Robert Mitchum: Hollywood's First Bad Boy And Star Pothead, Stories And Scandals

By | August 4, 2020

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Left: Actor Robert Mitchum smokes a cigarette outdoors, circa 1948. Right: Mitchum with Marilyn Monroe in 'River Of No Return' (1954). Sources: Hulton Archive/Getty Images; IMDB

Actor Robert Mitchum was the original Hollywood bad boy, a rough-and-tumble young actor who was even busted for marijuana, an unforgivable sin in an era when movie studios were hyper-protective of stars' images. It's now fairly standard for handsome up-and-coming actors to cultivate an air of rebellion and danger, hoping to be perceived as the next James Dean, Marlon Brando or Steve McQueen -- but Mitchum fit the description years before those kids came along. He was a fighter and a drunk who didn't seem to care who he offended. In trouble with the law from a young age, Mitchum was known for his lifelong contempt for authority figures. "The only difference between me and my fellow actors," Mitchum famously said, "is that I've spent more time in jail."

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Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in 'Out Of The Past' (1947). Source: IMDB

However, the first man to tell the public he didn’t care and became loved anyway was the one and only Robert Mitchum. Mitchum’s sleepy-eyed heartthrob style contrasted with leading men like Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando, who took themselves and their careers very seriously. The silver-tongued Mitchum didn’t care for celebrity culture or the adulation that came with fame and fortune.

As he put it, “I have two styles of acting – with or without a horse." He exemplified cool before society even understood what the word meant. He also fared pretty well as an actor. The American Film Institute ranked him 23rd of the 50 greatest American screen legends.