Biography

[1973 comment on her father Robert Mitchum] My dad's a pretty fair man, actually. Difficult to understand, but he's a pretty fair man. He really is. When I was growing up, he wasn't around too much, so I had a lot of freedom. When I was between eight and fourteen, we had a farm, and I spent a lot of time there. I ran around a lot and did whatever I wanted. There were no big rules or anything -- no strict church training or any regimentation like that. The only thing Dad would get upset about was if one of us did something stupid. Then he got mad. Dad has a very low tolerance for stupidity. But that's worked out for my benefit, actually.

[1973 comment on her father Robert Mitchum] Dad's always had the reputation of being an outrageous oddball -- "The last of the iron-assed loners," blah-blah-blah -- but he's always been pretty straight with me. One time when I was a little kid, though ... Oh, it was funny; it cracked me up. Back then, he used to take me out for a drive every Sunday morning, before everybody else was up. We'd stop at Schwab's and buy the paper, and he'd always buy me a hand puppet. I had this great collection of hand puppets. So one morning, we drove down to Venice, a crazy little town south of L.A. We were driving along, and suddenly a policeman stopped us. We were driving on the sidewalk, and Dad hadn't even noticed. He just got a little reprimand, but it was pretty embarrassing for him. Pretty embarrassing.

[1973 comment on her mother Dorothy Mitchum] My mother's much the same way [like her father Robert Mitchum]. She's a great lady. Don't ask me how she puts up with Dad -- I don't know. I don't know if I could put up with him for thirty-some years. She's a very strong lady, though. She's stood by him through everything, and I guess she's put up with a lot and suffered a lot, but she keeps on going. She's a beautiful lady, very stable, very steadfast. My mother's always been there for me, too, and very steady. I haven't just been tossed around like a lot of Hollywood brats.