Happy Birthday, Robert Mitchum

Happy 98th Birthday to ROBERT MITCHUM. The noir icon and all-around tough guy was born August 6, 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. TCM is celebrating his birthday a few days late (August 12) with a full day of movies dedicated to him as part of their Summer Under the Stars series. Set those DVRs since many of these films aren't on DVD or Blu-ray.

AUGUST 12 on TCM (Times are for East Coast):

6:00 AM: Till The End of Time (1946)
8:00 AM My Forbidden Past (1951) buy dvd
9:15 AM The Sundowners (1960) buy dvd
11:45 AM Rachel And The Stranger (1948)
1:15 PM Blood On The Moon (1948)
2:45 PM The Lusty Men (1952)
4:45 PM The Hunters (1958) buy dvd
6:45 PM The Dick Cavett Show: Robert Mitchum (1971)
8:00 PM Home From The Hill (1960) buy dvd
10:45 PM Thunder Road (1958) buy blu-ray
12:30 AM The Yakuza (1975) buy dvd
2:30 AM Ryan's Daughter (1970) buy dvd

Video: Robert Mitchum Meets Belgian King In 1959

A visit by King Baudouin of Belgium to MGM Studios in Hollywood (circa 1959) was filmed as he meets several stars, starting with Eva Marie Saint. He's also filmed meeting Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston on the set of "The Wreck of the Mary Deare;" Eleanor Parker and ROBERT MITCHUM on the set of "Home From the Hill;" and Gina Lollabrigida and Frank Sinatra filming "Never So Few." The day ended with a luncheon for the King, who sat between Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford, who were filming "It Started With a Kiss."

George Hamilton recalls working with Mitchum

Story at Daily Mail (UK)

Gorgeous George Hamilton's tantastic tales: The actor recalls Elvis, Marilyn and JFK in his new autobiography.

An excerpt about Mitchum:

I worked with ROBERT MITCHUM on the 1960 film Home From The Hill and I never saw any star care less about being one. Bob could talk your ear off, but the one thing he didn't want to talk about was his lines or the film. He liked to get drunk and then sing songs - sea shanties, cockney ditties, Australian football songs, anything.

What he would usually say to me was: 'Gettin'any?' He was. Bob would send me to buy him liquor. On my first run back to his hotel room, I found him 'entertaining' a lady. He motioned me to open a bottle and hand it over. I was honored to be of service.

When he wasn't having sex, he'd sit in a rocking chair wearing just boxer shorts and alligator cowboy boots while casting for imaginary trout with a fishing rod.

He drank a lot and smoked a lot of dope. He also took a lot of pills, which he kept in his own leather doctor's bag. One night I asked him for something to help me sleep. He handed me a pill he called a 'nighty night' - and I slept straight through my call the next morning and on into a second day.

Bob once said to me: 'They think I don't know my lines. It's not true. I'm just too drunk to say 'em.'

The studio once sent a manager to keep Bob in line, but the minute he walked into the hotel room, Bob punched him, knocking him through the door.

For years, Bob sent me Mother's Day cards. I was never sure why, but he gave me confidence that you could always be a star in Hollywood on your own terms."