ROBERT MITCHUM Fame, Regrets & LASTING LOVE

HE LIVED HIS LIFE ON HIS OWN TERMS BUT COULD NEVER ABANDON THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HIM BEST

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Whether he was playing a cowboy, a psychopath or a private detective, Robert Mitchum could say more with a raised eyebrow or a dark look than most actors could in a two-minute monologue. Yet in life, the star of films, including Night of the Hunter and The Longest Day, covered his true feelings with jokes, sarcasm and a world-weary toughness — even though he felt things deeply.

A native of the East Coast, Robert brought his bride, Dorothy Spence, to Los Angeles in 1940. The couple had known each other since they were teenagers but were used to long separations. From childhood, Robert had a habit of running away for weeks or months to explore life in other places. “He always returned,” Dorothy wrote in