John Mitchum (September 6, 1919 – November 29, 2001) was an American actor from the 1940s to the 1970s in film and television. The younger brother of the actor Robert Mitchum, he was credited as Jack Mitchum early in his career.[citation needed]
Mitchum initially appeared unbilled in (e.g., Flying Leathernecks, RKO 1951) and extra roles before gradually receiving bigger character parts. He supported his more famous brother on several occasions, and became known as the friendly, food-loving Inspector Frank DiGiorgio in the first three Dirty Harry films. His character was killed in the third film, The Enforcer.
In 1957, he had a short appearance on Gunsmoke as a dueling cowboy in the episode "Sweet and Sour" (S2E23). He returned two years later portraying "Joe" in "The Constable" (S4E37) and again in 1963 as "Wills" in "Two of a Kind" (S8E27).
On September 15, 1959, Mitchum appeared in the premiere episode "Stage Stop" of the Western series Laramie.[citation needed]
Mitchum was cast in 1960 as Pickalong in 10 episodes of the Western series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin. The same year, he appeared in the Western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. He also appeared as Hal Swanson in the 1960 episode "Silver Killers" of the Western series Tombstone Territory.[citation needed]
Mitchum appeared in the 1960 Tales of Wells Fargo episode, "A Show for Silver Lode", in the role of a Wells Fargo station agent.
From 1965 to 1967, Mitchum had the recurring role of Trooper Hoffenmueller in 11 episodes of the sitcomF Troop, starring Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry.[citation needed] In the 1967 episode of Batman "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!", he guest-starred as the character Hot Dog Harrigan.
Mitchum was a writer, poet, singer, and guitar player. An autobiography/biography about his life and career and that of his brother Robert was published in 1998, called Them Ornery Mitchum Boys. He composed the piece "America, Why I Love Her", which John Wayne included in his book and album of the same name.[1] The piece and a short film with Wayne's narration were aired at many television stations at sign-off time before stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Wayne is often mistakenly credited with composing the piece.[citation needed]
