Les Mitchel
American radio director, producer and actor (1904–1975)
Lester Mandiville Mitchel (October 27, 1904 – January 12, 1975) was an American film actor and radio producer, director and actor, known for directing Stars over Hollywood and Backstage Wife, as well as hosting, producing and directing Skippy Hollywood Theatre.
Early life
Born in Malinta in Henry County, Ohio, Mitchel was the son of Jeremiah Ezekiel Mitchel and Myrtle Lucy Fairbank. He attended the University of Toledo.
Radio career
Mitchel made his radio debut in Detroit in 1935, later serving as producer, actor, writer and announcer on several Detroit stations. He joined WBBM in Chicago as a producer in 1939 and four years later was appointed assistant program director in charge of commercial broadcasts in 1943.
On May 31, 1942, on WBBM, Mitchel directed the Columbia Workshop's world premiere presentation of poet Kenneth Patchen's radio play The City Wears a Slouch Hat, accompanied by a five-member percussion ensemble performing John Cage's score, conducted by the composer. The cast included Mitchell's soon-to-be wife Madelon Grayson (né Baker), Les Tremayne, Forrest Lewis, Jonathan Hole, Frank Dane, and John Larkin.
In August 1942, Mitchel succeeded Blair Walliser as director of The Romance of Helen Trent. In June 1944, he was hired as director of The Dreft Star Playhouse. At approximately the same time, Mitchel succeeded Paul Pierce as producer-director of Stars Over Broadway.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Les Mitchel” is american radio director, producer and actor (1904–1975). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mitchel, American and radio, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q124664850. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1904, 1975, 1935 and 1939.
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This entry incorporates text from “Les Mitchel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.