Liz Mikel

Elizabeth Juliene Mikel (née Lacy; born November 7, 1963) is an American actress and jazz vocalist from Dallas, Texas. She is best known for her role as Corrina "Mama" Williams, mother of star running back Brian "Smash" Williams, on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights. Career Liz Mikel has been performing on stage for more than twenty years, including extended runs with the Dallas Theater Center and Theater Three. In 2007, the Dallas Morning News described Mikel as "a fixture on the Dallas theater scene". She stepped in for Oprah Winfrey in a special 2008 performance of The Vagina Monologues. Her film credits include roles in The Quest for Freedom, It's in the Water, Detention (aka Learning Curve), Seventy-8, Carried Away, and as Ruthie Jenkins in Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins. Besides Friday Night Lights, television roles have included guest appearances on LAX, Prison Break, and Past Life plus a recurring role as Maggie on Sordid Lives: The Series. Dallas Morning News theater critic Jerome Weeks once described Mikel's voice as "an immense, joyful force" and stated, "If a mountain range could belt a bawdy song, it would sound like Mikel."