Famous orchestra leader dies at 99

NEW YORK – Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to Sing Along With Mitch on television and records, has died at age 99.His daughter, Margaret Miller Reuther, said yesterday that Miller died on Saturday in Lenox Hill Hospital after a short illness.Miller was a key record executive at Columbia Records in the pre-rock ’n’ roll era, making hits with singers Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett.Sing Along With Mitch started as a series of records, then became a popular NBC show starting in early 1961. Miller’s stiff-armed conducting style and signature goatee became famous.As a producer and arranger, Miller had misses along with his hits, famously striking out on projects with Frank Sinatra and a young Aretha Franklin. (AP)