Editing Robert Mitchum (section)

==Personal life==
===Marriage and family===
In the fall of 1933, at the age of 16, Mitchum met his future wife, 14-year-old Dorothy Spence, at a swimming hole near [[Camden, Delaware]].{{sfn|Roberts|1992|p=13}}{{sfn|Server|2001|pp=32–33}}<ref name="variety"/> She was a schoolmate of his younger brother, [[John Mitchum|John]], whom she had briefly dated.{{sfn|Server|2001|pp=32–33}}<ref name="sbi2014"/>{{refn|group=note|John later quipped, "I made the mistake of introducing her [Dorothy] to Brother Robert."{{sfn|Mitchum|1989|p=48}}}} Mitchum immediately fell for her,{{sfn|Server|2001|p=33}} and the two had begun a serious relationship by the time he left for California in 1934.{{sfn|Server|2001|p=35}} Meanwhile, she continued attending school in Delaware and then went to college in Philadelphia.<ref name="sbi2014"/>

Mitchum married Dorothy on March 16, 1940, in the kitchen of a Methodist parson in [[Dover, Delaware]].{{sfn|Tomkies|1973|pp=37–38}}<ref name="sbi2014"/> He brought her to Los Angeles to settle down,{{sfn|Eells|1984|p=48}} where he took a job at the [[Lockheed Aircraft Corporation]] before finding work as a film actor in June 1942.{{sfn|Roberts|2000|pp=41–42}}<ref name="variety1997">{{cite news |title=Screen Legend Mitchum Dies |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/news/screen-legend-mitchum-dies-1116677410/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=July 2, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518175723/https://variety.com/1997/film/news/screen-legend-mitchum-dies-1116677410/ |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|In the early years of their marriage, Dorothy worked as a secretary at an insurance company.{{sfn|Eells|1984|pp=48, 59}} She quit her job shortly before the birth of their second child in 1943.{{sfn|Eells|1984|p=61}}}} The couple had three children: sons, [[James Mitchum|James]] (born May 8, 1941){{sfn|Tomkies|1973|p=40}} and [[Christopher Mitchum|Christopher]] (born October 16, 1943),{{sfn|Tomkies|1973|p=49}} both actors; and a daughter, Petrine (born March 3, 1952),<ref>{{cite news |title=New Daughter for Mitchums |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 4, 1952 |page=10}}</ref>{{sfn|Tomkies|1973|p=106}} a writer.<ref name="ap">{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=Jeff|title=Screen Tough Guy Robert Mitchum Dies at 79|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=July 1, 1997|url=https://apnews.com/article/1e17fa79e1ccebd0bc0583f6fc11033d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312185400/https://apnews.com/article/1e17fa79e1ccebd0bc0583f6fc11033d|archive-date=March 12, 2022|url-status=dead|access-date=May 28, 2023}}</ref><ref name="variety"/>

Despite his reported affairs with other women, including author [[Edna O'Brien]]<ref>{{cite news |title='Country Girl' Edna O'Brien On A Lifetime Of Lit, Loneliness And Love |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/04/27/179015621/country-girl-edna-obrien-on-a-lifetime-of-lit-loneliness-and-love |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=[[NPR]] |date=April 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226074803/https://www.npr.org/2013/04/27/179015621/country-girl-edna-obrien-on-a-lifetime-of-lit-loneliness-and-love |archive-date=December 26, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> and actresses [[Lucille Ball]],{{sfn|Server|2001|p=72}} [[Ava Gardner]],{{sfn|Evans|2013|pp=225–26}} [[Jean Simmons]],{{sfn|Capua|2022|pp=57–58}} [[Shirley MacLaine]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Willman|first=Chris|title=TCM Film Fest: Shirley MacLaine Serves Up Barbs and Valentines|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=March 30, 2015|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tcm-film-fest-shirley-maclaine-785431/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426041258/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tcm-film-fest-shirley-maclaine-785431/|archive-date=April 26, 2023|url-status=live|access-date=May 28, 2023}}</ref> and [[Sarah Miles]],<ref>{{cite web|last=O'Sullivan|first=Majella|title='I Was So Innocent in the 60s, but Robert Mitchum Corrupted Me'|work=[[Irish Independent]]|date=March 18, 2016|url=https://www.independent.ie/life/i-was-so-innocent-in-the-60s-but-robert-mitchum-corrupted-me-34550363.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207044944/https://www.independent.ie/life/i-was-so-innocent-in-the-60s-but-robert-mitchum-corrupted-me-34550363.html|archive-date=December 7, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=May 28, 2023}}</ref> Mitchum and wife Dorothy remained together until his death in 1997.<ref name="ap"/><ref name="variety"/> He told journalist [[Don Short (journalist)|Don Short]] in a 1977 interview: "Not as though there has been anyone else in my life except Dorothy. There's not one of 'em—and I've met the best of 'em—worth lighting a candle for alongside her."{{sfn|Roberts|2000|pp=168–69}}

Mitchum's grandson [[Bentley Mitchum]] is an actor.{{sfn|Turner Classic Movies|2006|p=151}} His great-granddaughter [[Grace Van Dien]] is an actress.{{sfn|Turner Classic Movies|2006|p=151}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yahr |first1=Emily |title=Hollywood 'Nepo Babies' Know What You Think of Them. They Have Some Thoughts. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/01/nepo-babies-nepotism-hollywood-celebrities/ |access-date=August 16, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331050411/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/01/nepo-babies-nepotism-hollywood-celebrities/ |archive-date=March 31, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Friendships===
Mitchum's close friends included [[Jane Russell]], his neighbor in [[Santa Barbara, California]];{{sfn|Turner Classic Movies|2008|p=128}} and [[Deborah Kerr]], his favorite co-star.{{sfn|Roberts|1992|pp=33, 98}}

===Political views===
Mitchum was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] who campaigned for [[Barry Goldwater]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>Knap, Ted ([[Scripps Howard]]). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/149007113/?clipping_id=114617453 "Goldwater Leading in Citizen Groups; More—And More Varied—Than LBJ's"]. ''The Pittsburgh Press''. October 22, 1964. p.&nbsp;17. Retrieved December 14, 2022.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Jeremy |date=August 5, 2022 |title=Robert Mitchum Wasn't A Fan Of Working With Most Hollywood Directors |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/954872/robert-mitchum-wasnt-a-fan-of-working-with-most-hollywood-directors/ |access-date=February 23, 2024 |website=[[Slashfilm]]}}</ref> Mitchum supported [[Ronald Reagan]] in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]]{{sfn|Freese|2020|p=191}} and [[George H. W. Bush]] in [[1992 United States presidential election|1992]], narrating a promotional film for the latter that played at the [[Republican National Convention]].{{sfn|Server|2001|pp=522–23}}

===Religion===
Although he was born into a [[Methodist]] family and later married by a Methodist parson, Mitchum was [[non-religious]].{{sfn|Freese|2020|p=155}}{{sfn|Cavett|1971}}