John Cameron Mitchell
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Apr 21, 1963 (age 63)
- Place of birth
- El Paso, Texas, USA
- Credits
- 65
American writer, director, actor. Mitchell, the son of a U.S. Army general and a Scottish mother, grew up on various army bases, including Berlin; later the family lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he attended a Catholic school.
Since the mid-1980s, he has worked as a theatre actor and director in New York City and played small roles in television and film productions. Among other things, he directed a play by Tennessee Williams. From 1991, he appeared in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's musical adaptation of The Secret Garden, which won several Tony Awards.
In the early 1990s, together with musician Stephen Trask, he developed the character of Hedwig, a transgender rock musician who grew up in East Berlin, for performances in the New York drag bar Squeezebox. This led to the successful Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 1998, which won two Obie Awards, and three years later to the film version of the musical, again with himself in the title role. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Director's and Audience Awards, and the play won the 2001 Lambda Literary Award. At the 2002 Chlotrudis Awards, he won the prize for best leading actor. At the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2001, the film was shown in the ‘PANORAMA’ section and won the Teddy Award.
In 2003, he produced the film Tarnation by Jonathan Caouette, which was honoured as best documentary film by the US National Society of Film Critics, among others. In 2004, Mitchell shot the music video for the Scissor Sisters' single Filthy/Gorgeous with stars from the New York drag scene. The clip was not shown on American MTV due to its explicit sexual depictions.
Known for
Filmography
Heaven Above Rowen
2026Movie
Promise (voice)
Cockroach
2026Movie
James
Everybody Wants to Be Gen X
2025Movie
Self
Reclaim the Flag
2025Movie
Self
Lisbon
2025Movie
AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
2023Movie
Self
Nicole Kidman: Eyes Wide Open
2023Movie
Self (interview)
City on Fire
2023TV
Amory
Dr. Jackie
2022TV
John Cameron Mitchell
The Sandman
2022TV
Hal Carter
I Am More
2022Movie
Impresario
2022Movie
Joe vs Carole
2022TV
Joe 'Exotic' Schreibvogel
Yellowjackets
2021TV
Caligula
John Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask: Nation of One
2021Movie
John Cameron Mitchell
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
2020Movie
Self
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
2020Movie
Self
Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time
2020TV
Self
The Spark: The Origins of Pride
2019Movie
Self
Shrill
2019TV
Gabe
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
2017Movie
Punk (uncredited)
The Good Fight
2017TV
Felix Staples
My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
2016Movie
Brent Daniels (voice)
Vinyl
2016TV
Andy Warhol
Larry Kramer In Love & Anger
2015Movie
Himself
Danny Says
2015Movie
Self
The Hooping Life
2014Movie
Himself
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014TV
Self - Guest
Mozart in the Jungle
2014TV
Egon
Girls
2012TV
David Pressler-Goings
Indie Sex
2007TV
Self
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
2007Movie
Himself
Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus'
2007Movie
Himself
Shortbus
2006Movie
Sextra (one of the participants in the orgy sequence)
Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig
2006Movie
Self
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
2006Movie
Self
Apparition of the Eternal Church
2006Movie
Self
The House of Venus Show
2005TV
Self
Whether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig
2003Movie
Self
Totally Gay!
2003Movie
Self
Lance Loud!: A Death in An American Family
2003Movie
Self (uncredited)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2001Movie
Hedwig
I Remember
1999Movie
Joe
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
1998Movie
Hedwig Robinson/Tommy Gnosis
David Searching
1997Movie
Man with Fruit
Party Girl
1996TV
Derrick
Girl 6
1996Movie
Rob
Daybreak
1993Movie
Lennie
The Dreamer of Oz
1990Movie
Albert
Law & Order
1990TV
Eddie
Book of Love
1990Movie
Floyd
Misplaced
1989Movie
Jacek
It's a Miserable Life
1988Movie
Byran Ross
Freddy's Nightmares
1988TV
Bryan Ross
A Friendship in Vienna
1988Movie
Tommi Lowberg
The Stepford Children
1987Movie
Kenny
One More Saturday Night
1986Movie
Teenager #2
Band of the Hand
1986Movie
J.L.
MacGyver
1985TV
Aaron
The Twilight Zone
1985TV
Tom (segment "The Last Defender of Camelot")
The Equalizer
1985TV
Ed Donahue
The Roommate
1984Movie
Calvin Fitch
American Playhouse
1982TV
Calvin Fitch, 1st Android (segment 'Teach 109'), Jacek Nowak
Broadway: The Next Generation
Movie
Self
Ron Forever
Movie
Ron