Duke Mitchell

Duke Mitchell was an American actor, comedian, crooner, and independent film director. Born Dominic Salvatore Miceli in Farrell, Pennsylvania, he teamed with comic Sammy Petrillo in 1951 for a nightclub act built around Mitchell's singing and Petrillo's physical comedy. The pair starred in the jungle comedy Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952), and Mitchell also had a small role in Sailor Beware (1952). After the two split, he continued performing in nightclubs across cities including New York, Las Vegas, Seattle, Palm Springs, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In 1960 he supplied the singing voice for Fred Flintstone in two episodes of The Flintstones. He later began directing and starring in self-financed independent gangster films, including Massacre Mafia Style (1974) and Gone with the Pope (1976), both of which later attracted a cult following. Gone with the Pope was restored and released in theaters in 2011, and Massacre Mafia Style was restored on Blu-ray in 2015.