Trivia

Added "Stokes" to his name because there were too many Brian Mitchells running around. Stokes is his mother's maiden name.

Won Broadway's 2000 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for a revival of Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate." He has been Tony-nominated three other times: twice as Best Actor (Musical), in 1998 for portraying Colehouse Walker in "Ragtime" and in 2003 for playing the Cervantes/Don Quixote character in a revival of "Man of La Mancha;" and once as Best Actor (Play), in 2001 for August Wilson's "King Hedley II."

Born in Seattle, he grew up the youngest of four children in Navy bases in Guam and the Philippines. His father George, a former Tuskegee airman during WWII, was an electronics engineer; mother Lillian Stokes a policewoman and school administrator.

Mitchell's ethnic background is German, Scottish, African, and Native American.

Was a regular cast member on the medical drama series "Trapper John, M.D." with Pernell Roberts as a cocky intern. He also composed the musical scores for some of the show's episodes.

Went to high school with Annette Bening.

Began taking piano lessons at age six.

He was inducted into the 2016 American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Trained and first acted at the San Diego Junior Theater, making his debut in a production of "Godspell" in 1974 at the Old Globe.

Currently co-starring on Broadway with Patti Lupone and Sherie Rene Scott in the new musical version of the classic Pedro Almodovar film "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." It is set to open officially on Novermber 4. (October 2010)

He found work in the mid-to-late 1970s with the Twelfth Night Repertory Company as both actor and resident composer.

Was nominated for a 1998 Tony for "Best Actor in a Musical" for his portrayal of "Coalhouse Walker" opposite Audra McDonald.

It has been announced that he will play Cervantes and Don Quixote in an all-new staging of "Man of La Mancha", opposite Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Aldonza/Dulcinea. (2002)

Friends with Ben Vereen.

He was nominated for a 2001 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Actor in a Play for "King Hedley II" on Broadway in New York City.