John Mitchum

Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut,[1] to Ann Harriet Mitchum (née Gunderson) and James Thomas Mitchum, who had been killed in a railyard accident seven months earlier. He was the younger brother of Julie Mitchum and Robert Mitchum. He served in the United States Army, 361st Harbor Craft Company, in Florida and Hawaii.

Mitchum initially appeared unbilled in (e.g., Flying Leathernecks, RKO 1951) and extra roles before gradually receiving bigger character parts. He supported his more famous brother on several occasions, and became known as the friendly, food-loving Inspector Frank DiGiorgio in the first three Dirty Harry films. His character was killed in the third film, The Enforcer.

In 1957, he had a short appearance on Gunsmoke as a dueling cowboy in the episode "Sweet and Sour" (S2E23). He returned two years later portraying "Joe" in "The Constable" (S4E37) and again in 1963 as "Wills" in "Two of a Kind" (S8E27).

In 1958, Mitchum was cast in two episodes of the crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen. He played Joe in the episode "Short Haul" and Jimmy Logan in "Bungalow Murder".

On September 15, 1959, Mitchum appeared in the premiere episode "Stage Stop" of the Western series Laramie.

Mitchum was cast in 1960 as Pickalong in 10 episodes of the Western series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin. The same year, he appeared in the Western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. He also appeared as Hal Swanson in the 1960 episode "Silver Killers" of the Western series Tombstone Territory. Mitcham appeared in the 1960 Tales of Wells Fargo episode, "A Show for Silver Lode", in the role of a Wells Fargo station agent. From 1965 to 1967, Mitchum had the recurring role of Trooper Hoffenmueller in 11 episodes of the sitcom F Troop, starring Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry. In the 1967 episode of Batman "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!", he guest-starred as the character Hot Dog Harrigan.

Mitchum was a writer, poet, singer, and guitar player. An autobiography/biography about his life and career and that of his brother Robert was published in 1998, called Them Ornery Mitchum Boys. He composed the piece "America, Why I Love Her", which John Wayne included in his book and album of the same name.[1] The piece and a short film with Wayne's narration were aired at many television stations at sign-off time before stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Wayne is often mistakenly credited with composing the piece.

Mitchum was married four times, first to Joy Hallward, older sister of film noir femme fatale Gloria Grahame.

Mitchum died on November 29, 2001, after complications of three strokes. He was 82.[2]

• johnmitchum.com at the Wayback Machine (archived October 3, 2016)
• John Mitchum at IMDb