Gordon Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Gordon Mitchell was an American
actor
and bodybuilder
.
, and began working out in his Denver neighbourhood to deal with his tough companions. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Bulge
where he was taken prisoner of war
. He later obtained a degree at the University of Southern California
under the G.I. Bill. He became a high school teacher and guidance counselor in Los Angeles
where due to his physique he was given classes containing many delinquent students.
Following a return enlistment in the Korean War
he found film extra work in movies such as Prisoner of War, The Man with the Golden Arm
and Cecil B. DeMille
's The Ten Commandments where he and his friend Joe Gold
dragged Charlton Heston
's Moses
to Pharaoh Yul Brynner
. Mae West
chose him to appear in her nightclub act.
He was one of the American bodybuilder-actors who migrated to Italy
in the wake of Steve Reeves
after he sent a photo to an Italian producer who signed him on a contract. Prior to going to Italy, he saw a clairvoyant who asked him if he had ever been known by the name of Gordon Mitchell. He replied no, but on arrival in Rome, Mitchell was given his new name. He found work first in sword and sandal
films such as Sinbad, Seven Slaves Against the World, Treasure of the Petrified Forest
(1965), then in Spaghetti Western
s such as Beyond the Law
and Savage Guns
.
From the early 1970s onwards, his career started to diversify into everything from horror
(Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks) (1974), Nazi exploitation
(Achtung! The Desert Tigers!) (1977), Sexploitation
("Porno-Erotic Western"), (1979), French
criminal comedy The Umbrella Coup
(1980), and post-apocalyptic films (Endgame (1983). Mitchell appeared (as Hector) in the bizarre 1982 Israel
i adaptation, directed by Avi Nesher
, of H. Rider Haggard
's She
, which starred Sandahl Bergman. Mitchell also appeared in
Satyricon
(1969), directed by Federico Fellini
.
Mitchell was close friends with fellow American expatriate actors Richard Harrison
, Mike Monty
(he appeared in a number of films with both and shared an apartment with Monty in Italy during the 1960s), and John P. Dulaney. Like Monty, Harrison and Dulaney, Mitchell acted in low-budget action films in the Philippines
during the 1980s, having roles in Commando Invasion and SFX Retaliator for director John Gale
.
He returned to the United States in the late 1980s and retired from acting but kept making occasional film appearances until his death from undisclosed causes in Marina Del Rey, California
, aged 80.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and bodybuilder
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
.
Biography
Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and began working out in his Denver neighbourhood to deal with his tough companions. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
where he was taken prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. He later obtained a degree at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
under the G.I. Bill. He became a high school teacher and guidance counselor in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where due to his physique he was given classes containing many delinquent students.
Following a return enlistment in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
he found film extra work in movies such as Prisoner of War, The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold...
and Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The Ten Commandments where he and his friend Joe Gold
Joe Gold
Joe Gold was the founder of Gold's Gym and World Gym...
dragged Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
's Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to Pharaoh Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
. Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
chose him to appear in her nightclub act.
He was one of the American bodybuilder-actors who migrated to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in the wake of Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
after he sent a photo to an Italian producer who signed him on a contract. Prior to going to Italy, he saw a clairvoyant who asked him if he had ever been known by the name of Gordon Mitchell. He replied no, but on arrival in Rome, Mitchell was given his new name. He found work first in sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
films such as Sinbad, Seven Slaves Against the World, Treasure of the Petrified Forest
Treasure of the Petrified Forest
Treasure of the Petrified Forest or Il tesoro della foresta pietrificata is a 1965 Italian adventure film directed by Emimmo Salvi.-Cast:* Gordon Mitchell ... Hunding* Ivica Pajer ... Sigmund * Eleonora Bianchi .....
(1965), then in Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s such as Beyond the Law
Beyond the Law (1968 film)
Beyond the Law is the American release title of Al di là della legge, a 1968 Spaghetti Western feature film directed by Giorgio Stegani and starring Lee Van Cleef, Antonio Sabàto Sr., andGordon Mitchell...
and Savage Guns
Savage Guns
Savage Guns is a low-quality spaghetti western from 1971, directed by Demofilo Fidani and starring Robert Woods and Gordon Mitchell....
.
From the early 1970s onwards, his career started to diversify into everything from horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
(Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks) (1974), Nazi exploitation
Nazi exploitation
Nazi exploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves villainous Nazis committing criminal acts of a sexual nature often as camp or prison overseers in World War II settings...
