Thomas Mitchell was one of the great American character actors, whose credits read like a list of the greatest films of the 20th century: _Lost Horizon .
1953: When he claimed the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for "Hazel Flagg", a musical version of the film Nothing Sacred , he became the first performer to claim the Triple Crown of acting awards: Tony, Emmy (as TVs Best Actor of 1953) and Oscar (for Stagecoach ).
He was cremated and his ashes are stored at a crematorium in California.
Brother of James P. Mitchell , President Dwight D. Eisenhower s Secretary of Labor 1953-1961.
1939: Appeared in three out of the 10 movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar: Gone with the Wind (which won), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Stagecoach (for which he won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actor).
Was a close friend of John Barrymore and became part of his Hollywood entourage of drinkers and raconteurs, which also included Charles MacArthur , W.C. Fields , Errol Flynn , Roland Young and Anthony Quinn.
Was originally cast in All That Money Can Buy [aka "The Devil and Daniel Webster"], but while filming he lost control of a horse-drawn carriage in which he and young actor Lindy Wade were riding and it crashed. He was thrown from the carriage and suffered a fractured skull. Edward Arnold replaced him and all his scenes had to be reshot. Wade recovered enough to continue in his film role.
Was an avid collector of fine art, which included a Rembrandt panel acquired in 1940 from a Polish prince.
He was interred at the Vaultage of the Chapel of the Pines in Los Angeles.
Daughter Anne, born of his first marriage, was his only child.
Attended Elizabeth (New Jersey) High School and had his first job as a newspaper reporter while a student there. Following graduation, he continued working as a reporter and was hired by newspapers in Newark, Washington, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
The youngest of seven children born to Irish immigrants who settled in New Jersey, his father James Mitchell, worked in the newspaper industry and died when Thomas was a young boy; his mothers name was Mary.
Is one of 9 actors to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Melvyn Douglas , Paul Scofield , Jack Albertson , Jason Robards , Jeremy Irons , Al Pacino , Geoffrey Rush and Christopher Plummer.
In 1939, in addition to appearing in three movies nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, he appeared in two other films that received nominations in other categories: The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Only Angels Have Wings .
He remarried his first wife, Anne Stewart Brewer, after her divorce from Frederick Philip Hier Jr.. She had married him on October 23, 1936, and then divorced him on May 22, 1941.
A man looks bigger in the bathtub than he does in the ocean.
