George Mitchell OBE (27 February 1917 – 27 August 2002) was a Scottish musician, best known for having devised the long-running The Black and White Minstrel Show.
[2] Mitchell's grandfather was well-known Scottish choir master John Laing, and both of his parents were amateur singers.
The choir continued after the war, and soon no radio programme was complete without its quota of Mitchell Singers, often performing under different names.
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,[4] with a peak viewing audience of 16.5 million viewers in 1964.