Star Trek: Discovery Actor Dead At 49

Kenneth Mitchell first announced that he had been diagnosed with ALS in a 2020 interview with People magazine. There he shared that when the doctors gave him the news, he felt like an outsider watching a scene in a movie where a character has just been informed they have a terminal illness.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, currently has no known cure. While its advance can be slowed with treatment, it is a progressive neurodegenerative illness that causes muscle weakness, loss of physical function, and impacts nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

Throughout the first three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, Kenneth Mitchell played numerous characters. In the first two seasons, he played a variety of members of the Klingon race, namely Kol, and later Kol-Sha and Tenavik in the series’ second season.

In season 3, the progression of Mitchell’s disease was severely impacting his physical ability, so a character was made for him that could work around that. Aurellio was a character who utilized a hoverchair to get around, which helped disguise Mitchell’s real-life need for a wheelchair by that point in his life.

Outside of his TV work, Kenneth Mitchell had also done movie roles. Notable in recent years was his casting as Joseph Danvers, father of Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, in 2019’s major financial hit Captain Marvel.

His other TV roles include being on shows like CBS’ Jericho where he portrayed Eric Green.

His contributions to Star Trek may be one of Kenneth Mitchell’s most lasting impacts on the entertainment world. Beyond Star Trek: Discovery, he also voiced multiple characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Commenting on the importance of his place in the franchise to the public, Mitchell told Syfy Wire in 2020, “Being a part of Star Trek keeps me inspired and gives me purpose.”

Those contributions were acknowledged and appreciated in a tribute that was posted on the official Star Trek site, praising Mitchell’s work and life.

In his personal life, Kenneth Mitchell leaves behind his wife Susan, and their two children, Lilah and Kallum. While nothing can ever fully replace the loss of a husband and father in a family, a GoFundMe has been set up to help Mitchell’s family with the financial hardship of their situation.

The campaign page acknowledges the reality that the costs of treatment and care for ALS can be truly crippling. The page is a way for friends, family, and fans to have a way to help out and assist Mitchell’s family in their difficult time ahead.

Kenneth Mitchell’s family also encourages others to donate towards ALS research so that, hopefully, one day soon, a cure for this disease can be found, and others will no longer have to worry about facing this illness.

Source: Deadline.