Cameron Mitchell (born Cameron McDowell Mitzell; November 4, 1918 – July 6, 1994) was an American actor whose career spanned 55 years across film, stage, and television. Mitchell began his career on Broadway before entering films in the 1950s, appearing in several major features. Later in his career, he became known for his roles in numerous exploitation films in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mitchell began acting on Broadway in the late 1930s before signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appearing in such films as Cass Timberlane (1945) and Homecoming (1948). He subsequently originated the role of Happy Loman in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949), a role he reprised in the 1951 film adaptation. With 20th Century Fox, he appeared in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
Throughout the 1960s, he appeared in spaghetti Westerns and Italian films―including several collaborations with director Mario Bava―then on U.S. television. Once he made the transition, he was starring as Uncle Buck Cannon on the Western series The High Chaparral (1967–1971). From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, he appeared in numerous exploitation and horror films and television shows.
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.
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. Although offered a scholarship to attend Alviene, Mitchell chose the Theatre School. Its director, Norman C. Brace, wrote Mitchell's father, saying "... your son should succeed in becoming a very fine artist for the stage, screen or radio." Alviene school director Claude Alviene said of Mitchell "Your son, not only has exceptional dramatic ability, but the quality of his singing voice is so musical... (it) leaves little doubt of an ultimate successful career..."
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". Mitchell's final rank was second lieutenant.
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".
The highly critical letter pointed out what Mitchell thought was Lunt's poor performance in the movie The Guardsman. Mitchell ended the letter saying, "If you think you can act, you should see me". 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".
Fontanne also advised Mitchell to change his surname from "Mitzell" to "Mitchell", saying she thought his last name would hinder his career due to the then rising anti-German sentiment in America. He took her advice and changed his name.
In 1952, Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper said of Mitchell, "He isn't handsome. He isn't one of the lucky-break boys or the overnight flashes. Cam has gotten there the hard way over an uphill, obstacle-ridden course".
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 1939, Mitchell made his Broadway debut in a minor role in Jeremiah. He also appeared in the 1939 production of The Taming of the Shrew as a member of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne's National Theater Company.
In 1941, he appeared again on Broadway in The Trojan Women.
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.