Elizabeth Mitchell: Television's New Golden Girl

Actress Elizabeth Mitchell has been in the entertainment business for a long time. She has stared in thirteen movies and has appeared in many television shows. Yet, before 2006, she was not very well known. She was probably best known for her roles as Mrs. Clause in the last two Tim Allen "Santa Clause" movies. It wasn't until ABC hired her as Dr. Juliet Burke on the hit show "Lost" that she began to go mainstream. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that "Lost" has become a pop culture phenomenon. And while Juliet was cast as one of the evil "Others" at first, she became a fan favorite in later episodes. She became a huge reason that the show has the lasting power that it has had throughout its entire run. Now, she is starring in the new series "V," which debuted to fantastic numbers. It appears that anything Ms. Mitchell is on these days is ratings gold.

Elizabeth Mitchell was born Elizabeth Robertson in 1970 in Los Angeles. When she was seven, she appeared on stage for the first time at the Dallas Theater Center, where she spent six years entertaining on stage. After that, she went to London and attended the British American Drama Academy, where she studied Shakespeare. In 1995, she landed her first television role on the American show "Loving." Four months later, however, she was fired because she took her role too seriously and was giving too many opinions about how the script should be written. She moved to New York and began guest starring on several television shows, before she landed her first big break; starring in the movie "Gia" with Angelina Jolie in 1998. This was an HBO movie about the tragic life of the model Gia Marie Carangi, the world's first supermodel who died of AIDS. Elizabeth played her hairstylist who later became her lover. She would go on to appear on "ER", star as Linda McCartney in a made-for-TV movie about her life, and Dale Earnhardt's third wife Teresa in the movie "3: The Dale Earnhardt Story." She was best known for her roles as Carol Calvin, also known as Mrs. Clause, in the "Santa Clause" movies, starring Tim Allen. She appeared as his son's principle in the second movie, and they fell in love and got married. She also stars in the third movie as well. She is married to actor Chris Soldevilla and in 2005 she gave birth to their son (www.elizabeth-mitchell.com).

"Lost" was first broadcast in 2004. The show's first season concentrated on the plane crash survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. The plane crashed on a remote island, and the survivors are trying to find a way off this island. They discover that they are not alone, and season two and three go into explaining who else is on the island. In season three, Dr. Juliet Burke, played by Mitchell, is introduced. She is a fertility doctor who was brought on the island because the pregnant women there were dying. When her group of people, the "Others" took hostage Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, the shows three main characters, it appeared that she was one of the bad guys. However, it is revealed that she is basically a prisoner on this island as well, and she ends up joining the survivors and leaving the "Others". She first was in a relationship with Jack, but in season five she fell in love with Sawyer. She had proven herself useful, and she quickly became a fan favorite. At the end of season five, which has been the last season to air thus far, she is believed to have died to save everyone else. This has caused fan outrage, showing how beloved Juliet is, and many online petitions have come up to save her. Elizabeth has been hailed as brilliant for her portrayal of the very complex character that is Juliet. In 2007, she was nominated for an Emmy in her role. Her story line has been another huge reason that "Lost" fans love the show as much as they do (www.abc.com).

Producers for "Lost" say that she will be back for season six, but no one knows if Juliet survived or not. Adding fuel to the speculation that Juliet might be dead for good, Elizabeth signed on to be a regular on the new fall series "V." "V" is a remake of the 1983 series that was about alien space crafts appearing in 29 major cities across the world, and they claim to come in peace. FBI counter-terrorism agent Erica Evans, played by Mitchell, discovers that these aliens have spent decades infiltrating governments around the world, and are about to complete their plan to take control of Earth. Erica and others join a resistance to stop this from happening, but the Visitors have already won over too many people. This show debuted to 14.3 million viewers, making it the most watched new show of the year. That's the highest rating for a new show starting at 8:00pm since "Lost." Critics loved it as well (www.thrfeed.com). Due to the success of "Lost," Elizabeth Mitchell was probably the most recognizable face in the show. In fact, she was one of the only big names to appear in any marketing for this show. The producers were clearing drawing on her "Lost" fame to draw viewers to their show, and it worked like a charm. "V" has become another success story for this brilliant television actress.

ABC has clearly found their new go-to actress. She is a seasoned veteran and she is great at what she does. She had not starred in her own show prior to "Lost," and now she is the star of two hit ABC shows. The last two shows Elizabeth Mitchell has been in have been ratings gold for the network. It appears that they are very reluctant to let her go, so now she is the star of her own show. Juliet fans are desperate for her to return to season six of "Lost," but with "V" being such a success, it is safe to say that Elizabeth Mitchell is not going anywhere any time soon.