Welk left school during fourth grade to work full-time on the family farm. They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first year inside an upturned wagon covered in sod. The family lived on a homestead that is now a tourist attraction. Welk's paternal great-great grandparents, Moritz and Magdalena Welk, emigrated in 1808 from Germanophone Alsace-Lorraine to Ukraine. Welk was a first cousin, once removed, of former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (Welk's mother and Schweitzer's paternal grandmother were siblings). He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (née Schwahn) Welk, Roman Catholic ethnic Germans who emigrated in 1892 from Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). "Just like the Energizer Bunny, I just keep going," she said with a laugh.Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. Recently, English released a CD titled "My God, My Country," which is available through her Web site at. She has also appeared with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and with Doc Severinson and the Tonight Show Band. She also travels around the country, appearing at civic centers, state fairs, senior expos and other venues. He liked to play practical jokes."Įnglish, who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., returns to Branson each year for the fall and Christmas season shows at the Lawrence Welk Theater there. I always think of him with a smile on his face. He was charismatic, bigger than life, really. Of Welk himself, English said, "he was a cute little guy. We've experienced joy and tragedy and sorrow and happiness together." We've been through everything from birth and death and marriage and funerals together. No one realized it at the time, but Welk was creating a musical family of his own. And because there were so many regulars, people felt that they knew the performers.
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Mothers bring their sons, and sons bring their mothers."Įnglish became a regular on the TV program in 1969. "Grandmothers bring their grandchildren, and grandchildren bring their grandmothers. It's been handed down from generation to generation." And families come together to the live shows. Part of the appeal, according to English, is that it was a family show.
1 syndicated show on PBS, and the only TV show that's still in production after 50 years." (The show appears Saturdays and Sundays on KBYU-Ch. In recent years, it has been picked up by public television. It was in syndication, with new shows produced, until 1982. The program was on network television from 1955 to 1971. We still have all these wonderful fans who come out to see us."
Lawrence Welk died in 1992, but his legacy is still going strong, said English. "It's going to be a great show." They'll do everything from show tunes to big-band songs, with a patriotic segment, some country and a variety of dancing. "We're very, very excited about it," English said during a telephone interview from Branson, Mo., where she was in rehearsals before the troupe hit the road. And, after the concert, the audience will be treated to a special birthday cake. and his family will also be in the audience. Among them, champagne lady Norma Zimmer, accordion player Myron Floren and singer Guy Hovis.
In addition to English and the rest of the cast - which includes marimba-playing Jack Imel, dancer Mary Lou Metzger, country singer Ava Barber, jazz clarinetist Henry Cuesta and musician Dick Dale - a number of other Welk regulars will be here for the birthday celebration. "But our biggest show will be in Salt Lake City (on Tuesday)," said Ralna English, a singer on the program. The performance, put on by original cast members from the popular "Lawrence Welk" television show, will visit 23 cities during its 2003 tour. By happy coincidence, the 100th anniversary of that date will be the same night a live "Lawrence Welk" show will be in Salt Lake City. Lawrence Welk was born on March 11, 1903.
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