BIOGRAPHY


Mitch Longley originated the role of Dr. Matthew Harmon in the ABC Daytime drama Port Charles. Dr. Harmon, who used a wheelchair, was determined to educate those around him that he was a man who didn't allow his physical limitations to get in the way of achieving his career goals in the field of medicine, or of affecting his personal relationships.  After three years, Mitch exited the role on April 27, 2000, in order to pursue other interests.

Like his character, Mitch Longley used a wheelchair since a car accident a few weeks before he turned eighteen. He survived a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. But he never gave up his goal of becoming an actor, something he had dreamed of since he was five years old.

After appearing in a Ralph Lauren Polo print ad, he caught the attention of casting agents and landed a role as Byron Pierce on the television series Another World. Other television credits include Vanishing Son and Burning Zone. In the 2001- 2002 seasons, he had a recurring role on the CBS television show, Judging Amy, as State's Attorney Jonathan Ashworth.

He appeared on stage in 1997 and again in 2000 in a critically-acclaimed one-man play that he authored, titled Courting Darkness, in which he played 21 different characters who came into his life after his injury.

Mitch is a gifted photographer and artist, whose own experience as a paraplegic has provided the  inspiration to create images through which he can experience the unencumbered body. An exhibit of his black and white photos, Watermen from Naramake, opened in Los Angeles in January 2002.

He is the founder of the non-profit organization SOWOHO, Spirit of the Wounded Horse, Inc., which helps underprivileged Native Americans with physical disabilities. In November, 1990, he traveled to Egypt and conducted research on disability-related issues.

Mitch played on the professional wheelchair tennis circuit for a couple of years, capturing several doubles titles. He left tennis when he began his stint on Another World.

Mitch is a vegetarian and in his spare time he enjoys swimming, tennis, yoga, and photography. He is currently involved in several writing projects. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 23, 1965. He is 6' tall, has black hair salted with gray, and brown eyes.

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