James Mitchell, who was a regular of the ABC soap opera All My Children, died Friday January 23, 2010. Mitchell played the ruff but lovable Palmer Cortlandt, for nearly 30 years. He passed away Friday, after battling from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for years and a recent case of pneumonia was too much for the 89 year old actor. James Mitchell died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his partner, Albert Wolsky, by his side.

James Mitchell was born in Sacramento, California, on February 29, 1920.Mitchell attended Los Angles City College. Originally he studied drama, but was introduced to dance from choreographer, Lester Horton.

 During an Audition for Oklahoma! with Agnes de Mille, Agnes cried, “Stop, where did you get your dance training?” She cast him as a principle dancer and assistant choreographer.

In one of Agnes de Mille’s autobiographical books she said of Mitchell that he had “probably the strongest arms in the business, and the adagio style developed by him and his partners has become since a valued addition to ballet vocabulary.”

Mitchell worked consistently on stage up into the 1970s. Some of his credits include Oklahona!, Carnival! and Anne, Get Your Gun. Mitchell started doing various television roles in the 1950s. He started out doing a number of TV Movies and in 1964 he took a role on The Edge of Night, which was followed by Where the Heart Is.

In 1974 James Mitchell started teaching college courses at Julliard, Drake University and Yale. Five years later, Mitchell was hired to play businessman Palmer Cortlandt on All My Children. The role was only supposed to be for one year. However, he continued to play Palmer until his retirement on September 30, 2009. During his time on All My Children he appeared in over 300 episodes. His partner, Wolksy, said, “He loved playing mean. A soap gives an actor a chance to develop something because it goes on for so long.”

At this time, no official funeral plans have been announced. James Mitchell will be sorely missed by all his fans and the fans of All My Children.