Mitch Vogel
Encyclopedia
Mitch Vogel is a United States former child actor
who left show business as at the age of 20. He was best known for his 1970-73 Bonanza
role, where he played the teen orphan Jamie Hunter Cartwright
. The character was taken-in by the Cartwrights, and eventually became patriarch Ben's fourth son.
, Vogel was a lanky, freckle-faced, blue-eyed and red-haired unassuming youth. He attended Heinz Kaiser Junior High School in Costa Mesa, California
, in 1969-1970 but could only occasionally attend class because of his acting schedule.
Vogel's acting career commenced at age 12 in the 1968 film comedy Yours, Mine and Ours
, as one of Lucille Ball
's and Henry Fonda
's brood. The next year he reached the pinnacle of his film career with a major role in The Reivers
. He played the role of Lucius in the film adaptation of the William Faulkner
coming-of-age novel. The film won Golden Globe nominations for Vogel and for star Steve McQueen
.
and The Virginian
in 1968. In 1970 he secured a recurring role on Bonanza. Vogel completed a two-year stint on the show as Jamie Hunter, an orphan taken in and adopted by the Cartwrights. His casting brought a new dimension of youth to the cast, as Michael Landon
, at age 34, was a bit too old to be receiving fatherly guidance from patriarch Ben. When the series ended in 1972, Vogel had developed a friendship with Landon and went on to appear in Landon's Little House on the Prairie
series years later.
Disney also took an interest in Vogel, with his "Tom Sawyer
"-like homespun appeal. He appeared in lead roles in 1970s Menace on the Mountain (TV) and The Boy from Dead Man's Bayou (TV) in 1971.
He continued to be seen in outdoors series such as episodes of Here Come the Brides
and Gunsmoke
. In the Gunsmoke episode entitled "McCabe," which aired on November 30, 1970, Vogel played Dobie McCabe, the teenage son of the outlaw called only McCabe, portrayed by Dan Kemp
. Dobie discloses his father's location to a local sheriff named Shackwood, played by Jim Davis
. When McCabe is slated to be hanged, Dobie has second thoughts, though he is bitter over the recent death of his mother, whom McCabe had foolishly deserted ten years earlier. Marshal Matt Dillon
, played by James Arness
, meanwhile, gets a telegram from the governor to override the death sentence from a local judge and takes McCabe back to Dodge City, Kansas
where McCabe faces less severe charges that will land him in prison. Dobie follows Dillon and McCabe to Dodge City and vows to wait for his father until eventual release from prison in hopes the two can start a new life together. David Canary said in September 1972 of Mitch Vogel,"
I returned to the series after an awkward absence. I know the storyline now embraced this young, adoptive Cartwright. So few teens in this field can prove their salt. Watching him, over what, the first ten weeks, I knew the teen's (Mitch} skills could not be questioned- he's kind of this 27 year old actor residing in an a much {more} innocent shell".
area. He was married in 1985, and the couple have two daughters.
He has spent time directing and appearing in church plays, as well as singing in a band.
's TV Road Trip in 2002, in which he narrated a look at the Ponderosa Ranch
in Incline Village, near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. In 2004 he was featured in an interview in Bonanza Gold magazine. He participated in both the 2005 Bonanza Convention and the 2010 Bonanza Weekend in Liverpool
, England.
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
who left show business as at the age of 20. He was best known for his 1970-73 Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
role, where he played the teen orphan Jamie Hunter Cartwright
Jamie Hunter Cartwright
Jamie Hunter was the adopted son of Ben Cartwright in latter-day episodes of the television western series Bonanza. He was played by Mitch Vogel....
. The character was taken-in by the Cartwrights, and eventually became patriarch Ben's fourth son.
Early life and career
Born in Alhambra, CaliforniaAlhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
, Vogel was a lanky, freckle-faced, blue-eyed and red-haired unassuming youth. He attended Heinz Kaiser Junior High School in Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, in 1969-1970 but could only occasionally attend class because of his acting schedule.
Vogel's acting career commenced at age 12 in the 1968 film comedy Yours, Mine and Ours
Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film)
For the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson...
, as one of Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
's and Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
's brood. The next year he reached the pinnacle of his film career with a major role in The Reivers
The Reivers (film)
The Reivers is a 1969 film directed by Mark Rydell based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name...
. He played the role of Lucius in the film adaptation of the William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
coming-of-age novel. The film won Golden Globe nominations for Vogel and for star Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
.
Acting career
With established success, Vogel became a popular guest actor on TV by briefly appearing in BonanzaBonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
and The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
in 1968. In 1970 he secured a recurring role on Bonanza. Vogel completed a two-year stint on the show as Jamie Hunter, an orphan taken in and adopted by the Cartwrights. His casting brought a new dimension of youth to the cast, as Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
, at age 34, was a bit too old to be receiving fatherly guidance from patriarch Ben. When the series ended in 1972, Vogel had developed a friendship with Landon and went on to appear in Landon's Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
series years later.
Disney also took an interest in Vogel, with his "Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
"-like homespun appeal. He appeared in lead roles in 1970s Menace on the Mountain (TV) and The Boy from Dead Man's Bayou (TV) in 1971.
He continued to be seen in outdoors series such as episodes of Here Come the Brides
Here Come the Brides
Here Come the Brides is an American comedy Western series from Screen Gems that aired on the ABC television network from September 25, 1968 to April 3, 1970...
and Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. In the Gunsmoke episode entitled "McCabe," which aired on November 30, 1970, Vogel played Dobie McCabe, the teenage son of the outlaw called only McCabe, portrayed by Dan Kemp
Dan Kemp
Daniel "Dan" Kemp was an American actor best known for his guest-starring roles in several television westerns between 1969 and 1971....
. Dobie discloses his father's location to a local sheriff named Shackwood, played by Jim Davis
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
. When McCabe is slated to be hanged, Dobie has second thoughts, though he is bitter over the recent death of his mother, whom McCabe had foolishly deserted ten years earlier. Marshal Matt Dillon
Marshal Matt Dillon
Marshal Matt Dillon is a fictional character featured on both the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke. He serves as the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas who works to preserve law and order in the western frontier of the 1870s. The character was created by writer John Meston, who...
, played by James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
, meanwhile, gets a telegram from the governor to override the death sentence from a local judge and takes McCabe back to Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
where McCabe faces less severe charges that will land him in prison. Dobie follows Dillon and McCabe to Dodge City and vows to wait for his father until eventual release from prison in hopes the two can start a new life together. David Canary said in September 1972 of Mitch Vogel,"
I returned to the series after an awkward absence. I know the storyline now embraced this young, adoptive Cartwright. So few teens in this field can prove their salt. Watching him, over what, the first ten weeks, I knew the teen's (Mitch} skills could not be questioned- he's kind of this 27 year old actor residing in an a much {more} innocent shell".
Personal life
By the time he reached adulthood, Vogel led a life away from the limelight. Today he still lives in the Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
area. He was married in 1985, and the couple have two daughters.
He has spent time directing and appearing in church plays, as well as singing in a band.
Recent activity
Vogel returned to Bonanzas locations for the Travel ChannelTravel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
's TV Road Trip in 2002, in which he narrated a look at the Ponderosa Ranch
Ponderosa Ranch
The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the popular 1960s television western Bonanza which housed the affluent land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1967 until 2004...
in Incline Village, near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. In 2004 he was featured in an interview in Bonanza Gold magazine. He participated in both the 2005 Bonanza Convention and the 2010 Bonanza Weekend in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England.