Short Biography

John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a Golden Globe-nominated American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus. Mitchell was born in El Paso, Texas. The son of a retired U.S. Army Major General, he grew up on army bases in the U.S., Germany and Scotland, and generally attended Catholic schools. His mother is from Glasgow, Scotland and immigrated to the United States as a young schoolteacher. His brother Colin is also an actor, writer, and filmmaker. Mitchell`s first stage role was the Virgin Mary in a Nativity musical staged at a Scottish Benedictine boys boarding school when he was 11 years old. He studied theater at Northwestern University from 1981 to 1985.

Mitchell`s first professional stage role was Huckleberry Finn in a 1985 Organic Theater adaption at Chicago`s Goodman Theatre.[4] Mitchell`s first New York acting role was Huck Finn in the Broadway musical Big River (1985). He created the role of Dickon on Broadway in The Secret Garden, and appeared in the original cast of the Off Broadway musical Hello Again. He received Drama Desk nominations for both roles, and can be heard on the original cast recordings for each. (His rendition of the original demo version of "Giants in the Sky" can be heard as a bonus track on the 2007 remastered release of Stephen Sondheim`s Into the Woods.) He appeared in the original cast of John Guare`s Six Degrees of Separation (off- and on Broadway) and starred in Larry Kramer`s Off Broadway sequel to The Normal Heart, The Destiny of Me, for which he received a Village Voice Obie Award and a Drama Desk nomination.

In 1985, Mitchell came out as gay to his family and friends. Though always open about his sexuality in his personal life, he came out publicly in a New York Times profile in 1992. His subsequent writing has often explored sexuality and gender. Mitchell lives in New York City.

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