Guy Mitchell

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".

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.

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. 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.

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.

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. "My Heart Cries for You" became Mitchell's first hit, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.