Although he courted Charlotte Lottie Chandler, and the two had a son, Ross, 'Pete' left them behind and came to Pine Valley to find his fortune. As Palmer Cortlandt, he fell in love with Daisy, the daughter of his housekeeper and had a daughter, Nina, with her. When he discovered that Daisy was cheating, he kicked her out of the house and let Nina believe her mother had died.
As an overly protective father, Palmer doted on Nina, and didn't think any man worthy of her. He tried to thwart her romance with Cliff Warner in more ways than one, but failed. Cliff and Nina married and left Pine Valley. Palmer became interested in an ex-hooker, Donna Beck, and believed he could refine her into the companion he sought.
While they were on a skiing trip, they ran into her ex-hubby, Chuck Tyler, and as luck would have it, Donna and Chuck ended up trapped in a cave by an avalanche. Fearing they were doomed to die, they made love, but ended up being rescued. Donna discovered she was pregnant, but Palmer knew it wasn't his. He believed he had been rendered sterile in a polo accident years before. Still he played the role of the loving husband to escape embarrassment, but when the truth came out, he and Donna split.
After another failed try with Daisy, and a brief interlude with his son's ex-wife, Palmer was shot by one of Adam Chandler's henchmen.
Palmer hired Natalie Marlowe to be his nurse. The two fell in love and planned to marry, but she ended up having an affair with Ross. Ross got booted out, and Natalie wanted nothing to do with Palmer, but he blackmailed her into reconciling. The reunion didn't last long, as Natalie drifted into a relationship with Jeremy Hunter. Palmer was determined to break them apart, but couldn't.
Since he couldn't control his own love life, he tried to manipulate everyone else's. His niece Dixie was in love with Tad Martin and that didn't sit well. Palmer enlisted Tad's biological mother, Opal, to help destroy their relationship. The plan failed on one hand, but on the other, Opal and Palmer came together, married and had son, Petey.
Hey, what happened to his sterility? Their marriage ended when Palmer became involved in stolen Nazi paintings and had to admit he had them or fake his death and flee with the art. He lost on all counts, including his home which Opal got in the settlement. He didn't fare any better with Vanessa Bennett, whom he later married, but they did rekindle their flame when Palmer discovered that Vanessa was blackmailing Arlene Chandler.
The hush money was coming out of Adam Chandler's pocket, and that was just fine with Palmer, since he and Adam had been at war since their Pigeon Hollow days. Vanessa's confession to another affair ended her relationship with Palmer for good. He studied drama at Los Angeles City College, and was trained in modern dance by famed choreographer Lester Horton Following his graduation, Mitchell formally joined the Lester Horton Dancers , Horton's own dance company.
Horton attempted to form a new dance company there for dancer Sonia Shaw, and his main investor was Shaw's husband. The investor reneged on the deal, and Horton's company went bankrupt before its debut performance. Mitchell was left unemployed for the first time in his career. Mitchell had trouble finding acting or dancing jobs in New York City, where there were many available performers. Mitchell himself had no connections in the city. He eventually applied for a job as a dancer in the musical "Bloomer Girl" , where Agnes de Mille was the choreographer.
She asked him to perform ballet moves, unaware that Mitchell had little to no training in ballet. Instead Mitchell performed a dance improvisation. De Mille was sufficiently impressed by his style to offer him the dual position of principal dancer and assistant choreographer in the show. He took the offer. Mitchell's professional relationship with de Mille lasted from to In her autobiography, she praised Mitchell, commenting that he gad "probably the strongest arms in the business, and the adagio style developed by him and his partners has become since a valued addition to ballet vocabulary.
He was eventually offered a contract with Warner Brothers by producer Michael Curtiz Mitchell only appeared in two Warner Brothers-produced film. Mitcell was next signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer MGM , where he played supporting roles in films from to His last MGM-produced film was the Biblical epic "The Prodigal" , a notorious box office flop that resulted in losses of , dollars by the company.
Mitchell's contract was terminated shortly afterward. In , Mitchell gained his first lead role in a film, playing gunfighter Terrall Butler in the Western "The Peacemaker" It was a low-budget production by independent producer Hal R.
Makelim, and the film eventually only had a limited release. It was Mitchell's last film role for decades. Mitchell was able to find steady work as an actor in television productions. In , he gained the recurring role of corrupt Captain Lloyd Griffin in the soap opera "The Edge of Night" He eventually gained the lead role of professor of literature Julian Hathaway in another soap opera, "Where the Heart Is" The series had "fairly healthy ratings" for its entire run, but it was typically the lowest-rated soap on CBS' daytime schedule.
It was eventually canceled and replaced by a more successful soap opera, called "The Young and the Restless" For much to the s, Mitchell was reduced to sporadic guest star appearances in television. He financially supported himself as an acting teacher at Juilliard, Yale University, and Drake University. He was eventually offered the new role of businessman Palmer Cortlandt in the soap opera "All My Children", a role he played for 31 years. By , Mitchell was forced to reduce his television appearances due to health problems.
He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an obstructive lung disease characterized by long-term breathing problems and poor airflow. He formally retired from acting in , but made return appearances in He died in January , his death caused by his chronic disease and complications by pneumonia.
He was years-old. Sign In.
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