Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Old actor still considers Prescott home

An old Hollywood actor still considers Prescott to be home, though he was actually born in Texas.

Steve Mitchell "married into Arkansas" when he and Glenda Bullock wed in 1967. Bullock was originally from Prescott, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Bullock, and was working in Hollywood at the Arkansas Publicity and Parks booth for the Hollywood Sports Show.

Mitchell was at the show with Jack Palace when he heard a voice say, "Who's that?", turned and saw Bullock. The two dated and later married.

Bullock introduced Mitchell to Arkansas and he fell in love with the state. In fact, he still considers Prescott to be home, though he doesn't get to visit often.

Mitchell, veteran of some 300 movies, was instrumental in getting "Bloody Mama" with Shelly Winters and Don Stroud, filmed in Arkansas. The movie was filmed in Northwest Arkansas in the Bull Shoals area.

Because of his work in getting the movie to the state, former Gov. Orval Faubus made Mitchell an honorary Arkansas Traveler and named him Arkansas's ambassador to Hollywood.

In a telephone interview with Mitchell Thursday, July 8, the retired actor said he misses Arkansas and would like to return again. "I spent a lot of time in Arkansas and always considered Prescott to be home and the Bullocks to be family. I used to come to Arkansas twice a year, but haven't been in a while."

He said it would be great if a movie would be filmed in Prescott, but it would take a lot of work and there would be a lot of "no's" before anyone said "yes" to a project. According to Mitchell, a considerable amount of time and effort go into getting a movie to a specific location. First, he said, whoever is looking needs to find a company shooting a film, get in touch with the production manager and offer to show them different locations.

He suggested the state advertise in the trades in Hollywood to let film companies know Arkansas is interested in being involved in the movie industry. "They don't seem to be doing much at the Capitol," he said, talking about trying to attract films.

Mitchell was in the U.S. Navy during World War II, seeing action in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters on a destroyer. He was also in Korea. His job in the wars was to drive Higgins boats to land the soldiers. Mitchell is considered to be 100 percent disabled due to wounds he received in battle.

The 78-year-old said he doesn't have any gray hair and gets ribbed when he goes to the VA hospital in Los Angeles by the other vets. He considers his vitamin routine the reason his hair hasn't turned gray.

Mitchell's first movie was "Walk East on Beacon Street", shot in Boston and starring George Murphy. He played a communist kidnapper who was killed at the end. The FBI agents in the movie, he said, were actual FBI agents from the Boston area.

During his career, Mitchell has been on screen with some of the biggest names in Hollywood history. He was in "Nevada Smith" with Steve McQueen, "Once a Thief" with Ann Margaret and Palace, "Always Fair Weather", with Gene Kelley, and "Battle Circus", with Humphrey Bogart, among others. He was also in the stage production "Diamond Lil" with Mae West.

He also worked with John Wayne's production company, Batjac. In fact, his current canine companion is named J.D. as a tribute to Wayne. The dog's name is actually John Duke, as Wayne was known as the Duke.

In his home, Mitchell has a life-size cutout of Wayne from Hondo. He's also friends with Wayne's sons Patrick and Michael.

When asked which movie was his favorite, Mitchell was unable to give a specific answer. "Each movie has its own charm," he said. "They're a lot of fun."

Mitchell is apparently an oddity in the industry as he still refuses to take it seriously. "I learned I still have to put my pants on the same as anybody else," he said. "That's just the way I am."

Mitchell was also friends with members of the old Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr.). He told the story of being in Las Vegas with Sinatra, seeing his shows several times. However, at one point, the girl he was with wanted to see a different show after seeing Sinatra's several times.

The two left and when Sinatra saw two empty seats at the front stage table, he got mad. When Mitchell returned to the hotel, others in the Rat Pack told him Sinatra was upset and he should leave town as soon as possible. Mitchell and the young lady left Vegas on a mail train that took almost 24 hours to make it to Los Angeles.

A few years later, Mitchell ran into Sinatra in New York. Sinatra asked him to sit down, but Mitchell said, "It's a long walk from New York to Los Angeles," and went on.

"I still love Glenda," he said. "she has me jumping through hoops. We were married for 30 years and have been divorced for 13 years.

"I still consider them family and Prescott my home."