THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270053 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B10 EDITION: FINAL COLUMN: PEOPLE LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
When Leslie Uggams rises to present an award to Mitch Miller at the Congress of Racial Equality tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., on Jan. 16, she will have more than the routine connection of presenter to recipient.
``He discovered me,'' Uggams said. ``He saw me when I was a contestant on ``Name That Tune'' and called my mother saying that he wanted me to do some demos.''
About a year later, when Miller went on the air with his ``Sing Along With Mitch'' on NBC, he booked Uggams as a guest. The program, which lasted from 1964 to 1967, was an immediate hit, and so was Uggams. Miller made her a regular.
However, because she is black, stations in the South refused to televise the show.
``Mitch was told either I go or the show goes,'' Uggams said. ``He said, `Either she stays or there's no show.' He loved that show and he had been trying to sell it for so long that to turn around and do that was heroic.''
As things turned out, she said, ``my best fan mail came from the South, and the only time we ever got a death threat it came from the North.''
At the ceremony in New York, Miller will receive the group's lifetime achievement award. The other award winners will be L. Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia; Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut; and Janet Jackson, the singer. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Leslie Uggams
Mitch Miller
by CNB