Duke Mitchell was an American film actor, slapstick

Slapstick

Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...

 comedian, crooner

Crooner

Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...

 and independent film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

. Mitchell often performed his nightclub act in and around Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

 and anointed himself the "King of Palm Springs."

Early life and career

Mitchell was born Dominic Miceli in Farrell, Pennsylvania

Farrell, Pennsylvania

Farrell is a city in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,050 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

. In 1951, he teamed with teenaged comic Sammy Petrillo

Sammy Petrillo

Sammy Petrillo was an American nightclub and movie comedian best known as a Jerry Lewis lookalike.-Early life:...

 for a nightclub act. Mitchell's cabaret-style crooning and Petrillo's manic, rubber-faced clowning bore more than a passing resemblance to the red-hot team of Dean Martin

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

 and Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...

. The act got too close for comfort and Lewis famously threatened to sue the duo. It was Duke Mitchell, however, who pointed out a key flaw in the prosecution's case, and Martin & Lewis's studio, Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, hurriedly dropped the suit.

Movie producer Jack Broder had announced his intention to star Mitchell and Petrillo in a feature-length comedy. Petrillo later recalled his suspicion that Broder never really intended to make the film: Broder expected Paramount to pay him off, but when Paramount dropped the lawsuit, Broder had to follow through. The resulting film was Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla is a 1952 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring horror veteran Béla Lugosi and nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo in roles approximating Martin and Lewis.-Plot:...

, a silly, jungle-themed comedy co-starring the former "Dracula."

After Mitchell and Petrillo parted as friends, Mitchell stayed in show business, doing nightclub and film work. Mitchell also provided the Elvis-like "singing voice" of Fred Flintstone

Fred Flintstone

Frederick Joseph “Fred” Flintstone, also known as Fred W. Flintstone or Frederick J. Flintstone, is the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960-66. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles...

 in several episodes of the popular cartoon TV series, The Flintstones

The Flintstones

The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...

.

Director

• Gone with the Pope
  Gone with the Pope
  Gone with the Pope is a 1976 independent film written, directed and produced by Italian-American crooner-actor Duke Mitchell that was first released in 2010 by Grindhouse Releasing.-Plot:...
  
  (1976, released in 2010 by Grindhouse Releasing
  Grindhouse Releasing
  Grindhouse Releasing is a Hollywood-based cult film distribution company owned by director/actor Sage Stallone and headed up by film editor Bob Murawski...
  
  )
• Like Father Like Son, aka The Executioner and aka Massacre Mafia Style (1978)

Actor

• Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
  Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
  Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla is a 1952 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring horror veteran Béla Lugosi and nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo in roles approximating Martin and Lewis.-Plot:...
  
  (1952)
• Sailor Beware (1952) (uncredited)
• Crime in the Streets (1956) (uncredited)
• Baby Face Nelson (1957)
• Paradise Alley (1962)
• The Executioner (1978)

External links