Photo by Delar Photographers, Rockefeller Center, New York City · Public domain

As head of A&R at Columbia Records, shaped the sound of American popular music through the 1950s and early 1960s, signing and producing hit records across genres. He became a television star in his own right hosting Sing Along with Mitch, after training as a classical oboist at the Eastman School of Music and making celebrated recordings on the instrument early in his career.