Daryl Mitchell

The son of a Queens, NY bus driver, Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell grew up on Long Island and first came to public attention as a member of the three-man rap group Groove B. Chill. Making the video to promote their debut album, "Starting from Zero," introduced them to the Hudlin Brothers and led to their feature debut in "House Party" (1990), written and directed by Reginald Hudlin.

Finding the experience particularly enjoyable, Mitchell decided to focus on an acting career and, after appearances in "House Party 2" (1991) and "Boomerang" (1992), landed a co-starring role as the rapper Kayam in Steve Gomer's "Fly By Night" (1993), winner of the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival. His other feature credits include the by-the-book private in "Sgt. Bilko" (1996) and supporting roles in the comedies "A Thin Line Between Love & Hate" (also 1996) and "Home Fries" (1998).

Mitchell has enjoyed his greatest success, however, on the small screen, working first as a regular on the short-lived NBC series "Here and Now" (1992-93), starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner before landing the regular role of lunch counter operator Dexter Walker on "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC, 1993-97). While filming "Toothless" (1997) for ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney," he met Kirstie Alley, and the two got on so famously that Mitchell ended up as Leo, the harried marketing executive, on Alley's sitcom "Veronica's Closet" (NBC, 1997-2000).

Among his other TV projects were an appearance in the CBS miniseries "Queen" (1993), based on the Alex Haley story of his paternal grandmother, a reunion with Warrington Hudlin for "The First Commandment" segment of the HBO anthology "Cosmic Slop" (1994) and a portrayal of basketball player (and later coach) Dean 'The Dream' Memminger in the biopic "Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault" (HBO, 1996).