Acting career

Mitchum believes his Hollywood career was adversely affected by the fact that he was politically conservative and a co-actor friend of John Wayne, a conservative actor and movie star icon, and that he was forced to pursue a career in Europe in later years because of this alleged bias during the Vietnam War.

In 1971, Mitchum won Photoplay's Gold Medal Award and was picked by Box Office magazine as one of the top five stars of the future along with Ryan O'Neal. But everything suddenly came to a screeching halt after that major role in Wayne's Big Jake.
"I went 11 months without one interview," Mitchum recalls—a time when the film industry was buzzing with projects. Finally, the casting director on the comedy Steelyard Blues gave him the heads up. "You worked with John Wayne, I can't even interview you," he told Mitchum.

— interview with Chris Mitchum, March 31, 2012,

Filmography

• Chisum (1970)
• Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970)
• Bigfoot (1970)
• Rio Lobo (1970)
• H-Bomb as Eddie (1971)
• Big Jake (1971)
• Cactus in the Snow (1971)
• Summertime Killer as Ray Castor (1972)
• A Time for Love (1973)
• Murder in a Blue World (1973) as David
• Ricco the Mean Machine (1973) as Ricco
• Bloody Sun (1974) (aka "Blue Jeans & Dynamite")
• Cosa Nostra Asia (1974)
• Once (1974)
• Master Samurai (1974) (aka "The Agency")
• Chinese Commandos (1975) (Was Never Finished/Made)
• The Last Hard Men (1976)
• Flight to Holocaust (1977)
• Stingray (1978) as Al
• One Man Jury (1978)
• Desperate Target (1980) (aka "Escape from Russia")
• Tusk (1980)
• A Rumor of War (1980)
• The Day Time Ended (1980)
• Ritoru Champion (1981) (aka "My Champion")
• Commander Firefox (1983)
• Magnum P.I. (1984) ("1 Episode")
• The Executioner, Part II (1984)
• Hijacked to Hell (1984) (aka "No Time to Die")
• The Serpent Warriors (1985)
• Rocky IV (1985- uncredited) as Russian Guard
• Promises to Keep (1985)
• Final Score (1986)
• American Commandos (1986)
• SFX Retaliator (1987)
• Death Feud (1987) (aka "Savage Harbor")
• Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil (1987)
• Faceless (1987) (aka "Les Predateurs de la Nuit")
• Angel of Death (1987) (aka "Commando Mengele")
• Columbian Connection (aka "Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil)
• Gummibärchen küßt man nicht (1989)
• We Are Seven (1989-93) ("13 Episodes")
• American Hunter (1990) (aka "Lethal Hunter")
• Aftershock (1990)
• Magic Kid (1993)
• Jungle of Fear (1993)
• Body Count (1995)
• Biohazard: The Alien Force (1995)
• Striking Point (1995)
• Lethal Cowboy (1995)
• Jimi (1996)
• Countdown to Disaster (1996) (aka "Lethal Orbit")
• Fugitive X: Innocent Target (1996)
• Lethal Seduction (1997)
• Love and War II: The Final Showdown (1998)
• Night of Terror (1999)
• Lycanthrope (1999)
• Diamondbacks (1999)
• Soul Searchers (2006)
• Goy (2011)
• Santa's Summer House (2012)

State and federal office candidacies

Mitchum has run once for the California State Assembly (35th District), and twice for the U.S. House of Representatives (California's 24th District). Since January 1, 2011, under California law, candidates are voter-nominated for state and federal offices; political parties cannot nominate candidates for office.

California Assembly

In 1998, Mitchum was the Republican nominee in the general election for the California State Assembly in the 35th district, which included portions of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, where he served on the Republican Central Committee (1998-2000). His opponents were Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson and Natural Law Party candidate Eric Dahl. Mitchum came in second behind Jackson with 44.5 percent of the vote to Jackson's 53 percent.

U.S. Congress

In 2012, Mitchum ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican candidate in California's 24th district (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and part of Ventura counties), challenging incumbent Democrat Congresswoman Lois Capps. In the June 5, 2012 primary, he came in third, behind Republican Abel Maldonado and Capps, and ahead of Independent candidate Matt Boutté.

In 2014, Mitchum ran again for the U.S. congressional seat held by Representative Capps. He won the June 3, 2014, primary (running alongside four other Republicans, two additional Democrats, and an Independent candidate), coming in second behind Capps with 15.8 percent of the vote, and narrowly defeating Republican Justin Fareed by slightly over 600 votes. In the November 4 general election, Mitchum received 48.1 percent of the vote to Capps's 51.9 percent, in the closest race of Capps's entire congressional career.

Despite the close margin by which Mitchum lost to Capps, as well as the announcement that Capps would retire in 2016, Mitchum ultimately declined a third run for the same seat again, and instead endorsed Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian for the race to succeed Capps.

Election statistics

California State Assembly, 35th District: 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hannah-Beth Jackson	67,224	53.03
	Republican	Chris Mitchum	56,382	44.48
	Natural Law	Eric Dahl	3,151	2.49
Invalid or blank votes			7,602	5.66
Total votes			135,359	100.00

U.S. House of Representatives, California, 24th District: 2012
Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lois Capps (incumbent)	72,356	46.4
	Republican	Abel Maldonado	46,295	29.7
	Republican	Chris Mitchum	33,604	21.5
	No party preference	Matt Boutté	3,832	2.5
Total votes			156,087	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Lois Capps (incumbent)	156,749	55.1
	Republican	Abel Maldonado	127,746	44.9
Total votes			284,495	100.0

U.S. House of Representatives, California, 24th District: 2014
Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lois Capps (incumbent)	58,198	43.7
	Republican	Chris Mitchum	21,059	15.8
	Republican	Justin Donald Fareed	20,445	15.3
	Republican	Dale Francisco	15,575	11.7
	Republican	Bradley Allen	9,268	7.0
	Democratic	Sandra Marshall	4,646	3.5
	Democratic	Paul H. Coyne, Jr.	2,144	1.6
	No party preference	Steve Isakson	1,249	0.9
	Republican	Alexis Stuart	678	0.5
Total votes			133,263	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Lois Capps (incumbent)	103,228	51.9
	Republican	Chris Mitchum	95,566	48.1
Total votes			198,794	100.0

Philanthropic positions

Mitchum has served on several organizations'boards of directors and has been a fundraiser for a number of charities.

• Hollywood Benefit Horse Show, advisory board, 1996-present
• ZONA SECA, Board of Director, 2011-present
• Community Outreach for Prevention and Education chairman and honorary chairman, 1998-present
• Liberty Program—gang-member rehabilitation program—board member, Santa Barbara, 1999-2001
• Criminal Advisory Board for Fighting Back, Santa Barbara, 1999-2004
• Public Policy Advisory Board for Fighting Back, Santa Barbara, 1999-2004
• Board of directors, Police Activities League, Santa Barbara, 1999-2001
• Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Commission, chairman, for the governor's Office, State of California, OCJP January 1999
• Autistic Treatment Center "Roundup of Autism": Honorary Advisory Council: 1994-2002
• North American Riding for the Handicapped Association Advisory Board: 1992-96
• Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Honorary Board 1988-92
• Santa Barbara International Film Festival, board of directors: one-year term, 1987
• Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera: founding chairman of the "Star Circle" fund-raiser, 1989

[ Source: Wikipedia ]