‘All My Children’ star James Mitchell died on Friday after suffering from pneumonia. He was 89.
Mitchell, who was best known for his character as the villainous rich patriarch of the Cortlandt family in the soap opera, battled with a heart ailment for years, which was recently complicated by pneumonia.
He was last seen on the 40th anniversary episode of the show. He spent nearly three decades in ‘All My Children’, from 1979 to 2008. He appeared in over 300 episodes.
According to Mitchell’s partner, Albert Wolsky, he really enjoyed his role in the soap. “The meaner he could be, the happier he was”, he said.
The soap star was also recognised as a dancer. He started his dancing career with the American Ballet Theater. Before landing a job on television, he was a Broadway star and portrayed lead characters in plays such as ‘Billion Dollar Baby’, ‘Brigadoon’, and ‘Carousel’.
He also became a dance and movement instructor at Drake University and Yale University. He had a short-term career in movie musicals and appeared in ‘The Band Wagon’ with Fred Astaire and ‘Deep in My Heart’ with Cyd Charisse.
Mitchell was born on 29 February 1920 in Sacramento and studied in Los Angeles City College, where he earned a degree in theatre. He joined a dance company in Los Angeles after obtaining his degree and stayed there for four years until he moved to New York to try set up his own dance company.
