Biography

Austin Mitchell was born on September 19, 1934 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Castle Haven (1969), The Challengers (1972) and Midweek (1972). He was married to Linda McDougall and Patricia Jackson. He died on August 17, 2021 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.

Father of Sue Mitchell.

Shortly after becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) he was instrumental in promoting legislation to make the wearing of seat-belts compulsory, after surviving a near-fatal car crash.

He passionately supported the Grimsby fishing industry and briefly changed his name to Austin Haddock in 2002 to promote that industry.

After leaving his job as a broadcaster, mainly for Yorkshire Television, he became Labour MP for Great Grimsby, a post he held for 37 years from 1977 until 2015 when he retired due to ill health.

At very short notice and despite having no great interest in sport, he was asked to interview Brian Clough and Don Revie a few hours after Leeds United had sacked Clough, who had been their manager for only 44 days, while his predecessor Revie had held the job for 13 years. This interview, in which Mitchell skilfully prompted Clough and Revie into confrontation, features in The Damned United (2009), though with largely invented dialogue.