On set, they thought he didn’t know his lines. He was “too drunk to say it”

Robert Mitchum was born on August 6, 1917 in Bridgeport, USA. When he was only 2 years old, his father died in an accident, which greatly influenced his behavior during his adolescence. He felt “deficient” because of this, so he got into verbal quarrels, fights, did not want to learn and rarely showed up for lessons.

Career was not his priority, although he did not disappear from the screens for years. He wasn’t picky about his roles

Teachers, despite many attempts, spread their hands, which made him change schools several times. While in high school, he finally decided to give up education altogether. He started partying and traveling around the country, and in the meantime he had a variety of jobs, including he was a ditch digger, a bouncer, a boxer, and even worked in a car factory where he got kicked out for not wearing socks. In the meantime, he married Dorothy Spence, two years his junior, with whom he had three children. However, he still cheated on her, which he didn’t even try to hide. To support the family, his sister Julie found a job for him in the theater where she worked. He started by creating scenography, then wrote plays, and finally made his stage debut. The viewers liked it, so following the punch, he decided to try his hand at the camera as well.

He appeared in low-budget productions and , usually playing villains. He had no special requirements, he played everything that was offered to him. “I don’t care what I play. I can be a Pole, a woman or a dwarf, it doesn’t matter – . The situation changed only thanks to “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”, which resulted in a 7-year contract with RKO Radio Pictures. He later starred in “Soldiers”, receiving his first and only Oscar nomination.

Alcohol and drugs were his everyday life. He lost many roles due to addiction

However, he did not attach much importance to his career, and soon successes began to intertwine with the first, which could threaten his position in the industry, took place in September 1948. He was then sent to state prison for a week for possession of marijuana, and later served 43 days in a labor camp in California. While the studio he belonged to sought his acquittal, he didn’t care about his tarnished reputation, and even joked that his time behind bars was like a “Palm Springs vacation.” He also made no secret of his weakness for alcohol. He often came to the set under their influence or with a hangover, which made him unable to work. “They think I don’t know my lines. It’s not true. I’m just too drunk to say it,” he said. In this way, he lost many roles that brought fame and recognition to others.

He was also addicted to drugs. Once, under their influence, he threw a basketball into the basket at a journalist. The woman did not have time to cover her face, and the force of the impact was so great that she lost two teeth. A lawsuit was inevitable, but Mitchum didn’t see it as his fault. Ultimately, however, at the urging of the agent and his relatives, he agreed to a settlement and gave the injured party his remuneration for his work on the set of “The Championship Time” as compensation. However, the scandal did not teach him anything, because soon after he caused another scandal, this time with a series of racist and sexist statements. Under the influence of the witch-hunt, he spoke words of repentance, but many doubted their sincerity. Robert Mitchum died on July 1, 1997 after many years of battling cancer and emphysema.