| James Mitchum | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 8, 1941 Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1949–1992 |
| Spouse | Wende Wagner (1967-1978) (divorced) 1 child |
James Mitchum is the oldest son of actor Robert Mitchum and bears a striking resemblance to his famous father. He inherited his father's sleepy eyes and taciturn good looks. The comparison both helped and hurt his career. He had a child with actress Wende Wagner to whom he was formerly married. Ms. Wagner died of cancer in 1997.
He is also the brother of actor Christopher Mitchum and the uncle of actor Bentley Mitchum.[1]
He had his first role which was small and unbilled at the age of 8 in the western Colorado Territory (1949) with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo and Dorothy Malone. His credited debut was in Thunder Road (1958) in which he played his father's much younger "brother," a role written for Elvis Presley, who was eager to do it until his manager demanded too much money. This film became a drive-in cult favorite, revived in the '70s and '80s. Curiously, he was again credited as being "introduced" in the Have Gun Will Travel episode "Genesis" (1962). Since then he has appeared in more than 30 films including The Beat Generation in 1959, The Victors in 1963, In Harm's Way (1965),[2] Ambush Bay (1966), The Invincible Six in 1970, Zebra Force in 1976, Hollywood Cop in 1987, Jake Spanner, Private Eye in 1987 and Fatal Mission in 1990.[3] He played a surfer named Eskimo in Ride the Wild Surf in 1964. He also starred in Crazy Jungle Adventure (dubbed) in 1982.