John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is based on the stage musical of the same name. He also portrayed the role of Joe Exotic in the Peacock limited series Joe vs. Carole in 2022.
For other people with similar names, see John Cameron (disambiguation), John Mitchell (disambiguation), and Cameron Mitchell (disambiguation).
John Cameron Mitchell
Actor, playwright, screenwriter, film director
1983–present
Early years[edit]
Mitchell was born in El Paso, Texas and was raised on a variety of military bases in places like Kansas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Germany. His father, John Henderson Mitchell, was a U.S. Army major general and the U.S. Commander of West Berlin from 1984 to 1988. His mother, Joan Cameron Mitchell, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, immigrated to the United States as a young woman to become an art teacher. John had three younger brothers: Christopher Lloyd, Colin Mackenzie, and Samuel Latham. Samuel Latham Mitchell died in 1977.[1] He attended Catholic schools for most of his youth including St. Xavier High School in Junction City, Kansas, and St. Pius X High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, graduating from the latter in 1981. Mitchell's first stage role was as the Virgin Mary in a Nativity musical staged at a Scottish Benedictine boys' boarding school, Carlekemp Priory Prep School, when Mitchell was 11 years old. He studied theater at Northwestern University from 1981 to 1985, but did not graduate.[2]
Personal life[edit]
In 1985, at the age of 22, Mitchell came out as gay to his family and friends.[4] He came out publicly in a 1992 New York Times profile.[3] His subsequent writing has often explored sexuality and gender. He is a Radical Faerie. Mitchell's experiences with the group influenced the making of Shortbus.[26] Along with Shortbus stars PJ DeBoy and Paul Dawson and performance artists Amber Martin and Angela Di Carlo, he is a co-founder and DJ of the long-running New York City monthly party "Mattachine," named after the early American gay rights organization Mattachine Society.[27] In 2022, he came out as non-binary,[28] and continues to use he/him pronouns.[29]
Formerly a resident of Manhattan, as of 2023, Mitchell now lives in New Orleans.[30][31]