Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997)

Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he attended McKinley
Grammar School.  After being expelled from high school, he traveled the
country on railroad cars, taking odd jobs to support himself. He became
a boxer and was forced into a chain gang, which he escaped from.

Determined to break into the movies, he got an agent who found work for
him in the Hopalong Cassidy westerns then filming at UA. Playing bits and
often unbilled, Mitchum appeared in seven of the films and soon found
additional work at other studios.

It was 1944’s “When Strangers Marry”, directed by William Castle, that
gave him a role in which he attracted the attention of critics and producers
alike. This led to his being cast in MGM’s 1944 film “Thirty Seconds Over
Tokyo” starring Spencer Tracy.

    
 
  Robert Mitchum in “Night of the Hunter” (1955)