AMC Loses Beloved Actor

The beloved James Mitchell (Palmer Cortlandt) passed away last night of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, complicated by pneumonia. He was 89 years old.






Here's a little walk down Palmer's memory lane:

One of the first storylines I remember with Palmer was his desire to keep his daughter Nina from marrying the young handsome doctor Cliff Warner. He pulled out all the stops to make that happen, but in the end, he failed.



The Daisy/Palmer love story was stuff of legend. She was his housekeepers daughter but soon after the birth of their daughter Nina, Daisy felt crowded and confined by her overbearing husband. She had an affair and was then forbidden to return to Cortlandt Manor. But she came back under and assumed name, Monique Jonvil and befriended her own daughter.



In 1981, Palmer married ex-hooker Donna Beck. Palmer wanted to transform the young woman from tart to socialite, but Donna could only thinking of having a child, unaware that her new husband was sterile. Then on a ski trip, Donna was trapped with ex-husband Chuck and the two made love, resulting in pregnancy. Palmer knew immediately that his wife had been unfaithful. Palmer divorced Donna and remarried Daisy.




Again divorced from Daisy, Palmer became smitten with Natalie Hunter who had nursed him back to health after a near fatal gunshot wound. What he didn't know was that Natalie was carrying on an affair with Palmer's son Ross. But when Ross broke things off with Natalie telling her he wanted to make his marriage with Ellen work, she proposed to Palmer on the rebound.



Having never learned his lesson from trying to break up Cliff and Nina, Palmer tried the stunt again, this time with Tad and Dixie. He hired Tad's mother Opal to break up the lovebirds. Opal succeeded but decided she wanted to marry Palmer! With Daisy's help, Opal was transformed into a lady that Palmer would actually notice. They two fell in love and wed a short time later. Despite his previous sterility, the two had a child together, Petey.



In 1993 after some bad business investments, Palmer lost all his money! But it was Opal who saved the millionaire from the poorhouse. Using her families secret recipe for Purdified Chicken, they opened the Cluck Cluck Chicken Shack and made his fortune back!


Unfortunately during this time, he had an affair with Janet Green who was working on his books at the time. He regretted it and tried to break it off, but Janet blackmailed him so Palmer agreed to her demands to save his marriage. But alas, it was destined to end as well.

In 2000, Palmer began a dalliance with Vanessa Bennett. Palmer loved how his new relationship made Opal jealous, but he had no idea what he was in for. Murder, deception, drug dealing and blackmail all became part of his marriage to Vanessa!


Read more in the PVB's biography of Palmer Cortlandt!