Rhea Mitchell was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 era. She earned the name of "the little stunt girl" because of her willingness to attempt thrilling scenes in motion pictures.

Career

Mitchell began her career in 1909 playing in stock theatre

Summer stock theatre

Summer stock theatre is any theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer within the United States. The name combines both the seasonal time of year with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes...

 in her hometown of Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. She followed a season in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 with a run at the Alcazar Theater in San Francisco. Mitchell made her film debut in 1912 and would eventually appear in
over 100 films during her career. She appeared a number of times with Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 star William S. Hart

William S. Hart

William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...

 playing a leading role in those films. In 1916 she played in The Brink with Forrest Winant and Arthur Maude.

After 1917, her roles became smaller and she appeared in a handful of films through the mid-30s and in several bit parts during the early 1950s often which went uncredited.

Later years and death

After her retirement from films, Mitchell managed a large apartment house in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. While managing a second apartment in 1957, the La Brea District Apartments, a disgruntled houseboy named Sonnie Hartford, Jr., strangled her with the sash-cord of her blue silk dressing gown.

Mitchell is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...

 in Los Angeles.

Selected filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1912	The Hidden Trail
	His Squaw
1913	An Indian's Gratitude
	An Indian's Honor
1914	The Fires of Ambition	Mrs. Patton
	In the Southern Hills	Nan Hopkins
1915	The Scourge of the Desert The Scourge of the Desert The Scourge of the Desert is a 1915 American silent short Western starring William S. Hart and Rhea Mitchell. It was billed as, "A Thrilling Romance of the Arizona Staked Plains." It was produced by Thomas H. Ince and written by C. Gardner Sullivan, Ince, and William H. Clifford.-Cast:* William S...	Ellen Holt	Alternative title: Reformed Outlaw
	The Diamond from the Sky The Diamond from the Sky The Diamond from the Sky was a 1915 silent era adventure motion picture serial starring Lottie Pickford, Irving Cummings, Charlotte Burton, and William Russell.Directed by Jacques Jaccard and William Desmond Taylor, the film is considered to be lost...
1916	Sequel to the Diamond from the Sky Sequel to the Diamond from the Sky Sequel to the Diamond from the Sky is a 1916 American short silent film directed by Edward Sloman starring William Russell and Rhea Mitchell. The film is the sequel to the very popular The Diamond from the Sky. It is now considered to be lost...	Esther Stanley
	The Three Musketeers	Constance Bonacieux
1917	The Gilded Youth	Mary
	Whither Thou Goest	Maizie
1918	Honor's Cross	Jane Cabot
	The Goat	Bijou Lamour
1919	The Money Corral	Janet Collins
	The Hawk's Trail The Hawk's Trail The Hawk's Trail was a 1919 crime film serial directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The film is considered to be lost.-Cast:* King Baggot - Sheldon Steele / The Hawk* Grace Darmond - Claire Drake* Rhea Mitchell - Jean Drake...	Jean Drake
1920	The Devil's Claim	Virginia Crosby
	The Scoffer	Alice Porn
1921	A Ridin' Romeo	Mabel Brentwood
	The Innocent Cheat	Peggy Adair
1923	The Greatest Menace	Mary Lewis
1924	The Other Kind of Love	The Chorus Girl
1926	Modern Youth
1927	The Home Trail
1928	Danger Patrol	Gladys Lawlor
1933	The Big Bluff
1934	Behold My Wife	Reporter	Uncredited
	One Hour Late	Stage mother	Uncredited
1936	San Francisco San Francisco (film) San Francisco is a 1936 musical-drama directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film...		Uncredited
	Mysterious Crossing	Hall clerk	Uncredited
1938	The Ship That Died
1940	I Take This Woman I Take This Woman (1940 film) I Take This Woman is a 1940 drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.-Cast:*Spencer Tracy as Dr. Karl Decker*Hedy Lamarr as Georgi Gragore Decker*Verree Teasdale as Madame "Cesca" Marcesca*Kent Taylor as Phil Mayberry...	Decker's Secretary	Uncredited
1943	Harrigan's Kid	Woman at Race Track	Uncredited
	The Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine is a 1943 war film about French prisoners of war held by the Germans in World War II. It stars Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gene Kelly and was adapted from Hans Habe's novel A Thousand Shall Fall.-Cast:*Jean-Pierre Aumont as Paul...	Mother	Uncredited
1944	Marriage Is a Private Affair	Nurse	Uncredited
	Mrs. Parkington Mrs. Parkington Mrs. Parkington is a 1944 drama film. It tells the story of a woman's life, told in flashbacks, from hotel maid to society matron. The movie was adapted by Polly James and Robert Thoeren from the novel by Louis Bromfield...	Mrs. Humphrey	Uncredited
1945	The Hidden Eye	Pedestrian	Uncredited
1946	The Hoodlum Saint	Reporter	Uncredited
1947	The Mighty McGurk The Mighty McGurk The Mighty McGurk is a 1947 film starring Wallace Beery as a boozing ex-boxer working as a bouncer in a Bowery saloon. The movie was directed by John Waters, although not the same John Waters who directed Pink Flamingos and Hairspray .-Cast:*Wallace Beery as Slag McGurk*Dean Stockwell as...	Woman at Children's Society	Uncredited
	Green Dolphin Street Green Dolphin Street Green Dolphin Street is a 1947 historic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Plot summary:In the 1840s, two sisters fall in love with the same man...	Emily	Uncredited
1948	The Bride Goes Wild	Wedding Guest	Uncredited
	State of the Union State of the Union (film) State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures...	Jeny	Alternative title: The World and His Wife
1949	In the Good Old Summertime In the Good Old Summertime In the Good Old Summertime is a 1949 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It starred Judy Garland, Van Johnson and S.Z. Sakall.The film is a musical adaptation of the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and...	Woman at window	Uncredited
1950	Stars In My Crown	Mrs. Backett	Uncredited
	The Next Voice You Hear... The Next Voice You Hear... The Next Voice You Hear... is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God preempts all radio programs for days all over the world. It stars James Whitmore and Nancy Davis as Joe and Mary Smith, a typical American couple. It was based on a short story of the same name by George Sumner...	Woman in church	Uncredited
1951	The Unknown Man The Unknown Man -Plot:Defense attorney Dwight Bradley Masen is successful in seeking the acquittal of a young man, Rudi Walchek, accused of knifing to death the 19-year-old son of a local locksmith, but when Rudi lets a comment slip after the trial, Masen realizes he has defended a guilty man...	Maid	Uncredited
	It's a Big Country It's a Big Country It's a Big Country is a 1951 anthology film directed by Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, and William A. Wellman.-External links:...	School teacher	Uncredited
1952	My Man and I	Nurse	Uncredited
	The Member of the Wedding	Townswoman	Uncredited

External links