Mitchell started out as a stage actress, and gained a foothold in television with a number of appearances in popular shows in the 1960s. In 1970, she got her first leading TV role, as Ruth, the daughter of the title character (
Irene Handl) in the comedy
For the Love of Ada, which ran for four series and 27 episodes, followed in 1972 by a spin-off film of the
same title. At the same time, she was appearing periodically as Mrs. Abbott, the absurdly over-protective mother of would-be tough guy Frankie ("Mummy's little soldier"), in
Please Sir! and its sequel
The Fenn Street Gang. She appeared as Isabel Chintz, a tough
Australian pop agent, in
Superstar, a 1973 episode of
The Goodies. In
Lizzie Dripping, a
BBC children's programme which ran for two series in 1973 and 1975, Mitchell played Patty Arbuckle, the often harassed mother of Penelope (
Tina Heath), while her longest-running role came in the
Yorkshire Television production ''
Beryl's Lot'', 52 episodes over three series between 1973 and 1977, in which she played Vi Tonks, married to Trevor (
Tony Caunter) and neighbour and friend to the titular Beryl (
Carmel McSharry). She acted in a series of late 1960s / early 1970s UK TV commercials for
dish-washing product
Palmolive Liquid, where she played blonde beehived Madge, the beauty salon employee who encouraged customers to dip their fingers into a small bowl of the product to demonstrate how kind it was to hands. == Personal life and death ==