George Mitchell (27 February 1917 – 27 August 2002) was a Scottish musician, best known for having devised the long-running ''
The Black and White Minstrel Show
''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Running from 1958 to 1978, it was a weekly variety show that presented traditional American minstrel and countr ...
''.
Biography
He was born in
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
, Scotland.
Mitchell's grandfather was well-known Scottish choir master John Laing, and both of his parents were amateur singers. He was educated at
Southgate County School in North London.
[Southgate County School notable former pupils](_blank)
Accessed 4 June 2007 Mitchell was an accountant before his
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
military service. During the war, he served with the
Royal Army Pay Corps
The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992.
History
The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before t ...
at
Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries.
It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Finsb ...
.
This posting enabled him to organise choirs within the armed forces and put on shows at the Cripplegate Theatre,
among others. This led to appearances on many
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
shows.
The choir continued after the war, and soon no radio programme was complete without its quota of Mitchell Singers, often performing under different names. Given their own radio show in 1950, the George Mitchell Glee Club, George and his singers continued to perform in hundreds of radio and stage shows and appeared in several films.
They also had several hit records. In 1957, the George Mitchell Minstrels first appeared at the annual Earl's Court Radio Show, a programme which was televised. From 1958, the Minstrels, in red make-up which looked black on camera, became an enormous hit,
with a peak viewing audience of 16.5 million viewers in 1964. It won the
Golden Rose of Montreux
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
for Best TV Show in the World in 1961.
[Television Heaven pages](_blank)
Accessed 19 February 2009
The show appeared in a prime-time television slot for twenty years, as well as spawning two touring stage shows, one in the UK and one in Australia, and a permanent one in London which ran from 1962 until 1972 at the
Victoria Palace Theatre
The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station. The structure is categorised as a Grade II* listed building.
History Origins
The theatre began life as a small conc ...
, with a further year at the New Victoria.
During the 1970s, the television show's popularity declined, partly because of the style of music becoming dated, and partly because of an increase in
racial
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
awareness. It was axed by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
after several unsuccessful attempts to change the format.