Letters to the Dead: Things I Wish I'd Said. Ann Palmer

       TRIVIA:

      Brother of actor John Mitchum Grandfather of actor Bentley Mitchum. Grandfather of actress Carrie Mitchum. Treated at the Betty Ford Center in the early 1990s for alcoholism. Played the saxophone and wrote poetry.

      In 1947, Robert Mitchum and Gary Gray recorded the songs from “Rachel and the Stranger” for Delta records’ soundtrack album. In 1998, these and other songs were released on a CD as “Robert Mitchum Sings.”

       PERSONAL QUOTES:

      “The only difference between me and my fellow actors is that I’ve spent more time in jail.” - “I gave up being serious about making pictures around the time I made a film with Greer Garson and she took 125 takes to say no.” - “I started out to be a sex fiend but couldn’t pass the physical.” - “Movies bore me; especially my own.” - “I’ve still got the same attitude I had when I started. I haven’t changed anything but my underwear.” - “Listen. I got three expressions: looking left, looking right and looking straight ahead.” “People think I have an interesting walk. Hell, I’m just trying to hold my gut in.” (on press stories) “They’re all true - booze, brawls, broads, all true. Make up some more if you want to.” - “When I drop dead and they rush to the drawer, there’s going to be nothing in it but a note saying ‘later’.” Edward Dmytryk: “On the surface he is irresponsible and vague and yes - wacky. Underneath he knows the score as few men in Hollywood do.” Charles Laughton: “All the tough talk is a blind. He is a literate, gracious, kind man with wonderful manners and he speaks beautifully - when he wants to. He would make the best Macbeth of any actor living.” John Huston: “He is a rarity among actors, hard-working, non-complaining, amazingly perceptive, one of the most shockingly underrated stars in business.” Fred Zinneman: “He is one of the finest instinctive actors in the business, almost in the same class as Spencer Tracy.” David Lean: “Mitchum can, simply by being there, make almost any other actor look like a hole in the screen.” Vincent Price: “He writes his poetry and his songs and tells his stories - some true, some not. It doesn’t matter, because they’re all funny. But he is a complete anachronism. He claims he doesn’t care about acting, but he’s an extraordinary actor. He’s one of that group in Hollywood who are such extraordinary personalities that people forget they’re marvelous actors.

       ROBERT MITCHUM’S FILMS & TV:

