Aleta Mitchell, 1952 – 2026

Stage and screen actress Aleta Mitchell, 74, died on April 14. Mitchell played Dussie Mae in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom on Broadway, and appeared in Off-Broadway and regional productions of such plays Distracted, Ohio State Murders, and Intimate Apparel. She had roles in the films The Serpent and the Rainbow, Valmont, Malcolm X, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and the upcoming Morning Into Night, and was on TV’s The Cosby Show, Law & Order, and The Equalizer. Her family wrote that she “was known for her kindness, her radiant smile, her regal presence and her ebullient spirit. She could light up any room. From an early age, she knew that acting was her passion.”