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John Cameron Mitchell

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John Cameron Mitchell
File:JCM123BW.jpg
Years active1986-Present

John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963 in El Paso, Texas) is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus.

Early life and career

Mitchell was born in El Paso, Texas.[1] The son of a retired U.S. Army Major General, he grew up on army bases in the U.S., Germany and Scotland and generally attended Catholic schools. His mother is from Glasgow, Scotland and emigrated to the United States as a young schoolteacher.[2] His brother is Colin Mitchell, also an actor and writer.[3]

His first stage role was the Virgin Mary in a Nativity musical staged at a Scottish Benedictine boys boarding school when he was 11 years old. He studied theater at Northwestern University outside Chicago 1981-1985. His first professional stage role was Huckleberry Finn in a 1985 Organic Theater adaption at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. [4] Mitchell's first New York acting role was Huck Finn in the Broadway musical Big River (1985). He created the role of Dickon on Broadway in The Secret Garden, as well as appeared in the original cast of the acclaimed Off-Broadway musical Hello Again. He received Drama Desk nominations for both roles and can be heard on both original cast recordings.[2] He appeared in the original cast of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation off and on Broadway as well as starred in Larry Kramer's Off-Broadway sequel to The Normal Heart, The Destiny of Me for which he received a Village Voice Obie Award[5] and a Drama Desk nomination.[6]

Early television work includes guest-starring roles in "MacGyver", "Head of the Class", "Law and Order", "The Twilight Zone", "Freddy's Nightmares", "The Equalizer", "The Stepford Children" and the ABC Afterschool Special "A Desperate Exit" (his line: "He's dead. Don't you get it? He killed himself."). He was a regular cast member on the 1997 Fox sitcom Party Girl and was the long-running voice for "Sydney", an animated kangaroo, for the Dunkaroos Cookie commercials. [7]

His first role on celluloid was in an improvised drunk-driving film called "Just Along For The Ride" (1982) in which he was killed on Halloween wearing a tutu. His first feature film role was as Drunk Teen ("Hey, dudes, where's the brewskies?") in One More Saturday Night (1986) starring Al Franken. Starring and costarring roles in films include Misplaced (1990), Band of the Hand (1986) and Book of Love (1990).[7]

In 1985, Mitchell came out as a gay man to his family and friends.[2] Though always open about his sexuality at work, he came out publicly in a New York Times profile in 1992 — an unusual act for a professional actor at the time and even now.[4] His subsequent writing has always explored sexuality and gender.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

In 1998, Mitchell wrote (along with composer Stephen Trask) and starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, an off-Broadway musical about Hedwig, an East German transgendered rock musician chasing after an ex-lover who plagiarized her songs.[2] Three years later, he directed the feature film version of the play, reprising his role as Hedwig. Both the play and the film were multiple award-winning critical hits and have spawned cult followings around the world.[8] [9]

Shortbus

After the success of Hedwig, Mitchell expressed an interest in writing, directing and producing a film which would incorporate explicit sex in a naturalistic and thoughtful way, without using "stars".[1] After three years of talent searches, improv workshops and production, Shortbus premiered in May 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival.[10] The film has been a worldwide success, garnering many awards [11] including at the Athens International Film Festival, Gijón International Film Festival and the Zurich Film Festival.

Other works

Mitchell was the executive producer of the 2004 film Tarnation, an award-winning documentary about the life of Jonathan Caouette (whom he met when Jonathan auditioned for "Shortbus").[12] In 2005, Mitchell directed music videos for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" and the Scissor Sisters' "Filthy/Gorgeous,"[13] the latter of which was banned from MTV for its explicitly sexual content.[citation needed] Mitchell has appeared as a pundit on Politically Incorrect and various VH1 and Independent Film Channel programs. He introduced films on a show called "Escape From Hollywood" on IFC for two years.

Mitchell lives in New York City.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "John Cameron Mitchel". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  2. ^ a b c d "Mitchell, John Cameron (b. 1963)". glbtq.com. 2005-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Colin Mitchell". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  4. ^ a b Weber, Bruce (1992-11-04). "A Minimalist Actor Now Warms to Excess". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Berson, Misha (2001-08-03). "Man behind Hedwig captures her on film". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Parks, Louis B. (2001-08-02). "Give him an 'Inch,' and he'll take it". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b "John Cameron Mitchell". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  8. ^ Blackwelder, Rob (2001-06-21). "'Hedwig'-ing Out". Spliced Wire. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "John Cameron Mitchell News". Topix.net. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  10. ^ "Shortbus (2006)". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  11. ^ "Awards for Shortbus (2006)". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  12. ^ "Tarnation (2004)". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  13. ^ "Other works for John Cameron Mitchell". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  14. ^ Epstein, Warren (2001-02-04). "Springs has surprisingly strong link to Sundance". The Gazette (Colorado Springs). Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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