Millard Mitchell

Millard Mitchell (August 14, 1903 – October 13, 1953) was a Cuban-born American actor who built a career across Broadway, film, and television. Born in Havana, Cuba, to American parents, Mitchell went on to accumulate roughly 30 feature film credits and two television appearances alongside his stage work.

Mitchell's Broadway career spanned from 1925 to 1948 and included productions such as The Cup of Trembling, Lovely Me, Love on Leave, Storm Operation, and The Great Campaign, in which he played the starring role. He was frequently cast on stage as fast-talking Broadway character types. His film work began with Secrets of a Secretary in 1931, after which he appeared as a bit player in eight films between 1931 and 1936 before stepping away from the screen for six years. He returned to film in 1942 and established himself as a successful supporting actor over the following decade.

Among his most recognized screen roles, Mitchell portrayed Col. Rufus Plummer in Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), appeared as Gregory Peck's commanding officer in the war drama Twelve O'Clock High (1949), played High-Spade Frankie Wilson in Winchester '73 (1950), took on the role of fictional movie mogul R.F. Simpson in Singin' in the Rain (1952), and appeared as a hapless old prospector in The Naked Spur (1953). His performance in My Six Convicts (1952) earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Mitchell married actress Peggy Gould in 1942, and the couple had two daughters, Mary Ellis and Margaret. Their daughter Maggie Schpak became a noted Hollywood jewelry designer, and their granddaughter Margaret Mitchell is a noted computer scientist. Mitchell died of lung cancer on October 13, 1953, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 50. He was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.