Thomas Mitchell (actor)
| Thomas Mitchell | |
|---|---|
from the trailer for
High Barbaree (1947) |
|
| Born |
Thomas John Mitchell July 11, 1892 Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA |
| Died | December 17, 1962 (aged 70) Beverly Hills, California, USA |
| Resting place | Chapel of the Pines Crematory |
| Occupation | Actor, director, playwright, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1916–62 |
| Spouse(s) | Rachel Hartzell (1937–1939) Ann Stuart Breswer (1915-1935;1941–1962; his death) |
Thomas John Mitchell (July 11, 1892 – December 17, 1962) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, Scarlett's father in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life. Mitchell was the first male actor to win an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony Award.
Nominated twice for an Oscar, first for The Hurricane (1938), he won the Best Supporting Actor award for Stagecoach (1939); later, he would be nominated three times for an Emmy Award. He was nominated twice, in 1952 and 1953, for his role in the medical drama The Doctor, winning the Lead Actor Drama award in 1953. Nominated again in 1955, for an appearance on a weekly anthology series, he did not win. Mitchell won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, in 1953, for his role as Dr Downer in the musical comedy Hazel Flagg, based on the 1937 Paramount comedy film Nothing Sacred, rounding out the Triple Crown of acting awards. In addition to being an actor, he was also a director, playwright, and screenwriter.
Mitchell was born to Irish immigrants in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He came from a family of journalists and civic leaders. Both his father and brother were newspaper reporters, and his nephew, James P. Mitchell, later served as Dwight Eisenhower's Secretary of Labor. The younger Mitchell also became a newspaper reporter after graduating from St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth. However, Mitchell soon found that he enjoyed writing comic theatrical skits much more than chasing late-breaking scoops. In 1927 Mitchell joined The Lambs.
...
Wikipedia