Background
He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.
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Whitey Mitchell
Edit Profilescreenwriter author jazz musician
Education
He studied radio & television at Syracuse University and then plunged into the New York jazz scene, becoming a regular at the famed nightspots Birdland and Basin Street East.
Career
Mitchell was the brother of bassist Red Mitchell. He began on clarinet and tuba as a youngster before choosing bass as his primary instrument. He led his own groups at The Village Vanguard and The Embers and later toured with big band greats Benny Goodman and Pete Rugolo, played Carnegie Hall with Gene Krupa, appeared with Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Lester Young on Jazz At The Philharmonic.He played with Elinor Sherry and Shep Fields in the early 1950s before serving in the Army during the Korean War.
From 1954 he worked freelance in New York City, playing with Gene Krupa (1955), Mel Tormé, Jack Jones, Josip Juraj Johnson, Kai Winding, Pete Rugolo, Lester Young, Charlie Ventura, Herbie Mann, Betty Roche, Oscar Pettiford (1956–1957), Gene Quill, Joe Puma, Johnny Richards, Peter Appleyard, André Previn, and Benny Goodman (1963–1964).
He performed on hundreds of recording sessions, television and film scores and released several albums under his own name, including one with American Broadcasting Company-Paramount in 1956, and worked with Red and Blue Mitchell in 1958 as "The Mitchells, Red, Whitey & Blue," on a Metrojazz release. Mitchell recorded with Anita O"Day, Barbra Streisand, Anthony Newley, and played the bass solo introduction on Ben East. King"s hit record "Stand By Maine." He often placed in the Metronome and Downbeat jazz polls.
After 1965 he largely ceased playing jazz and moved to Hollywood on advice from Lenny Bruce and André Previn to pursue a career as a television writer He worked on shows such as Get Smart, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Odd Couple, Mork and Mindy, and several Bob Hope television specials.
He wrote the feature film Private Resort starring Johnny Depp.
Mitchell taught screenwriting at University of California, Los Angeles and University of California Riverside. He recorded his Civil Defense Just In Time and played jazz in all the nightclub venues. He was the author of two books, Hackensack to Hollywood: My Two Show Business Careers and Star Walk: A Guide to the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
He"s been inducted into his New Jersey high school"s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.
Membership
Mitchell was a board member of the Palm Springs Walk of Stars and was honored with his own Golden Palm Star in tribute to his two show business careers in 2006.
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Born
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Died
January 17, 2009 (aged 76) -
Nationality
United States