BIO

Thomas Mitchell was born Thomas John Mitchell in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1892.   His father was a newspaper journalist.

Mitchell also started his career as a journalist, but was more interested in writing theatre scenarios than newspaper copy.   He made his Broadway debut in 1916, at the age of 24.   Although he made his film debut in 1923 for Fox Film, Mitchell was focused on a stage career and did not appear on celluloid again for another 13 years.

He signed with Columbia Pictures in 1936 and led a long and distinguished career as a supporting actor.   After more than 60 features, Mitchell’s last film was released in 1961.

Mitchell won the Oscar for Actor in a Supporting Role for Stagecoach (1939) and was nominated for a Supporting Actor Academy Award for The Hurricane (1937).

He was still able to maintain a vigorous stage career, appearing on Broadway in 25 productions between 1916 and 1960.   He received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Hazel Flagg in 1953.

An accomplished playwright, Mitchell co-authored the hit play Little Accident (1928-1929), among others.   He also staged another 8 Broadway productions.

Mitchell was also active in television, winning a Best Actor Emmy in 1953 and receiving Best Actor nominations in 1952 and 1955.   He became one of the few actors to win the ‘triple-crown’: an Emmy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

Mitchell married the stage actress Rachel Hartzell in 1937.   The couple had a daughter but divorced in 1939.   He wed his second wife, Anne Brewer Hier, in 1941.

When he died from cancer in Beverly Hills, California, in 1962, Mitchell was 70 years old.

Additional Broadway stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

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