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From Ed and Brothers to NCIS: New Orleans, you may recognize Daryl Mitchell. One of the busiest actors with a spinal cord injury in Hollywood, he’s been working in the industry since 1990. But he hasn’t always been a wheelchair-user. Paralyzed in a motorcycle accident in 2001, he amazingly didn’t let his injury derail his career. Instead, he went on to audition for different roles, and his career began an upwards trajectory. Read on for Daryl’s story.
Why He’s Fearless
Daryl was a busy actor before his injury for 10 years. Being naturally funny, he was cast in dozens of TV shows and movies in the 1990’s, including The Cosby Show, Law and Order, The John Larroquette Show, 10 Things I Hate About You, Galaxy Quest and Home Fries. The first film he appeared in was House Party in 1990. Simply put, Daryl was one busy guy.
And his personal life was at an amazing peak. Daryl was married in 1998 and he and his wife went on to have 3 children. Sadly, while riding his motorcycle in 2001, Daryl hit loose gravel and wiped out, breaking his back. Becoming a paraplegic at a time when he had young children and a rising career…Daryl was not in the least interested in giving up because he now used a wheelchair.
After going home after his injury, Daryl was quick to back into his industry, and that included figuring out how to use his wheelchair to his advantage when it came to his career. And that strategy? Go out and audition for roles he would shine in. And if they don’t exist, make them exist.
In 2002, he landed the role of “Eli” on Ed, playing a bar owner with a spinal cord injury. And after smaller roles on TV shows such as Eve, The Suite Life of the Zack and Cody and The Game, Daryl has an ongoing part on the TV show, Brothers, where he played a paraplegic who was once a successful football player, along with Michael Strachan, playing his brother. Daryl won a 2010 NAACP award for an Outstanding Male performance in a Comedy Series for this role.
After Brothers, Daryl was in an episode of Desperate Housewives in 2010, and then the TV show Traffic Light in 2011. In 2012, he was on The Cleveland Show, an animated show where showed off his voice skills, and then continued to be busy working on TV shows such as See Dad Run, Lifeline and F is for Family. In 2014, he landed one of the biggest roles of his career playing “Patton” on the TV show NCIS: New Orleans. He was in 143 episodes of this series, lasting 7 seasons. Daryl also played “Wendell” in Fear the Walking Dead for 15 episodes, from 2018 to 2021.
What’s Next?
Wanting to help the spinal cord injury community, Daryl founded The Daryl Mitchell Foundation shortly after his injury. Although the foundation is no longer active, it was an organization that was dedicated to helping minorities with spinal cord injuries get the resources they need to live a full life after their injury. We hope to see this special foundation up and running again soon.
When Daryl is not on-set, he enjoys the quiet life with his wife in Georgia. They have 3 grown children.
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