Suzanne Mitchell (Dallas Cowboys)

Mitchell was born in Fort Worth, Texas on July 7, 1943.[1] She was raised in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.[2] Her mother, Nell Mitcham Mitchell, was a nurse.[1] Her father, Colonel Willis Wilson Mitchell, was a commercial pilot for American Airlines and a retired military officer who served as third in command under General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Africa during World War II.[1][3]

Mitchell was on her high school drill team and studied at the University of Oklahoma, graduating with a degree in journalism.[3][1]

Mitchell worked for the Ziff Davis publishing company in New York and, later, for an advertising office.[1][2] She also did public relations work for the United States Olympic Ski Team.[1] After securing an interview with Tex Schramm, general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, she was hired as his administrative assistant.[3][4] Mitchell is responsible for the Cowboys Cheerleaders' rise as American sex symbols and their continued role as goodwill ambassadors.[3] She increased the number of cheerleaders on the squad from fourteen to thirty-two and presided over Texie Waterman, who was hired by Brock as the squad's choreographer, working with her to define a unique dance style for the squad.[3] In a 1978 interview with Sports Illustrated, Mitchell said, "obviously we don't put the girls in those uniforms to hide anything. Sports has always had a very clean, almost Puritanical aspect about it, but by the same token, sex is a very important part of our lives. What we've done is combine the two.[1]

After receiving a call from the William Morris Agency requesting that the cheerleaders perform at the C&W Awards in Los Angeles, Mitchell began booking the squad for public appearances, including the The Osmonds television special and The Love Boat.[3][2] She and the squad received negative criticism from Evangelical Christians for the uniforms and sex-symbol status, so Mitchell required the cheerleaders to volunteer with telethons and visit orphanages and nursing homes to enhance their public image.[3] Mitchell agreed to help with the making of the 1979 television movie Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders starring Jane Seymour.[2]

Under her direction, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders started the USO tours in December 1979.[3] Mitchell went on eighteen USO tours in South Korea, Iceland, Greenland, and Beirut.[3][5] After Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 and fired Schramm, Mitchell resigned from her post as director.[3] Fourteen cheerleaders quit the squad following her resignation.[6]

Mitchell married shortly after graduating from college, but was divorced a few years later.[1]

Mitchell died in Fredericksburg, Texas on September 27, 2016, after battling pancreatic cancer.[3][7]

Mitchell was the main subject of the 2018 documentary film Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.[8][6]

She was portrayed by Laraine Stephens in the 1979 film Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.