Carol Mitchell-Leon

News Obituary Article

In any role, 'her honesty was to the bone'

By WENDELL BROCK

She could be fierce and intimidating onstage, coquettish and fun in real life. Her adoring students called her Mama Leon. Her acting colleagues remember how she'd wear street clothes under her costumes so she could bolt minutes after her bow.

Carol Mitchell-Leon --- Atlanta actress, director, educator and wife of theater luminary Kenny Leon during his reign at the Alliance Theatre --- is being remembered this week as a consummate artist and unwavering friend.

Mitchell-Leon, who had suffered from kidney problems for nearly two decades, died on Monday at Piedmont Hospital. Though many in the theater community were aware of Mitchell-Leon's medical issues, no doubt others were caught off guard by the demise of Atlanta's favorite leading lady.

It was not widely known that the actress had a kidney transplant in 1990. More recently, she suffered from complications related to a November 2007 surgery. During that procedure, her heart stopped beating for 13 minutes, and doctors said she would never regain consciousness.

But the actress's friends and former students used the Internet to stir up a prayer effort that circled the globe. When Mitchell-Leon opened her eyes that morning of Thanksgiving 2007, her acquaintances declared it a miracle.

"She fought all the way to the end," Leon said. "But I think near the end she was tired and definitely at peace."

On Wednesday night, Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth dedicated her production of "Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL" to her dear friend. "Carol, we love you. We miss you. And we will do our best."

Theatergoers will remember Mitchell-Leon's deep connection with the plays of August Wilson, which became a vehicle for her during the decade that Leon ran the Alliance. From 1987 to 1998, they were the undeniable first couple of Atlanta theater. Her sunny smile was the perfect complement to his towering personality.

Arriving in Atlanta in the mid-'70s to study at Clark Atlanta University, the Philadelphia native became a favorite of director Frank Wittow at the Academy Theatre. Thereafter, she became an iconic figure in the cultural landscape of the city.

As an actress, she was impossible to pigeonhole. She did experimental work by Suzan-Lori Parks and new plays by Atlantan Pearl Cleage. She did classics: Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner," Alice Childress' "Trouble in Mind" and Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance," to name a few.

No matter the role, "you always believed her," says Jessica Phelps West, a friend and colleague. "Her honesty was to the bone."

Mitchell-Leon extolled her students to live a "useful life," and she was an excellent role model. "She felt like she was on the planet more to teach than to act," Leon said.

She shied away from interviews and insisted on her privacy, admitting that it was easier to slip under the skin of a character than tell her own story.

Even her age remained a mystery. In a 2005 interview with the AJC, Mitchell-Leon claimed to be "40-ish." But her birth certificate stated that she was born on April 27, 1951. Her driver's license claimed she was born in 1953.

Underneath the actress's twitchy and intense onstage demeanor was a spirited, fun-loving woman who savored good food and good company.

"Carol and I had a standing date for lunch two days before Christmas," Booth says. "We got dressed up, went somewhere elegant and cleared the whole day, because we'd need it. And it was the best gift of the season, those hours."

In an interview, the actress once said that her biggest pet peeve was negativity, "which is the thing that probably causes more trouble in the world than anything."

Debi Frye Barber, Mitchell-Leon's legal and medical guardian, says a "bon voyage party" will be announced later. Donations to the Carol Mitchell-Leon Memorial Scholarship Fund can be sent to Barber at 3028 St. Andrews Court, Lake Spivey, GA 30236.

The body was cremated Thursday afternoon --- but not before an e-mail was sent out to the community, requesting a moment of silent prayer.

© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution