Millard Mitchell

Millard Mitchell (August 14, 1903 – October 13, 1953) was an American character actor whose credits include roughly 30 feature films and two television appearances.

Millard Mitchell
Mitchell in Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Born	(1903-08-14)August 14, 1903 Havana, Cuba
Died	October 13, 1953(1953-10-13) (aged 50) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1924–1953
Spouse(s)	Peggy Gould ​ ​ (m. 1942)​
Children	2

Millard Mitchell in
The Naked Spur (1953)

Born in Havana, Cuba, he appeared as a bit player in eight films between 1931 and 1936. Mitchell returned to film work in 1942 after a six-year absence. Between 1942 and 1953, he was a successful supporting actor.

For his performance in the film My Six Convicts (1952), Mitchell won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He is also remembered for his role as Col. Rufus Plummer in Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), as Gregory Peck's commanding officer in the war drama Twelve O'Clock High (1949), and as the fictional movie mogul R.F. Simpson in the musical comedy Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Mitchell appeared frequently on Broadway, often playing a fast-talking Broadway character. He played the starring role in The Great Campaign (1947).[1][2]

Mitchell married Peggy Gould in 1942; the couple had two daughters. Mitchell died, at the age of 50 in 1953, from lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, [3][4][5] and was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. His daughter, Maggie Schpak, studied acting and worked in television and movie costuming, creating prop jewelry for shows including Star Trek (starting in 1979) and Babylon 5, and police badges for dozens of productions including NCIS and The X Files.[6]