George Mitchell (February 21, 1905 – January 18, 1972) was an American actor who performed from 1935 through 1971 in film, television, and on Broadway.
Early life
Mitchell was born February 21, 1905, in Larchmont in Westchester County in New York. He married his first wife, Mary Alice Shroyer (m.Dec 1927-div.1937) He fathered four children with Mary A. Shroyer. Mary (Mitchell) Oliver(deceased), Judith (Mitchell)Glasel (1930-present), George Mitchell III (deceased), and Eve (Mitchell) Joice(1936-present).He decided to become an actor after marrying actress Katherine Squire.[1]
Roles of note
Mitchell became a bit typecast in Hollywood, usually playing loathsome characters who operated outside of the law. On television, Mitchell's credits include acting in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Wally the Beard" (original air date March 1, 1965) with co-stars Larry Blyden and Kathie Brown, in which he played a knowledgeable and cranky seller of boats, and "Forty Detectives Later" (airing April 24, 1960), in which he portrayed the client of a private detective (James Franciscus) whom he hires to track the supposed murderer (Jack Weston) of his wife. On Broadway, 1969–70, he portrayed Chief Joseph in the play Indians, the source of Robert Altman's film Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson.
George Mitchell acted in several films and television episodes with his wife, Katherine Squire, the two of them often playing a husband-and-wife couple intrinsic to the story. One example was the two of them as an elderly couple in the Jack Nicholson film "Ride in the Whirlwind" — they first appear as a refuge for the two men on the run, but who then become instrumental to the fugitives' destruction.[2] Other examples occurred in their roles in episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.[3]
George Mitchell's major acting credits include the film The Andromeda Strain (1971), directed by Robert Wise, co-starring Arthur Hill, and based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. He played the comic relief as cranky old town drunk who, along with an infant, were among the only survivors of exposure to the deadly Andromeda Strain.
Broadway career
The Merry Widow, playing Cascada, July 15, 1942 – August 16, 1942
The New Moon, playing Jacques, August 18, 1942 – September 6, 1942
The Patriots, playing Ned, January 29, 1943 – June 26, 1943
Blossom Time, playing Von Schwind, September 4, 1943 – October 9, 1943
The New Moon, playing Captain Paul Duval, May 17, 1944 – ?
Goodbye, My Fancy, playing Dr. Pitt, November 17, 1948 – December 24, 1949
The Day After Tomorrow, playing Dr. Shaw, October 26, 1950 – November 11, 1950
In 1940, he married Katherine Squire, with whom he often worked on stage, in film, and on television. He died on January 18, 1972, aged 66, of undisclosed causes, in Washington, D.C. Squire died in 1995.[citation needed]
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