Gordon Mitchell

Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder, known for his starring roles in Italian sword-and-sandal and Spaghetti Western films.

Early life Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in his Denver neighborhood to deal with his tough companions.

During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Bulge where he was taken prisoner of war. He later obtained a degree at the University of Southern California under the G.I. Bill. He became a high school teacher and guidance counselor in Los Angeles,

Career Following a return enlistment for the Korean War, he found film extra work in movies such as Prisoner of War, The Man with the Golden Arm and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, where he and his friend Joe Gold dragged Charlton Heston's Moses to Pharaoh Yul Brynner. Mae West chose him to appear in her nightclub act as part of her "buffed all-male chorus line". He replied no, but on arrival in Rome, Mitchell was given his new name. He found work first in sword and sandal films such as Sinbad, Seven Slaves Against the World, Treasure of the Petrified Forest (1965), then in Spaghetti Westerns such as Beyond the Law and Savage Guns. Mitchell also appeared in Fellini Satyricon (1969), directed by Federico Fellini.

From the early 1970s onwards, he started to diversify into everything from horror (Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks), Nazi exploitation (Achtung! The Desert Tigers!), sexploitation (Porno-Erotic Western), French criminal comedy (The Umbrella Coup), and post-apocalyptic films (Endgame). He also appeared in the bizarre 1982 Israeli adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's She as "Hector." The film was directed by Avi Nesher and co-starred Sandahl Bergman.

Mitchell was close friends with fellow American expatriate actors Richard Harrison, Mike Monty (he appeared in a number of films with both and shared an apartment with Monty in Italy during the 1960s), and John P. Dulaney. Like Monty, Harrison and Dulaney, Mitchell acted in low-budget action films in the Philippines during the 1980s, having roles in Commando Invasion and SFX Retaliator for director John Gale.

He returned to the United States in the late 1980s and largely retired from acting, becoming the chief operating officer of World Gym in Marina Del Rey, California. He kept making occasional film appearances until his death.

Death Mitchell died on September 20, 2003, at age 80, from an apparent heart attack.

