John Cameron Mitchell

Infobox actor
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name = John Cameron Mitchell


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birthdate = birth date and age|1963|4|21
location = El Paso, Texas, United States
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yearsactive = 1986-Present
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residence = New York City
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notable role = Hedwig in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
academyawards =
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John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a Golden Globe-nominated American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and "Shortbus".

Early life

Mitchell was born in El Paso, Texas.cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593463/bio |title=John Cameron Mitchel |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27] 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 immigrated to the United States as a young schoolteacher.cite web |url=http://www.glbtq.com/arts/mitchell_jc.html |title=Mitchell, John Cameron (b. 1963) |work=glbtq.com |date=2005-05-05 |accessdate=2007-05-27] His brother Colin is also an actor, writer, and filmmaker.cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593240/ |title=Colin Mitchell |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27]

Mitchell's 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 from 1981 to 1985.

Career

Mitchell's first professional stage role was Huckleberry Finn in a 1985 Organic Theater adaption at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.cite news |first=Bruce |last=Weber |title=A Minimalist Actor Now Warms to Excess |work=The New York Times |date=1992-11-04] 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", and appeared in the original cast of the Off Broadway musical "Hello Again". He received Drama Desk nominations for both roles, and can be heard on the original cast recordings for each.He appeared in the original cast of John Guare's "Six Degrees of Separation" (off- and on Broadway) and starred in Larry Kramer's Off Broadway sequel to "The Normal Heart," "The Destiny of Me", for which he received a Village Voice Obie Awardcite news |first=Misha |last=Berson |title=Man behind Hedwig captures her on film |work=The Seattle Times |date=2001-08-03 |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mitchell03&date=20010803&query=hedwig |accessdate=2007-05-27] and a Drama Desk nomination.cite news |first=Louis B. |last=Parks |title=Give him an 'Inch,' and he'll take it |work=The Houston Chronicle |date=2001-08-02 |url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2001_3323927 |accessdate=2007-05-27] Mitchell is a founding member of the Drama Department Theater Company, for which he adapted and directed Tennessee Williams' "Kingdom of Earth" starring Cynthia Nixon and Peter Sarsgaard.

Mitchell's early television work includes guest-starring roles in "MacGyver", "Head of the Class", "Law & Order", "The New Twilight Zone", "Freddy's Nightmares", "The Equalizer", "Our House", "Dreamer of Oz", "The Stepford Children", and the "ABC After School Special" "A Desperate Exit" (his single 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 that appeared in commercials for Dunkaroos.cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593463/ |title=John Cameron Mitchell |accessdate=2007-05-27 |work=IMDB.com]

His first film role was in an improvised drunk-driving educational film called "Just Along for the Ride" (1983), in which he was killed on Halloween while wearing a tutu. This was followed by the lead role in "My Father's Son: The Legacy of Alcoholism" (1984) and his first feature film role as Drunk Teen ("Hey, dudes, where's the brewskies?") in "One More Saturday Night" (1986), written by and starring Al Franken. Starring and co-starring film roles include a homicidal new-waver in "Band of the Hand" (1986), a Polish immigrant violinist in "Misplaced" (1990), and a teen Lothario poet in "Book of Love" (1990). Mitchell had a single line ("Delivery!") in Spike Lee's "Girl Six" (1996) as a man auditioning for a pornographic film.cite web |url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/John_Cameron_Mitchell/ |title=John Cameron Mitchell Full Bio |work=Hollywood.com |accessdate=2007-10-29]

Films

"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 transgender rock musician chasing after an ex-lover who plagiarized her songs. Three years later, he directed the feature film version of the play, reprising his role as Hedwig. Both the play and the film were award-winning critical hits and have spawned cult followings around the world.cite web |url=http://www.splicedonline.com/01features/jcmitchell.html |title='Hedwig'-ing Out |first=Rob |last=Blackwelder |work=Spliced Wire |accessdate=2007-05-27 |date=2001-06-21] cite web |url=http://www.topix.net/who/john-cameron-mitchell |title=John Cameron Mitchell News |work=Topix.net |accessdate=2007-05-27]

"Shortbus"

After the success of "Hedwig", Mitchell expressed an interest in writing, directing and producing a film that incorporated explicit sex in a naturalistic and thoughtful way, without using "stars". After three years of talent searches, improv workshops and production, "Shortbus" premiered in May 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival.cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367027/ |title=Shortbus (2006) |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27] The film garnered many awards,cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367027/awards |title=Awards for Shortbus (2006) |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27] at venues such as 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 the latter auditioned for "Shortbus").cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390538/ |title=Tarnation (2004) |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27] In 2005, Mitchell directed music videos for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" and the Scissor Sisters' "Filthy/Gorgeous,"cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593463/otherworks |title=Other works for John Cameron Mitchell |work=IMDB.com |accessdate=2007-05-27] the latter of which was banned from MTV for its explicitly sexual content.Fact|date=June 2007 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.

Personal life

In 1985, Mitchell came out as gay to his family and friends. Though always open about his sexuality in his personal life, he came out publicly in a "New York Times" profile in 1992. His subsequent writing has often explored sexuality and gender.

Mitchell lives in New York City.cite news | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20010204/ai_n9982144 |title=Springs has surprisingly strong link to Sundance |work=The Gazette (Colorado Springs) |date=2001-02-04 |first=Warren |last=Epstein |accessdate=2007-05-27]

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f_AqX5WIss Mitchell Live at Amoeba Music "Origin of Love"]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=zwFS69nA-1w Mitchell's video for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgI3BVWkuUc John Cameron Mitchell and the Scissor Sisters's video of Filthy/Gorgeous]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A17772843 BBC Collective] Shortbus feature including John Cameron Mitchell video interview
*imdb name|id=0593463|name=John Cameron Mitchell
* [http://www.eros-zine.com/articles/2007-03-06/john_cameron_mitchell/ John Cameron Mitchell interview at Eros-Zine.com] (March 2007)