Kenneth Mitchell was a Canadian actor, known for his time on Star Trek: Discovery, as well as his brief stint in the MCU movie, Captain Marvel. Mitchell was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and made this news public in 2020, although the disease had already progressed to the point of him needing a wheelchair by 2019. 

ALS is a terminal neurological disease that affects the nervous system and causes people to lose control of their muscles. It is degenerative, so Mitchell slowly lost control of his limbs, and then his voice. His family shared an obituary post to social media following his death, which included a poem penned by Mitchell detailing how he wants to be ed by his family and friends. 

Who did Mitchell play in Captain Marvel?

The 2019 superhero origin story of Carol Danvers featured a very talented cast, including Kenneth Mitchell who played Joseph Danvers, the superhero’s father. We see his character in one of the many flashbacks of the movie that show Carol getting her memories back. 

Joseph Danvers was somewhat hard on his daughter, as he and his wife tended to favor their son, Carol’s older brother Steve, over their younger child. In the flashback, we see him yelling at her for her repeated participation in sports which he deems dangerous and unsuitable for her because she is a girl. However, this doesn’t faze Carol or cause her to lose her nerves. Instead, we see her channel his words as well as the words of everyone else who didn’t believe in her at multiple points in the movie.

Mitchell’s portrayal of Joseph Danvers wasn’t too different from his comic book counterpart, though some details about his character were not explored in the movie. For example, Joseph Danvers in the comics was a former Navy officer and a widower when he met Marie, Carol’s mother. Another change the movie made was making Carol Danvers fully human, unlike in the comics where she is half-Kree due to her mother being Kree. The comic version of Joseph Danvers had to deal with the realization that his wife was an alien and later came to accept Carol’s powers. 

His family’s statements  

Mitchell’s role in the movie, though small, was memorable, though his family has shared that his work is not what he will be best ed for. In the obituary, it was written that while Mitchell played a host of characters during his career, he will be best ed for his ions and interpersonal relationships. 

The emotional write-up touched on his five-year struggle with ALS and how he was able to maintain his joy and positive outlook on life despite it. The obituary detailed his many ions and strengths, particularly emphasizing his dedication to fatherhood and family. Mitchell is survived by his wife, two children, his parents, and a brother.

While many may not the actor appearing as Carol Danvers’ father, Joseph Danvers, in 2019’s Captain Marvel, it is hard to forget Kenneth Mitchell’s Joshua in Nancy Drew, his four different roles in Star Trek: Discovery, him as Eric Green in Jericho, and so many more memorable characters that came to life thanks to him. Sadly, his wonderful career and loving family are all we have left to Mitchell as he ed away on Feb. 24, 2024, at the age of 49.

His family, including his wife actress Susan May Pratt and two children, has shared the tragic news with The Hollywood Reporter in their statement, revealing that the Switched at Birth star ed away in Los Angeles after suffering from complications of ALS.

“Kenny was the keeper of countless enduring friendships. Like a massive star exploding with kindness, pureness, and a particular brand of silly, you were pulled right into his orbit. Once captured, Kenny could bathe you in positivity, comion, thoughtfulness, and hilarity, and make you feel so loved.”

Kenneth was a giver, a listener, a sentimental and an excellent observer of his surroundings,” his family further added. “One of his most endearing qualities as a friend is that Kenny loved to watch others shine. He was a conductor of connecting friends together and thoroughly enjoyed prompting a good story …and boy oh boy did he love to laugh. He absolutely loved to laugh.”

What is ALS disease and what are its symptoms?

It was in 2018 that Mitchell first discovered that he had ALS i.e., Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or as it is more infamously known as – Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the renowned basketball player, Henry Louis Gehrig, who was first diagnosed with it at the age of 36 and died at 38. 

As described by Johns Hopkins Medicine, ALS is a “fatal type of motor neuron disease” that has no cure. It has a debilitating effect on nerves and muscles, where the nerve cells in the spinal cord and the brain degenerate at a progressive rate. It starts with something as small as weakness in a limb, trouble swallowing, or slurring while talking and eventually escalates to majorly hampering the functionality of limbs, often leading to paralysis, inability to speak properly, laughing or crying uncontrollably for certain periods, weakened motor control, etc.

In an interview with People in 2020, Mitchell shared how surreal it felt to discover that he has ALS.

“That’s what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock.” 

The condition led Mitchell to use a wheelchair since October 2019 and used it in the shows he appeared post that, playing roles specifically created for him, like FBI Agent Joe in The Old Man and Aurellio in Star Trek: Discovery.