(Achtung! The Desert Tigers!) (1977), Sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
("Porno-Erotic Western"), (1979), French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
criminal comedy The Umbrella Coup
The Umbrella Coup
The Umbrella Coup is a 1980 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Pierre Richard, Gordon Mitchell and Gert Fröbe.The creation of the film was inspired by several assassinations of Bulgarian dissidents where the so-called Bulgarian umbrella was used as a weapon...
(1980), and post-apocalyptic films (Endgame (1983). Mitchell appeared (as Hector) in the bizarre 1982 Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i adaptation, directed by Avi Nesher
Avi Nesher
Avi Nesher is an Israeli film producer, film director, screenwriter and actor.- Biography :Avi Nesher was born and raised in Ramat Gan, Israel. The child of a Romanian-born diplomat, and a mother who came from Russia. In 1965, he moved with his family to the United States...
, of H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's She
She (1965 film)
She is a 1965 film made by Hammer Film Productions, based on the novel by H. Rider Haggard. It was directed by Robert Day and stars Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.-Plot synopsis:...
, which starred Sandahl Bergman. Mitchell also appeared in
Satyricon
Satyricon (film)
Satyricon is a 1969 Italian fantasy drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini. It is loosely based on Petronius's work, Satyricon, a series of bawdy and satirical episodes written during the reign of the emperor Nero and set in imperial Rome.-Plot:The film opens on a graffiti-covered...
(1969), directed by Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
.
Mitchell was close friends with fellow American expatriate actors Richard Harrison
Richard Harrison (actor)
Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
, Mike Monty
Mike Monty
Mike Monty was an American character actor, born in 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Michael O'Donahue but he changed his name to Mike Monty late in life....
(he appeared in a number of films with both and shared an apartment with Monty in Italy during the 1960s), and John P. Dulaney. Like Monty, Harrison and Dulaney, Mitchell acted in low-budget action films in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
during the 1980s, having roles in Commando Invasion and SFX Retaliator for director John Gale
John Gale (director)
John Gale, born Jun Gallardo, was a Filipino B-movie director, who started his career with martial arts movies in the 70's and continued to Z-movie actioners in the 80's, often produced by K.Y. Lim's Silver Star Film Company...
.
He returned to the United States in the late 1980s and retired from acting but kept making occasional film appearances until his death from undisclosed causes in Marina Del Rey, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, aged 80.
Selected Filmography
- The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments (1956 film)The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
(1956): Egyptian Guard (uncredited) - Spartacus (1960): Gladiator (uncredited)
- The CenturionThe Centurion (1961 film)Il conquistatore di Corinto is a 1961 historical drama film set in 146 BC in Greece. Against the back-drop of the Battle of Corinth, this movie is centered on a love story between a Roman centurion named Caius Vinicius and Hebe, the daughter of a local governor with anti-Roman sentiments.This...
(1961): Gen. MetellusQuintus Caecilius Metellus MacedonicusQuintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus was a Praetor in 148 BC, Consul in 143 BC, Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC and Censor in 131 BC. He was the oldest son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus and grandson of Lucius Caecilius Metellus.A brilliant general, he fought in the Third Macedonian War... - Caesar Against the Pirates (1962): Hamar, the Pirate
- The Fury of AchillesThe Fury of AchillesThe Fury of Achilles is a 1962 historical drama set in the ninth year of the Trojan War, and is based primarily on Homer's Iliad...
(1962): AchillesAchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy.... - Brennus, Enemy of RomeBrennus, Enemy of RomeBrenno il nemico di Roma is a 1963 film about the sack of Rome in 387 BC....
(1963): BrennusBrennus (4th century BC)Brennus was a chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne, but which had expanded to occupy northern Italy.... - Erik, il vichingo (1965): Sven / Bjarni
- Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967): Sergeant
- SatyriconSatyricon (film)Satyricon is a 1969 Italian fantasy drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini. It is loosely based on Petronius's work, Satyricon, a series of bawdy and satirical episodes written during the reign of the emperor Nero and set in imperial Rome.-Plot:The film opens on a graffiti-covered...
(1969) : Robber
External links
- Interview http://www.cinema-nocturna.com/gordon_mitchell_interview_prt_1.htm
- A transcription of a Gordon Mitchell guest chat at Cinema Nocturna site
- A Nanarland.com interview (in French)