Heather Lee Mitchell AM (born 1958) is an Australian actress, appearing in Australian productions of stage, television and film. She is a graduate of NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art). She is best known for her leading role in the 1990s television show Spellbinder.
Mitchell attended Camden High School in Camden, New South Wales, between 1971 and 1976 and was school captain in her final year. She took the leading role of Judith Bliss in the 1976 school production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever.[citation needed]
Mitchell is, internationally, well known for her performance as Ashka in the Australian/Polish co-productions of Spellbinder (1995), and Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord (1997). The series was a popular children's fantasy program first broadcast in 1995.
Other television series include: the miniseries Bodyline (1984), Land of Hope (1986), Embassy (1992) and A Country Practice. In 1998, she starred in the miniseries drama The Day of the Roses, in which she played a victim of the 1977 Granville rail disaster. She has also appeared in episodes of Five Mile Creek (1984), Rake (2010), Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2013), and Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries (2019). In 2021, she played Birdie in The Unusual Suspects.
In 2024 Mitchell was named as part of the cast for the series The Narrow Road to the Deep North.[1] She was also named for Paramount Plus series Fake.[2]
Mitchell is a foundation director and board member of the Sydney Theatre Company (STC).[3] She first appeared at the STC in 1981 performing scenes of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 with Andrew Tighe for a workshop.[4] She has since appeared in dozens of productions for several Australian theatre companies and has contributed to Terence Crawford's 2005 book Trade Secrets: Australian Actors and Their Craft.[5][6]
In 2022, Mitchell was announced to play Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the theatre play RBG: Of Many, One.[7] In 2024, Mitchell would again play Ginsburg for the 2024 Black Swan State Theatre Company season.[8] Critics called Mitchell's performance as Ginsburg as a 'tour de force'.[9]
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Mitchell met cinematographer Martin McGrath in 1989, they were engaged in the following year and married in February 1992.[18] The couple have two adult children and reside in Sydney.[18]
Mitchell was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the performing arts, and to the community."[19]
