Jim Mitchell

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Height:

185 cm

Jim Mitchell (James Douglas Mitchell) was born at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. His father Douglas was originally a research engineer with Formica Corporation in Cincinnati-his mother Linda was a high-school English teacher. However, when Jim was six months old, his father decided he didn't want Jim growing up on the Cincinnati streets. Douglas then quit his Formica engineer's job. He built a homemade trailer, attached it to the back of their family car (an old 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook club coupe) loaded up their belongings and moved his family to Bartlesville, Oklahoma to go into the oil & gas producing/ranching/farming business with Jim's grandfather. (Orville Anderson Mitchell) As a result, from an early age Jim was either drilling new oil and gas wells (usually with antiquated "cable-tool" oilfield drilling rigs) "pulling" wells (doing well maintenance work on existing older wells) salvaging out oilfield equipment or buying/selling oil & gas properties. He also worked cattle, baled hay, did blacksmithing/welding, mechanic work and so on. When Jim wasn't doing that, he was working for his grandmother (Nora Vickers Mitchell-a well-known Bartlesville antique dealer) repairing/refinishing Victorian/Edwardian furniture. However, Jim always had Hollywood in his sights, as he had one great-uncle (Floyd Blackman) that had acted in two Hollywood silent films after his military service in "War One", but later worked mainly as a cameraman throughout the 1920's and '30's. In addition, the area where Jim had grown up had cranked out a lot of film stars, such as Tom Mix, Sid Jordan, Emmett Dalton (from "Dalton Gang" outlaw fame) Will Rogers, Ben Johnson, Clark Gable, Gretchen Wyler, Flora Campbell and Terrence Malick. Show less «

Many projects in Hollywood start off as a lie, but then rapidly evolve into reality.

When the film business generates good income for me I'm overjoyed-it's nice to have a paycheck coming in. However, I never take it for grant...Show more »

When the film business generates good income for me I'm overjoyed-it's nice to have a paycheck coming in. However, I never take it for granted, as Hollywood tends to be in a constant fluid state. I've seen more Hollywood "golden opportunities" vanish faster than an Oklahoma flash flood can wash away an oak tree. Show less «

Every day in Los Angeles is a work day! With the constant sunny weather, every moment spent here is another opportunity live my life to the ...Show more »

Every day in Los Angeles is a work day! With the constant sunny weather, every moment spent here is another opportunity live my life to the fullest! Show less «

A lot of people get the impression I'm some sort of Hollywood "party animal". Sure-I "network" like everyone else in this business to snag a...Show more »

A lot of people get the impression I'm some sort of Hollywood "party animal". Sure-I "network" like everyone else in this business to snag acting gigs, but some would be surprised to find out after a Red Carpet event is over, I can usually be found standing in line by myself at Pink's Hot Dogs at LaBrea & Melrose or eating a meal at the nearest Seven-Eleven store-while sitting on the tailgate of my pickup! Someone should build a Sonic Drive-In in Hollywood! Show less «

Many times on-set I think of all the "greats" that have traveled from "The Nations" where I grew up to try their luck at this industry and s...Show more »

Many times on-set I think of all the "greats" that have traveled from "The Nations" where I grew up to try their luck at this industry and succeeded. Even as I speak my lines, I think about conversations I had with Ben Johnson and Gretchen Wyler years ago. So much incredible talent from one small area of Oklahoma. Tom Mix and Emmett Dalton and Will Rogers and so many more-the list is a long one. Although these people I've mentioned have all passed away, I imagine them standing just off-camera, coaching me, giving me much-needed advice and guiding me through each scene. Show less «

Although I'm a teetotaler, I've never been a "Carrie Nation" about alcohol. It's served me well on many occasions over the years, especially...Show more »

Although I'm a teetotaler, I've never been a "Carrie Nation" about alcohol. It's served me well on many occasions over the years, especially as a fire-starter when burning off unwanted "brush piles" left over from clearing land with a bulldozer-or as a cleaning solution around the oilfield. In addition, pure "boot-leg" liquor tends to burn well in low-compression engines. Show less «

I've seen people show up for auditions hungry, wearing worn-out clothes and near-homeless. Passed the time in the casting offices having con...Show more »

I've seen people show up for auditions hungry, wearing worn-out clothes and near-homeless. Passed the time in the casting offices having conversations with so many-claiming they spent their last buck on bus or cab fare to get there, while making statements like: "If I don't get this part, I can't pay my bills!" (Or lose their apartment, get their car repo'd and so on-reminds me so much of William Holden's "Joe Gillis" character in "Sunset Blvd.") My heart always goes out to them for their determination to make it in this business and to follow their life's passion, but the odds are that most of them eventually give it up and go back home-forever wondering in their minds what might have been-but never to return to Los Angeles...The thought of quitting this business and going home in defeat, then facing bitterly-cold winters dealing with sick and dying livestock, frozen tanks of crude oil, vehicles buried up to the windshield in snow-not to mention what happens when the heat goes off in my house....Shattered toilet tanks. Hot-water tanks split wide open. Every bottle or can of "pop" or juice exploding in my kitchen. All the canned goods in the house burst wide open....Getting into my pickup in the morning-then finding out it won't start due to thief/pack rats chewing up all the electrical wires underneath the hood, or what's worse-driving down the road for a few miles-then noticing flames coming from the engine compartment-just before the windshield shatters from the heat....(Due to the rats building a huge nest of sticks, hay, paper cattle-feed sacks, and leaves on top of my engine exhaust manifolds overnight.) I can't imagine going back to that now. Show less «

I love "improv" acting. I especially like seeing the director's face "light up" when I throw something out there they can use. I frequently ...Show more »

I love "improv" acting. I especially like seeing the director's face "light up" when I throw something out there they can use. I frequently get up in the middle of the night and scribble down extra lines or situations to make my characters more interesting for the next day's shoot. Unfortunately, I don't seem to get my greatest "brainstorms" until about two days after I'm through working on a project! Show less «