      Pulp Cinema (2001), AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America’s Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001), Chop Suey (2000), Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s (1998), The 70^th Annual Academy Awards (1998), James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997), Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996), Waiting for Sunset (1995), Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (1996), Backfire! (1995), 100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994), La Classe Américaine (1993), The Mystery of Rhyne Caluder (1993), Woman of Desire (1993), Tombstone (1993), The Seven Deadly Sins (1992), African Skies (1991), Cape Fear (1991), Midnight Ride (1990), Waiting for the Wind (1990), A Family for Joe (1990), Believed Violent (1990), The Years of War (1989), Jake Spanner, Private Eye (1989), Brotherhood of the Rose (1989), John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1988), Scrooged (1988) War and Remembrance (1988) Mr. North (1988), Hollywood The Golden Years: The RKO Story (1987), Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend (1987), Remembering Marilyn (1987), Thompson’s Last Run (1986), North and South (1985), Promises to Keep (1985), Reunion at Fairborough (1985), Hearst and Davies Affair, The (1985), The American Film Institute Salute to Lillian Gish (1984), Maria’s Lovers (1984), The Ambassador(1984), The American Film Institute Salute to John Huston (1983), A Killer in the Family (1983), The Winds of War (1983), That Championship Season (1982), One Shoe Makes It Murder (1982), Nightkill (1980), Agency (1980), Matilda (1978), Breakthrough (1978), The Big Sleep (1978), The Amsterdam Kill (1977), Midway (1976), The Last Tycoon (1976), Farewell, My Lovely (1975), The Yakuza (1975), America on the Rocks (1973), The Friends of Eddie Coyle(1973), The Wrath of God (1972), Going Home (1971), Ryan’s Daughter (1970), Young Billy Young (1969, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969), A Movable Scene (1968), Secret Ceremony (1968), 5 Card Stud (1968), Anzio (1968), Villa Rides (1968), El Dorado (1967), Way West, The (1967), Mister Moses (1965), What a Way to Go! (1964), Man in the Middle (1964), Rampage (1963), List of Adrian The Messenger (1963), Two for the Seesaw (1962), The Longest Day (1962), Cape Fear (1962), The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961), The Sundowners (1960), The Grass Is Greener (1960), A Terrible Beauty (1960), Home from the Hill (1960), The Wonderful Country (1959), The Angry Hills(1959), The Hunters (1958), Thunder Road (1958), The Enemy Below (1957), Fire Down Below (1957), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Bandido (1956), Foreign Intrigue (1956), Man with the Gun (1955), Not as a Stranger (1955), The Night of the Hunter (1955), She Couldn’t Say No (1954), Track of the Cat (1954), River of No Return (1954), Second Chance (1953), White Witch Doctor (1953), One Minute to Zero (1952), Angel Face (1952), The Lusty Men (1952), Macao (1952), My Forbidden Past (1951), The Racket (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), Hollywood Goes to Bat (1950), Where Danger Lives (1950), The Big Steal (1949), Holiday Affair (1949), The Red Pony (1949), Blood on the Moon (1948), Rachel and the Stranger (1948), Out of the Past (1947), Desire Me (1947), Crossfire (1947), Pursued (1947), The Locket (1946), Undercurrent (1946), Till the End of Time (1946), West of the Pecos (1945), Ernie Pyle’s Story of G.I. Joe (1945), Nevada (1944), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Girl Rush (1944), When Strangers Marry (1944), Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944), Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Any More (1944), The Human Comedy (1943), Gung Ho! (1943), Riders of the Deadline (1943), The Dancing Masters (1943), Minesweeper (1943), Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943), False Colors (1943), Doughboys in Ireland (1943), Bar 20 (1943), Corvette K-225 (1943), Beyond the Last Frontier (1943), Lone Star Trail (1943), We’ve Never Been Licked (1943), Colt Comrades (1943), The Leather Burners (1943), Follow the Band (1943), Border Patrol (1943), Aerial Gunner (1943), Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943), The Magic of Make-up(1942).

      

       PRODUCER:

      A Terrible Beauty (1960), The Wonderful Country (1959), Thunder Road (1958)

       WRITER:

      Thunder Road (1958) (story)

       COMPOSER:

      Thunder Road (1958) (song “Whippoorwill”)

      Night of the Hunter, The (1955) (director: children)

       TV GUEST APPEARANCES:

      Private Screenings (1996), The Marshal (1995), The Equalizer (1985) several, Parkinson (1971), The Celebrity Game (1964), The Dick Powell Show (1961), Climax! (1954).

       What A Waste, David!

      

      DAVID JANSSEN: Birth name: David Harold Meyer

      Height: 6’

      Born: March 27^th, 1931 in Nebraska

      Died: February 13^th, 1980 (Reported as “heart attack”)

      Dear David,

      I go so far back with you that the general public doesn’t know you were a contract player at Universal Studios along with Rock Hudson, Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, Bob Wagner, George Nader and a lot of successful actors who came out of that era. Apparently you even worked in films in your teens.

      In my very early days, your best friend was dating a friend of mine. She called me one evening insisting that I join the three of you. That was how it began. It was a romance that lasted only a few weeks but a memorable one for me. I was still somewhat virtuous by today’s standards and thought sex went with marriage, at least with an engagement.

      My Mother was visiting me from Texas. I took her to several film and TV studios. On a Sunday evening, I invited you to have dinner with us. At the time, you were an up and coming actor whom she recognized but not yet a real TV “star.” It was that same day that you got your first break in television. Just before