Robert Mitchum - The Last Hollywood Legend?

Gene Hackman might be the American film industry's last true star but Mitch's passing marked the end of the line for US cinema's immortals.

Described by no lesser a light than Christopher Lee as "the last true Hollywood star", Robert Charles Durman Mitchum came to movies after a stint spent bootlegging whiskey across the Canadian border. Singularly unimpressed with stardom, Mitchum's days in the limelight included a spell in jail for marijuana possession. While being processed by the booking clerk, the Out Of The Past star described his current employment status as "former actor".

Although he made countless cracking pictures - Cape Fear, The Night Of The Hunter, Thunder Road, The Lusty Men and Farewell, My Lovely to name but five - Mitchum's indifference and ready wit means that his fame hinges as much on what he said as the movies he made. In Lee Server’s ‘Baby, I Don’t Care’ - the finest movie biography ever written - the time Mitchum spent on set is considerably less interesting than the scrapes he got into and his bevy of bon mots. For example, when asked what made him stand-out from the crowd, Old Rumple Eyes replied:

"The only difference between me and my fellow actors is I've spent more time in jail."

He also denied that he brought anything special to movie acting:

"Listen. I got three expressions: looking left, looking right and looking straight ahead. And I have two acting styles: with and without a horse."

And if he was a dab hand at self-deprecation, Mitchum was more than happy to pour scorn on his peers:

"Sure, I was glad to see John Wayne win the Oscar. I'm always glad to see the fat lady win the Cadillac on TV, too."

"I gave up being serious about making pictures around the time I made a film with Greer Garson and she took a 125 takes to say 'no'."

“Steve McQueen sure don't bring much brains to the party."

And when everyone else was singing the praises of new talents like Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro, Mitch cut them down to size with four short words:

"They are all small."

Robert Mitchum - great actor, even better movie star.