Ewing Mitchell

Ewing Young Mitchell (December 29, 1910 – September 3, 1988) was an American actor born in Charleston, South Carolina, who built a career spanning Broadway, film, and television. His father, an Episcopal minister, led Porter Military Academy before being appointed Episcopal Bishop of Arizona, relocating the family to that state. Mitchell attended Hampden–Sydney College and Sewanee: The University of the South. In 1938, he departed Arizona for Hollywood to pursue vocal training, having already established himself as a baritone performer on Broadway during the 1930s.

Mitchell's Broadway credits include Song of Norway in 1944. His television career began on January 1, 1951, when he made his debut in the syndicated western series The Range Rider at the age of 40. He went on to make ten additional appearances in that series through January 1, 1953, frequently portraying law-enforcement figures, a genre in which he became a specialist. Also in 1951, he was cast as a waiter in the episode "Bad Man of Brisco" on The Adventures of Kit Carson, and returned to that series twice in 1952 as a marshal, in the episodes "Trouble in Tuscarora" and "Golden Trap." In April 1952, he appeared in "The Case of the Cold Neck" on the CBS crime drama Racket Squad, starring Reed Hadley. The following year, he played Mr. Collins in "Defense Plant Security," an episode of the syndicated Cold War drama I Led Three Lives. By 1965, Mitchell had accumulated credits in 20 films, the majority of which were uncredited roles.

He was cast in seven episodes each of The Gene Autry Show between 1951 and 1953 and Gene Autry's related series The Adventures of Champion between 1955 and 1956, on which he played Sheriff Powers. He appeared four times on The Roy Rogers Show and made appearances on The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, with Guy Madison and Andy Devine, and on Buffalo Bill, Jr., starring Dick Jones. On May 20, 1955, he portrayed Adam Greer in the first-season episode "Farewell to Fort Apache" of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. In 1956, he appeared in the CBS fantasy drama The Millionaire in the episode "The Jane Carr Story," which featured Angie Dickinson in the lead guest role. That same year, he played Preacher Homer Wilkins in two episodes of the CBS western The Adventures of Jim Bowie, starring Scott Forbes, and portrayed a Confederate colonel in the episode "Enemies" on Ronald W. Reagan's CBS anthology series General Electric Theater. His other television appearances included Sugarfoot, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. In 1958, he was cast as Fred Gerlock in "The Red Flannel Shirt" on the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews, and made two appearances on John Payne's NBC western The Restless Gun, as Dawson in "Gratitude" and as Sheriff Frank Kemper in "Bonner's Squaw." On film, he played a sheriff in the 1954 Joel McCrea western Black Horse Canyon.

The role with which Mitchell became most closely identified was Sheriff Mitch Hargrove in the aviation-themed western series Sky King, in which he appeared in 26 episodes between 1956 and 1959. The series, which originated on radio, starred Kirby Grant as rancher Sky King, a character who flew a plane called the Songbird across fictional Grover County, Arizona. Gloria Winters played Sky King's niece Penny, and Ron Hagerthy appeared early in the series as nephew Clipper King. Mitchell's episodes included "Manhunt," "The Neckerchief," "Geiger Detective," "Land o'Cotton," "Rodeo Round-up," "Bad Actor," "A Dog Named Barney," "Sky Robbers," "Bounty Hunters," and "Dead Giveaway," his final appearance airing on March 1, 1959. The series produced 72 episodes in total.

Outside of his acting work, Mitchell was one of the Silver Riders, a group of expert equestrians who performed in parades across the American Southwest. In his later years, he managed several ranches he owned in Southern California. Mitchell was married and had two sons. He died on September 3, 1988, at the age of 77, from a stroke caused by a fall from a ladder in La Jolla, in San Diego County, where he had been residing.