Brian Mitchell

Brian Stokes Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 31, 1959. He is the youngest of four children and, as his father was an electronics engineer working for the Navy, he spent much of his childhood moving around.
When Stokes (who now uses his full name professionally) was 14 the family settled in San Diego, and he began to appear in plays in his high school. Later he worked in theater and opera companies in San Diego. In love with both music and acting, he was not sure at that point what he wanted to do with his career.
In 1977, when he was 18, he moved to Los Angeles. He had been there only six months when he answered a casting ad in a magazine, and got his first break when he won a part in Roots: The Next Generation.
Two years later he was cast as young intern "Jackpot" Jackson in Trapper John, M.D. He stayed with the series for its full seven-year run, and by 1986 was quite well-known. He has little to say, however, about the Trapper John years, mentioning in an interview only that the show allowed him to buy a house in Los Angeles.
Ten years ago Stokes moved from television to the Broadway stage, in a musical called Mail. It had a short run, but was the beginning of an extremely successful career in musical theater. It was followed by a leading role in the remake of Oh, Kay!, then Jelly's Last Jam and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Today Stokes is working on his biggest role yet. He is playing the character of Coalhouse Walker in the incredibly successful musical version of Ragtime, for which he received a Tony nomination this year. He has also recently completed a voice-over role for an animated movie called Prince of Egypt, and is working on his first solo album.
Still only 39, Stokes is happily married to actress Alysson Tucker (who is also in the cast of Ragtime) and splits his time between New York and Los Angeles.
For more information, check out Brian Stokes Mitchell's Home Page.

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