's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time
. Mitchum rose to prominence for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir
style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.
Mitchum was born in Bridgeport
, Connecticut
, into a Methodist family.
It's just like Palm Springs without the riffraff.
I never take any notice of reviews-unless a critic has thought up some new way of describing me. That old one about my lizard eyes and anteater nose and the way I sleep my way through pictures is so hackneyed now.
Movies bore me, especially my own.
There just isn't any pleasing some people. The trick is to stop trying.
Every two or three years I knock off for a while. That way I'm constantly the new girl in the whorehouse.
I think when producers have a part that's hard to cast, they say, 'Send for Mitchum; he'll do anything.' I don't care what I play; I'll play Polish gays, women, midgets, anything."
This is not a tough job. You read a script. If you like the part and the money is O.K., you do it. Then you remember your lines. You show up on time. You do what the director tells you to do. When you finish, you rest and then go on to the next part. That's it.
After the war, suddenly there was this thing for ugly heroes, so I started going around in profile.
There are all kinds of rumors about me—and they’re all true, every one of them. You can make some up if you want.”
I’ve still got the same attitude I had when I started. I haven’t changed anything but my underwear.”