Cameron McDowell Mitchell

Cameron Mitchell (born Cameron McDowell Mitzell; November 4, 1918 – July 6, 1994) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He began his career on Broadway before transitioning into feature films in the 1950s, appearing in several major motion pictures. He later became known for his roles in numerous exploitation films in the 1970s and 1980s.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mitchell began acting on Broadway in the late 1930s before signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after which he appeared in several films with Lana Turner and Clark Gable, such as Cass Timberlane (1945) and Homecoming (1948). He subsequently originated the role of Happy Loman in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949), a role he reprised in the 1951 film adaptation. He subsequently signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, which cast in him in lead roles in Les Misérables (1952) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), opposite Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe. He then co-starred opposite Doris Day and James Cagney in the musical Love Me or Leave Me (1955).

Throughout the 1960s, Mitchell transitioned to roles in spaghetti Westerns and Italian films, including several collaborations with Mario Bava, namely Erik the Conqueror (1961), Blood and Black Lace (1964), and Knives of the Avenger (1966). From 1967–71, Mitchell appeared in the Western television series The High Chaparral. From the mid-1970s, Mitchell appeared in numerous exploitation and horror films, such as Slaughter (1972), Haunts (1976), and The Toolbox Murders (1978). Mitchell continued to appear in film and television throughout the 1980s, including in supporting parts in the anthology horror films Night Train to Terror (1985) and From a Whisper to a Scream (1987), and the science-fiction film Space Mutiny (1988), which was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He died in 1994 of lung cancer, aged 75.