Herb Mitchell’s story about becoming a successful commercial actor in Los Angeles goes this way. Back in the 1970s, Mitchell was working as a stockbroker in Bangor. He was bored with his job and stuck in a rut. His best friend, Gus, was pulling the curtain for a local theater ensemble in Ellsworth and persuaded Mitchell to join the group. Mitchell was an athlete, not an actor, in high school, and he found the theatrical scene foreign, but he signed on. Soon he took a role in a play, but when he tripped making his entrance and the audience broke into uncontrollable laughter, Mitchell vowed to stay away from the stage. He began doing administrative work instead, and eventually became president of the organization. It was fun enough.

Then he agreed to be the point man during auditions for a community production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” With clipboard in hand, Mitchell corralled more than 100 community members trying out for roles in the show. At the end of the tryouts, Bill Raiten, the director, felt none of the auditioners had the right sensitivity to play Tevya, the charismatic narrator and lead of “Fiddler.” Raiten tapped Mitchell on the shoulder. “You read,” Raiten demanded. “I can’t read,” said Mitchell, recoiling. But he did. He pronounced the character’s name TEVEE instead of TEVIAH, and generally had no idea how to play the role of a poor Jewish milkman living in a shtetl in czarist Russia. “You’re right; you can’t read,” Raiten told him. “Go audition for the music director.” “I can’t sing,” said Mitchell. But he did. “You’re right. You can’t sing either,” said the music director. At which point, Raiten said: “You’re hired.”

These days, Mitchell and Raiten tell the story the same way. They both like adding that the show started the stirrings of a theatrical bug Mitchell caught that would eventually lead him to quit his stockbroker job in the 1980s, leave his wife and four children, and head to California to pursue an acting career. Mitchell had some success onstage in Los Angeles, but his most notable TV roles include the commercial spokesman for the Dean Witter investment banking company (which was spoofed on “Saturday Night Live”) and seven seasons in the recurring role of Judge Rodney White in the TV legal drama “The Practice.” He has also had guest-starring roles on “Cheers,” “ER,” “Chicago Hope” and “Boston Legal.”

Now, more than 25 years after playing Tevya and accruing a long list of TV and film credits, Mitchell is working with Raiten again. For the next four weekends, he will perform with the New Surry Theater in productions of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” (July 28-30 and Aug. 4-6) and John Guare’s “The House of Blue Leaves” (Aug. 11-13 and 18-20) at Ellsworth High School.

“I’m loving it,” said Mitchell, who grew up in Bar Harbor and now lives in Blue Hill. He stills returns occasionally to California for work but because of health problems – he has beaten three kinds of cancer – Mitchell is primarily retired.

Though both plays are serious drama. Mitchell, as Eddie Carbone in the Miller work and a smaller role in “Blue Leaves,” said he finds stage acting relaxing.

For Raiten, having his old student and friend in the cast has inspired the other actors. And although the two men have stayed in touch over the years – they took a concert version of “Fiddler” to Russia in 1990 – Raiten wasn’t completely sure that he would find Mitchell easy to direct. After all, Raiten typically works with young students, at-risk teens and amateurs who ascribe to his particular training methods. Mitchell, despite the long years of friendship – the two men even sound alike – might nevertheless be a wild card.

“I was worried,” said Raiten. “I hadn’t worked with Herb for a long time, and I like to train the actors I work with. I’m not known for auditioning very much. I knew Herb was trained for movies and television, where you hit the mark and leave.”

Here, Raiten paused and laughed.

“I didn’t have to worry one bit,” he continued. “Herb understands acting and theater. He finds the reason for every work and patiently finds out who the character is. Back when he read for Tevya, the joke was that he couldn’t read or sing. So he got the part. But when he was reading, I knew he had the sensitivity and understanding. Slowly he became the man. It was an exciting process for both of us. And now, it’s marvelous to work with him again.”

Growing up in Maine, Mitchell said, he didn’t have worldly views, and his early days in California offered a quick lesson about making the grade in cut-throat acting competitions. He likes to tell stories about being too naive to see opportunities when they landed in front of him or being dressed down by slick Hollywood agents who waved their cigars to make a point. Working in Bangor or managing a Bar Harbor restaurant owned by his brother didn’t teach him how to promote himself and be confident. Yet he landed on his feet – particularly with the lucrative Dean Witter role in which he repeatedly delivered the lines: “We measure success. One investor at a time.”

Now, Mitchell is proud of his Maine roots, which have drawn him back to the area for good. He wants to be closer to his children, including an 11-year daughter who lives with Mitchell’s second wife in Massachusetts.

In speaking of the mingling of a rural upbringing, the movie business scene, and his own reflection on the choices he made, Mitchell recalled an exchange years ago with an agent who he was hoping would represent him. The agent told Mitchell he didn’t have a chance in the biz if he didn’t change his name and lose his heavy Maine accent.

“I told him: I’m not going to change my name, and I’m not going to lose my accent,” said Mitchell. “If I do either one of those things, I’m not going to know who I am. One thing I got from Maine was strength of character. I’m proud to be a Maniac.”

New Surry Theater will present “A View from the Bridge,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday July 29-Aug. 6, and “The House of Blue Leaves,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday Aug. 11-20 at Ellsworth High School. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. A discount applies if you buy tickets for both shows. For information, call 374-5556.