Biography

Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four children of George Mitchell, an electronics engineer, and his wife Lillian, a school administrator. Mitchell grew up at various U.S. military bases overseas, where his father was a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy. As a teenager, he lived in San Diego, California, where he began acting in school musicals.

Mitchell's Broadway credits include Mail (1988), an all-black revival of George and Ira Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (1990), Jelly's Last Jam (1992) based on the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton, Kander and Ebb's Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993), Ragtime (1998), the 1999 revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, King Hedley II (2001) and Man of La Mancha (2002). He appeared in the City Center Encores! productions of Jule Styne's Do Re Mi (1999), Bob Merrill's Carnival! (2002), and Kismet (2006), and in the title role in the 2002 Kennedy Center revival of Sweeney Todd, part of Stephen Sondheim's 70th birthday celebration.

Mitchell has a number of television and film credits, including the role of John Dolan in Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and a seven-year stint as Dr. Justin 'Jackpot' Jackson on Trapper John, M.D. from 1979 to 1986. Mitchell made several appearances as a celebrity panelist on episodes of $25,000 Pyramid and $100,000 Pyramid in the 1980s. He played recurring roles as Hilary Banks' news anchor fiancé Trevor Newsworthy/Collins on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and on Frasier as Dr. Frasier Crane's neighbor and nemesis Cam Winston. He supplied the singing voice of Jethro in the animated feature The Prince of Egypt (1998). He guest starred in March 2010 in Ugly Betty as Wilhelmina Slater's ex boyfriend, Don.

He has also done voice-overs for animation including Animaniacs, Capitol Critters, Tiny Toon Adventures, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Further Adventures of SuperTed, Kid 'n Play, The New Kids on the Block, Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Gravedale High, Potsworth & Co., Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Tom and Jerry Kids Show, Yo Yogi!, Fantastic Max, Pound Puppies, The Addams Family, California Raisins, The Angry Beavers, James Bond Jr., Batman: The Animated Series, Paddington Bear, Pinky and the Brain, Defenders of Dynatron City, The Hot Rod Dogs and Cool Car Cats, Droopy, Master Detective, Denver, the Last Dinosaur, Mighty Max, Don Coyote & Sancho Panda and the two Flintstones animated movies Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby and I Yabba-Dabba Do!.

On June 9, 2005, Mitchell appeared in a concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, at Carnegie Hall. He starred as Emile, alongside Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush and Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis. The production was taped and telecast by PBS on April 26, 2006.

Prior to Ragtime, he had been known professionally as Brian Mitchell. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Actor's Fund, and his debut solo CD Brian Stokes Mitchell was released on June 6, 2006 on Playbill Records. Mitchell has also performed in a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

In the fall of 2010, Mitchell returned to Broadway to star along with Patti LuPone in the musical version of the Pedro Almodóvar film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

He appeared on the 57th episode of Glee, titled "Heart," and the 58th, entitled "On My Way," as one of Rachel's dads along with Jeff Goldblum.

Personal life

He has been married to actress Allyson Tucker since 1994 and has a son, Ellington.

Awards and nominations

• 2003 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical Man of La Mancha (nominee)
• 2001 Tony Award Best Actor in a Play King Hedley II (nominee)
• 2000 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical Kiss Me Kate (winner)
• 1998 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical Ragtime (nominee)

Discography

Brian Stokes Mitchell, June 6, 2006

Track listing

1. Something's Coming (West Side Story)
2. The Best Is Yet to Come (Cy Coleman)
3. Pretty Women (Sweeney Todd)
4. Just In Time (Bells are Ringing)
5. Lazy Afternoon (The Golden Apple)
6. Another Hundred People (Company)/Take the A Train
7. How Long Has This Been Going On? (Funny Face)
8. Life is Sweet (Wonderful Town)
9. Losing My Mind (Follies)
10. Being Alive (Company)
11. How Glory Goes (Floyd Collins)
12. Grateful

[ Source: Wikipedia ]