Duke Mitchell

Known for his slapstick comedy and his title of “King of Palm Springs”, Duke Mitchell was an American film actor, crooner, and an independent film director. He was born as Dominic Salvatore Miceli in Farrell, in the state of Pennsylvania. Once he reached his early 20s, Mitchell paired up with the then teenage comedian, Sammy Petrillo for a nightclub act.

Together, intentionally, or not, they seemed to resemble Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis’s comedy duo. This was owing to Mitchell’s cabaret-style of singing and Petrillo’s clowning. This obviously led to a lawsuit, which was eventually dismissed. Soon the team moved from night clubs to Hollywood when movie producer Jack Broder decided to star the two in a feature-length comedy of their own: Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, which was set in a jungle. It wasn’t long before Petrillo and Mitchell decided to go own separate ways. Mitchell, however, planned to stay in the entertainment industry (or show business) by going back to nightclubs in major cities like New York Click to look into! >> Read More... , Las Vegas Serial Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... , Seattle, Palm Springs, Chicago, and even Los Angeles.

He also went on to act in feature films that included Sailor Beware, Crime in the Streets, Baby Face Nelson, and Paradise Alley. Later he started directing as well acting in his own self-financed independent films. Those films included Massacre Mafia Style and Gone With The Pope, both of which developed a large following over time, and even became cult icons leading to popular organizations like The Duke Mitchell Film Club that are still standing today. Before returning to his usual scene in Palm Springs and eventually starting the fad of Sunday Brunches, he also voiced a few episodes of The Flintstones, including Hot Lips Hannigan and Girls’ Night Out.

He developed a rapport for himself and around the 1960s every celebrity who wanted to take a break from Los Angeles by spending some time in Palm Springs over the weekend ended up joining Mitchell’s brunch on Sunday. Some of the stars that did so enjoyed shows by people like David Jensen, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant Cary Grant was a British-American actor, one from >> Read More... , and a variety of other acts. Sadly, quite a lot of Mitchell’s works were not released, one of them being Tribute to Durante. Even Gone with the Pope, which is undoubtedly his most popular piece of work, was found in a garage as a work print, and after several disputes was finally released in 2011 by Grindhouse Releasing. It’s fair to say that Duke Mitchell’s career was not short of mishaps and highs and lows, but before dying at the age of 55 he has surely left a remarkable impression in the industry.