50 Greatest Soap Actors: #9 James Mitchell

NAME: James Mitchell
RANK: 9
SOAP ROLES: Palmer Cortlandt, ALL MY CHILDREN (1979-2010); Julian Hathaway, WHERE THE HEART IS (1969-1973); Lloyd Griffin, THE EDGE OF NIGHT (1964)

AWARDS:
1992 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Best Wedding: Daytime
1989 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1989 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Villain: Daytime
1988 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role: Daytime
1986 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial
1985 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1984 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
1983 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
1982 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
1981 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
1980 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series

COMMENTS FROM THE PANEL:
Alan Carter: It's criminal that Mitchell never won an Emmy. Cliff and Nina as a storyline only works if you hate Palmer with your every fiber. Ironically, probably never a nicer man ever walked the planet...but Mitchell was so good at playing evil, it made you wonder. I know better and I'm pretty smart, most of the time, but I have to admit being a little nervous about meeting him. I think he was smart enough to know he scared people and maybe it made him more gracious....although I imagine there was always a shy, nice guy underneath the character all the while.

Connie Passalacqua Hayman (Marlena De Lacroix): What elegance, what authority, what style, as Palmer Cortlandt on ALL MY CHILDREN (and before that on WHERE THE HEART IS). A great dancer and actor, he was another Hollywood gift to daytime. A great villain, I loved Palmer's tenderness with young troubled wife Donna (Candy Earley) and older wife Daisy (the sparkling Gillian Spencer).

Jonathan Reiner: So, so good at playing the evil patriarch with a heart of gold and more layers than an onion.

Patrick Erwin: A finely tuned performance of an extremely controlling man. Mitchell’s acting was as virtuoso as his dancing.

Roger Newcomb: He could play a villain, he was great a comedy. He never ceased to amaze me.

COMMENTS FROM CO-STARS/CO-WORKERS/INDUSTRY:
Taylor Miller: (worked with Mitchell on ALL MY CHILDREN) James Mitchell, one of the kindest men in the world, was about finding the humor in situations. He was a great friend.

Jean LeClerc: (worked with Mitchell on ALL MY CHILDREN) He was a man who had a great sense of humor. He was a gentleman. He was a very serious actor. I got to know him outside of ALL MY CHILDREN. I was amazed by the career he had had before he joined. This man created Oklahoma! Some of us were invited to his home in L.A. He was the most generous host who got us all in his home to play and laugh and drink and celebrate life. He was a life lover. I was so sad when I heard he passed away.