Guy Mitchell
Mitchell in a publicity photo in 1957
Born	Albert George Cernik (1927-02-22)February 22, 1927 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	July 1, 1999(1999-07-01) (aged 72) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Occupations	Singer actor
Spouses	Jackie Loughery ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1955)​ Elsa Sorensen ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1965)​ Betty Jeane Ruth ​ (m. 1974)​
Musical career
Genres	Big band traditional pop rock and roll country
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1947–1999 (as a musician)
Labels	Decca King Columbia Philips
Musical artist
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Service years	1945–1947
Conflicts	World War II

Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American singer and actor, who was successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His hits included "My Heart Cries for You", "Heartaches by the Number" and "Singing the Blues".^[1]

In the fall of 1957, Mitchell starred on the eponymous ABC's The Guy Mitchell Show. He also acted in a number of films, such as Those Redheads From Seattle and Red Garters, and appeared on TV as George Romack on the 1961 NBC western detective series Whispering Smith, and on the 1990 BBC television drama series Your Cheatin' Heart.^[1][2]

Life and career

Guy Mitchell was born Albert George Cernik to Croatian immigrants in Detroit, Michigan. The family moved to Los Angeles when he was 11, where he was signed by Warner Brothers Pictures to be a child star, and performed on KFWB radio.^[1] However, his career as a child star failed to take off, and the family moved to San Francisco where, after leaving school, he worked as a saddlemaker, supplementing his income by singing. Dude Martin, who had a country music broadcast in San Francisco, hired him for his band.^[1]

Cernik served in the United States Navy for two years in World War II, then sang with Carmen Cavallaro's big band. In 1947, Cernik recorded for Decca with Cavallaro's band, but left due to food poisoning. He went next to New York City and made records for King Records as Al Grant (one, "Cabaret", appeared in the Variety charts). He won on the radio show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1949 as a soloist.^[3]

Mitch Miller, in charge of talent at Columbia Records, noticed Cernik in 1950. Cernik joined Columbia and took his new stage name at Miller's urging. Miller had originally intended to record a sentimental ballad called "My Heart Cries for You" and "The Roving Kind" with Frank Sinatra; however, Sinatra was not interested, and rejected the songs selected for him to record that day. Given that Miller had already booked the musicians for the recording session, he invited Cernik to come in the evening as a replacement to record the songs. The recording went well, and Miller then told him that he should change his name as Miller could not pronounce the name Cernik. Initially reluctant, he then took Miller's name Mitchell, and added Guy, as he liked to say "Hi, Guy" in reply to other people's "Hello", and became Guy Mitchell for the record release.^[4] "My Heart Cries for You" became Mitchell's first hit, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts.^[5]

After "My Heart Cries for You", Mitchell was propelled into international fame and would be a popular star throughout the 1950s. Mitchell scored more international hits during the 1950s. His biggest hit was "Singing the Blues", which topped the charts in the U.S. for ten consecutive weeks and topped the charts in the UK for three non-consecutive weeks.^[6]

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mitchell acted in such movies as Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) and Red Garters (1954).^[1] Mitchell also had various acting roles on television. He appeared in "Choose a Victim", a 1961 episode of Thriller, and in "The Case of the Guilty Clients", a 1961 episode of Perry Mason.

Mitchell's last major hit would be "Heartaches by the Number". The song became one of the last number-one singles of the 1950s and the last number-one single of Mitchell's career. Mitchell's popularity subsequently waned in the 1960s, although he continued to record songs for a number of labels. In 1990, he appeared in several episodes of the BBC drama series Your Cheatin' Heart as the fictional country singer Jim Bob O'May, singing several standards, including his own hit "Singing the Blues".^[1]

Death

Mitchell died on July 1, 1999, aged 72, at Desert Springs Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada of complications from cancer surgery.^[7][8]

Tribute

In 2007, to commemorate what would have been his 80th birthday, the English division of Sony BMG released The Essential Collection CD. His song "Heartaches by the Number" was part of the soundtrack of the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas.^[9]

Singles discography

Notable songs

• "My Heart Cries for You" (1950)^[14]
• "The Roving Kind" (1951)^[14]
• "My Truly, Truly Fair" (1951)^[14]
• "Sparrow In The Treetop" (1951)^[14]
• "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" (1952)^[14]
• "She Wears Red Feathers" (1953)^[14]
• "Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle" (1951)
• "Feet Up (Pat Him On The Po-po)" (1952)
• "Heartaches by the Number"^[14] (1959)
• "Knee Deep in the Blues" (1957)
• "Look At That Girl" (1953)
• "Ninety Nine Years (Dead or Alive)" (1956)
• "Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie" (1953)
• "Rock-a-Billy" (1957)
• "The Same Old Me" (1960)
• "Singing the Blues" (1956)
• "The Roving Kind" (1950)
• "Cloud Lucky Seven" (1953)
• "Unless" (1951)

Re-recorded songs

In February 1982, Mitchell re-recorded 18 of his popular songs with new musical backings (in stereo) at the Audio Media Studio in Nashville, Tennessee for Bulldog Records (BDL 2041 in the UK). The album was entitled 20 Golden Pieces of Guy Mitchell (not to be confused with 20 Golden Greats by Mitchell, released in 1979). The songs on the album are:-

References

External links

• Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society site, belle49.freeserve.co.uk
• Guy Mitchell obituary
• Biodata, "The Interlude Era" site], earthlink.net
• Guy Mitchell at IMDb