Selected filmography

Prisoner of War (1954) - Bit Role (uncredited) The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) - Police Officer (uncredited) The Ten Commandments (1956) - Egyptian Guard (uncredited) Around the World in 80 Days (1956) - Extra (uncredited) The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) - (uncredited) The Enemy Below (1957) - German Sailor (uncredited) The Young Lions (1958) - Minor Role (uncredited) The Buccaneer (1958) - Pirate (uncredited) Rio Bravo (1959) - Bar Cowboy Watching Fistfight (uncredited) Li'l Abner (1959) - Muscleman Rufe (uncredited) Spartacus (1960) - Gladiator (uncredited) Atlas Against the Cyclops (1961) - Maciste (as Mitchell Gordon) The Centurion (1961) - Gen. Metellus The Giant of Metropolis (1961) - Obro Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1962) - Pluto Julius Caesar Against the Pirates (1962) - Hamar, the Pirate Kerim, Son of the Sheik (1962) - Yussuf Invasion 1700 (1962) - Ulrich The Fury of Achilles (1962) - Achilles Brennus, Enemy of Rome (1963) - Brennus Seven Slaves Against the World (1964) - Balisten La vendetta di Spartacus (1964) - Arminio Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens (1964) - Omar Erik, il vichingo (1965) - Sven / Bjarni Treasure of the Petrified Forest (1965) - Hunding Lady Morgan's Vengeance (1965) - Roger 3 Bullets for Ringo (1966) - Frank Sanders Star Pilot (1966) - Murdu Thompson 1880 (1966) - Glenn Sheppard Kill or Be Killed (1966) - Baltimore Joe È mezzanotte... butta giù il cadavere (1966) - Van Himst L'estate (1966) - Himself Born to Kill (1967) - Roose Death on the Run (1967) - The Albanian Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) - Stable Sergeant John the Bastard (1967) - Danite Phenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankhamen (1968) - Gregory Falco Sapevano solo uccidere (1968) - Clayton Cin cin... cianuro (1968) - Al Rubino Beyond the Law (1968) - Burton The Killer Likes Candy (1968) - Toni All on the Red (1968) - Erikson Radhapura - Endstation der Verdammten (1968) - Alfredo Rita of the West (1968) - Silly Bull Trusting Is Good... Shooting Is Better (1968) - Roy Fulton Cry of Death (1968) - Donkey / Morgan Pitt Seven Times Seven (1968) - Big Ben Hour X Suicide Patrol (1969) - Sgt. Orwell Smith Fellini Satyricon (1969) - Robber Sartana the Gravedigger (1969) - Deguejo Lisa dagli occhi blu (1969) - Football player The Arizona Kid (1970) - Coyote Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970) - Black Burt Keller / Burt Kelly Dead Men Don't Make Shadows (1970) - Roger Murdock Io non spezzo... rompo (1971) - Joe il Rosso Tre nel mille (1971) Se t'incontro t'ammazzo (1971) - Chris Forest A Barrel Full of Dollars (1971) - John Giù le mani... carogna! (Django Story) (1971) - Buck Bradley Let's Go and Kill Sartana (1971) - Greg "The Crazy Person" Drummer of Vengeance (1971) - Deputy Norton Le Saut de l'ange (1971) - Henry Di Fusco Il suo nome era Pot (1971) - Ray Potter A Fistful of Death (1971) - Ironhead Donovan / Testa di Ferro Savage Guns (1971) - Gordon Mitchell (uncredited) Un uomo chiamato Dakota (1972) - Dakota The Big Bust Out (1972) - El Kadir Magnificent West (1972) - Martin Casa d'appuntamento (1972) - Man in Nightclub (uncredited) Go Away! Trinity Has Arrived in Eldorado (1972) - Jonathan Duke Frankenstein 80 (1972) - Dr. Otto Frankenstein Situation (1972) - Gordon Allegri becchini… arriva Trinità (1972) - Marvin Anything for a Friend (1973) - Miller Quando i califfi avevano le corna... (1973) - Caliph married to the Queen My Darling Slave (1973) - Von Thirac Once Upon a Time in the Wild, Wild West (1973) - Mike Pan (1973) Dagli archivi della polizia criminale (1973) - Peter Wilcox My Name Is Shanghai Joe (1973) - Burying Sam Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974) - Igor Una donna per 7 bastardi (1974) - Gordon The Godfather Squad (1974) - Son of Carrol Il domestico (1974) - General Von Werner Dört hergele (1974) - Margherito Anasinin Gozu (1974) Yankesici (1975) Seven Devils on Horseback (1975) - Cooper La pelle sotto gli artigli (1975) - Professor Helmut Due Magnum .38 per una città di carogne (1975) - Renato Proietti Tiger from River Kwai (1975) - Jack Mason Le Ricain (1975) - Mike La polizia ordina: sparate a vista (1976) - David L'unica legge in cui credo (1976) - Geo (uncredited) Kaput Lager - Gli ultimi giorni delle SS (1977) - Kommandant von Stolzen Oil! (1977) - Burt Natascha - Todesgrüße aus Moskau (1977) - Gooming Gli uccisori (1977) - Pablo Zanna Bianca e il grande Kid (1977) - Morgan Pugni, dollari e spinaci (1978) - Frank Stilo Ishyri dosi... sex (1978) A Very Special Woman (1979) - Gordon Strategia per una missione di morte (1979) - Paul Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979) - Pretorius Porno erotico western (1979) I mavri Emmanouella (1980) - Robert / Factory manager Holocaust parte seconda: i ricordi, i deliri, la vendetta (1980) - Felix Oppenheimer The Umbrella Coup (1980) - Moskovitz, le tueur The Iron Hand of the Mafia (1980) - Don Nicola Febbre a 40! (1980) - Sandy's Husband Trois filles dans le vent (1981) - Gordon Mitchell Inchon (1981) - GHQ Officer (uncredited) Nightfall (1981) - Maserati La dottoressa preferisce i marinai (1981) - The killer Vai avanti tu che mi vien da ridere (1981) - Il killer Kirmizi kelebek (1982) - Brado Rush (1983) - Yor Endgame (1983) - Col. Morgan Se tutto va bene siamo rovinati (1983) - Jack Volpetti She (1984) - Hector Treasure of the Lost Desert (1984) - Dealer Diamond Connection (1984) - Harry / Abdul Pasha Ricordi (1984) White Fire (1985) - Olaf Operation Nam (1986) - Col. Mortimer The Mines of Kilimanjaro (1986) - Rolf Three Men on Fire (1986) Commando Invasion (1986) - General MacMoreland Evil Spawn (1987) - Dan Thorn SFX Retaliator (1987) - Morgan Overdose (1987) - Costa Cross of the Seven Jewels (1987) - Black Mass Leader Faida (1988) - Prete La tempesta (1988) Blood Delirium (N/A) - Hermann Bikini Drive-In (1995) - Goliath An Enraged New World (2002) - Gen. Murchison Malevolence (2004) - Capo Fabrizio De Martino Die to Live - Das Musikill (2004) - Himself (final film role)