Lizan Mitchell

Lizan Mitchell is an actress whose work spans Broadway, film, and television. She was raised in the Bluford, Dudley Heights, and Warnersville communities of Greensboro, North Carolina, and attended Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Elementary School, Notre Dame Catholic High School, and North Carolina A&T State University. Her first acting experience came at age seven, when she portrayed a witch in a children's play at Bennett College. During her high school years, Mitchell and other Black young people were arrested while protesting segregation practices in the community. She also encountered racial barriers within her integrated high school's theater program, where Black students were limited to roles as slaves, servants, or chorus members.

Mitchell's Broadway career extended from 1986 to 2022 and included several notable productions. She starred in Having Our Say and appeared in both Ohio State Murders and So Long on Lonely Street. Her performance in Having Our Say earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play in 2004. She also received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production.

On screen, Mitchell appeared in the films The Preacher's Wife, The Human Stain, Brother to Brother (2004), and The Final Patient (2005). Her television credits include the role of Clara in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and appearances on Guiding Light.