associated Press writer Bob Thomas: "The reasons are the same as have happened to other actors over the years. Stupid, bad investments. Parasites who live off you. Too much trust in people who handle your money". On May 9, 1973, Mitchell married Margaret Brock Johnson Mozingo, whom he met when he was in Clemson, South Carolina, making The Midnight Man; their marriage took place in Puerto Rico. In November 1976, his wife applied to a civil court to annul the marriage on the grounds of bigamy. Arguing she was the victim of deception, she said she married her husband before his divorce from Gertz was finalized on February 23, 1974. Mitchell's marriage to Mozingo was formally annulled. In March 1976, Gertz had sued Mozingo for $53,000, a sum she claimed Mitchell and Mozingo agreed to pay her as a divorce settlement. ==Death==

Mitchell died of lung cancer on July 6, 1994, in Pacific Palisades, California, at age 75. He is buried in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. ==Accolades==

• 1949: Theatre World Award – Actor – Death Of A Salesman • 1956: Golden Laurel Award – Top Male Character Performance – Love Me or Leave Me • 1957: BAMBI Award – Best Actor - International – Monkey on My Back • 1970: BAMBI Award – Best TV Series - International – The High Chaparral (Shared with co-stars: Linda Cristal · Henry Darrow · Leif Erickson · Mark Slade) ==Filmography==