Robert Mitchum – aka ‘Mr Bad Taste’, ‘Trouble Himself’, ‘The Man with the Immoral Face’, ‘Daddy Bad’ – was the original Hollywood bad-boy and one of the greatest screen actors of the twentieth century. But his pre-fame life is cloaked in mystery, the truth hidden within conflicting tales of time spent as a Depression-era hobo, prizefighter, escaped felon – and secret poet.

Writer and broadcaster lloyd robson trailed the Eastern Seaboard in search of Mitchum, his poetry, America, a surrogate father, and how to be a man. Oh Dad! is the result – a boozy, drug-fuelled attempt to define masculinity in the modern age and to match the standards set by the ultimate man and the personification of Film Noir, Robert Mitchum.

‘Of all the post-war actors – Douglas, Lancaster, Widmark – only Mitchum figured out how to be a man’s man and a woman’s man at the same time.’
— Carrie Rickey, film critic

Already the basis for a successful radio programme — the Sunday Telegraph radio choice of the day — Oh Dad! was broadcast by BBC Radio 4, June 2007.

lloyd robson was born in Wales, started life as a journalist, writes and performs poetry and takes photographs. He wrote Cardiff Cut and Bbboing! (both published by Parthian). He lives in Cardiff.