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Mitch Vogel
Born	January 17, 1956 (1956-01-17) (age 54) Alhambra, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967 – 1978

Mitch Vogel (born January 17, 1956) is a United States former child actor who left show business as an adult. Vogel was best known in his role as Jamie Hunter Cartwright, an orphan taken in by the Cartwright men and later adopted on the Bonanza TV-series.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Alhambra, California, U.S., Vogel was a lanky, freckle-faced, blue-eyed and red-haired unassuming youth.

Vogel's acting career commenced at age 12 in the 1968 film comedy Yours, Mine and Ours, as one of Lucille Ball's and Henry Fonda's brood. The very next year he reached the pinnacle of his film career with The Reivers. He played the role of Lucius in the film adaptation of the William Faulkner coming-of-age novel. The film won both Vogel and star Steve McQueen Golden Globe nominations.

Acting career

With established success, Vogel became a popular guesting on TV and in 1970 joined the already classic western series Bonanza. Vogel completed a two-year stint on the show playing the character of Jamie Hunter, an orphan taken in and adopted by the Cartwrights. His casting brought a new dimension of youth to the cast, as Michael Landon, at age 34, was a bit too old to be receiving fatherly guidance by patriarch Ben. When the series ended in 1972, Vogel had developed a friendship with Landon and went on to appear in Landon's Little House on the Prairie series years later.

Disney also took an interest in Vogel, with his "Tom Sawyer"-like homespun appeal. He appeared in lead roles in 1970s Menace on the Mountain (TV) and The Boy from Dead Man's Bayou (TV) in 1971.

Vogel continued to be seen in several outdoors series such as episodes of Here Come the Brides, Gunsmoke and several others.

Personal life

By the time he reached adulthood, Vogel led a life away from the limelight. Today he still lives in the Southern California area. He is married with two daughters.

He has spent time directing and appearing in church plays, as well as singing in a band.

Recent activity

Mitch Vogel returned to Bonanza's locations for the Travel Channel's TV Road Trip in 2002, in which he narrated a look at the Ponderosa Ranch in Incline Village, near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. More recently in 2004, Vogel was featured in an interview in Bonanza Gold magazine, and participated in the 2005 Bonanza Convention.

See also

• Bonanza
• Ponderosa Ranch

References

• The New York Times / Mitch Vogel
• TV Land Biography / Mitch Vogel
• Bonanza Biography: Mitch Vogel
• Bonanza: Scenery Of The Ponderosa

External links

• Mitch Vogel at the Internet Movie Database