Actors - Mitr Chaibancha

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	Actors - Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha (Thai มิตร ชัยบัญชา, born January 28, 1934 in Phetchaburi, Thailand) was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970.

He died on October 8, 1970 at Dongtan (Sugar Palm) Beach, Pattaya, after falling from a helicopter during the filming of a stunt for the last scene of Insee Thong (Golden Eagle).

At the height of his career in the 1960s, the tall, heroic Mitr, along with his perfectly-coiffured, doe-eyed leading lady, Petchara Chaowarat, made a string of hit films that packed cinemas. Of the 75 to 100 films produced each year by the Thai film industry during this period, Mitr starred in nearly half of them.

Early life

Mitr was born was born into poverty as Pichet Pumhem. At age 8 he and his mother moved to Bangkok where he was enrolled in a Thai boxing school. He became a lightweight boxing champion for his school in 1952, and went on to win two lightweight division titles. After finishing secondary school he studied at Pranakhon College. He was then accepted into the Royal Thai Air Force aviation school, where he was trained as a pilot. After graduation, he worked as a flight instructor at Don Muang Military Airbase.

In 1956 some friends showed his photograph to journalist Kingkaew Kaewprasert, who introduced him to Surat Pukkawet, the editor of a movie magazine. Before long he starred in his very first film, Chart Sua (Tiger Instinct). It was then that he decided to change his name from Pichet Pumhem to Mitr Chaibancha. He caught the attention of movie fans after starring in Chao Nakleng using the character name Rom Ritthikrai from author Sake Dusit's Insee Daeng (Red Eagle) series of novels.

He was married 1959 to his first wife, Jaruwan. In 1961 a son, Yuthana, or Ton, was born. The marriage didn't last long and ended in a divorce.

Height of fame

In 1961 he starred in Banthuk Rak Pimchawee (Love Diary of Pimchawee, his first film with Petchara Chaowarat. This was the beginning of the most celebrated hero-heroine partnerships in Thai cinematic history. The Mitr-Petchara team made around 165 films together.

One of the pair's most famous films was 1970's Mon Rak Lookthung (Magical Love of the Countryside), a musical romantic comedy rhapsodizing Thai rural life.

Mitr was an extremely busy actor and was always on the move, going from set to set and sleeping as little as a two or three hours per night.

Another of his best-known movies, Pet Tad Pet (Operation Bangkok), was shot in both Bangkok and Hong Kong, and featured Kecha Plianvitheee and Luecha Naruenart as the bad guys, as well as Hong Kong's top actress, Regina Piping.

Mon Rak Lookthung was one of Mitr's last films. It played in Bangkok cinemas for a solid six months in 1970 and took in 6 million baht, its popularity spurred by the best-selling soundtrack album and Mitr's accidental death while filming Insee Thong.

His last film

Insee Thong was the first film that Mitr produced himself, and it featured the return of his popular character, the masked crime-fighter, Insee Daeng (Red Eagle), the secret alter ego of alcoholic detective Rom Rittikrai.

On the last day of shooting, the script called for Mitr, having vanquished the bad guys, to fly off into the sunset in a helicopter. As the camera rolled, Mitr leapt from the ground to grab the rope ladder hanging from the aircraft. The helicopter flew higher and higher and Mitr lost his grip and fell to the ground. The accident was all caught on film and was actually left in the final theatrical release. The fatal drop has since been removed from DVD versions of the film, with Mitr simply flying off into the distance, and some text onscreen, paying tribute to the star.

It was another death that would make 1970 a difficult year for Thai film, as just months earlier, pioneering director Rattana Pestonji collapsed while giving a speech to urge government officials to support the domestic film industry. He died just hours later.

Mitr’s death was ruled as an accident. For safety, there should have been two takes for that final scene. The first would be of Mitr grabbing the ladder and flying off at low altitude. Then, a stunt double would have performed the second shot at higher altitude.

Funeral and memorial shrine

For his funeral, the streets leading to the Buddhist temple were packed, with tens of thousands of people trying to attend his cremation rites. On the DVD of Insee Thong, one of the special features is footage from the cremation ceremony. Mitr's body is held up so the throngs of onlookers could catch a glimpse of the dead star.

A memorial shrine to Mitr is situated on a small street in Jomtien Beach, near Pattaya, off Jomtien Road in front of the Banglamung District Revenue Department, behind Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel. Inside the spirit house is a statue of Mitr holding a gun in his hand, reminiscent of his numerous roles as an action movie star. The walls are lined with photographs of him together with other action stars.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mitr Chaibancha ]

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