Lawrence Welk was born on the 11th March 1903, in The Bronx, New York City USA, and was a musician, television host and impresario, best known to the world as the host of his own show “The Lawrence Welk Show”, which aired from 1955 until 1982. Lawrence passed away in May 1992.
Have you ever wondered how rich Lawrence Welk was, at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Lawrence’s net worth was as high as $8 million, an amount he acquired through his successful career in the entertainment industry.
Lawrence Welk Net Worth $8 Million
Lawrence was of German and Ukrainian ancestry, as his parents were immigrants who settled in Strasburg, North Dakota. Lawrence was the third youngest of eight children born to Ludwig and Christiana Welk.
Growing up poor on a family farm, Lawrence left school in order to help his family. As he grew older, he fell in love with music, and was able to persuade his father to by him an accordion, but on the condition that Lawrence would work on the farm until 21 and all the money he would earn he would give to his father.
When he turned 21, Lawrence left the family home, and proudly began to pursue a career in music. In the beginning he played with big bands of North and South Dakota, before eventually starting a band of his own. In the 1930s, he became more confident in his talents, and led his own band touring across the USA. Little by little his name became more and more known in the music scene, mostly in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas, however, in the 1940s he and his band were regular guests at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, and later in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. Before the end of the 1940s, the band had its own show on the ABC network, which lasted until 1951.
Lawrence started his own record label called Ranwood Records with Randy Wood, through which he released the majority of his songs. During his musical career, Lawrence released over 50 singles, many of which increased his popularity and net worth. Some of the most popular include “”I Won’t Tell a Soul”, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “The Moon Is a Silver Dollar” No. 7, “Don’t Sweetheart Me” No 2., Oh Happy Day”, which was on the No. 5, “Calcutta”, an instrumental that topped the chart, and “Southtown, USA”, which was his last recording.
In 1955, he started his own show, “The Lawrence Welk Show”, which firstly aired only in Los Angeles for the first few years, however, from 1959 until 1982 it was aired nationally through the ABC network. It was a variety music show, which brought immense popularity to Lawrence, and was the main source of his net worth.
Because of his successful career and contribution to both television and music, Lawrence received numerous awards, including two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1994, among many other awards.
Lawrence`s net worth also benefited from his career as a businessman, investing in numerous industries and companies, including real estate and music publishing, among others. Lawrence died at his home, age 89, from bronchopneumonia; he left behind his wife of 71 years Fern Veronica Renner, and their three children.
Academy of Country Music Award for Man of the Year
Nominations
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement In Tape Sound Mixing, People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Variety Program, 32. Spotlight on the Musical Family, 31. Easter, 30. Tour of Southern California
TV Shows
The Lawrence Welk Show
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Trademark
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"An-a one, an-a two."
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Theme song: "Champagne Time" (1970 - 1982)
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Theme song: "Bubbles in the Wine" (1955 - 1970)
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Quote
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We cater to the people who want a melody as it was originally written. Our audiences want songs that tell a story. We don't want any song with questionable moral standards.
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Fact
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He is a first cousin, once removed, of Montana governor Brian Schweitzer. Lawrence's mother, Christiana Schwahn, was the sister of Brian's paternal grandmother, Franziska Schwahn.
Co-founder (with Randall Wood, former owner of Dot Records) of Ranwood Records in 1967.
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He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6613 Hollywood Boulevard and for Television at 1601 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
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Dropped out of school in the fourth grade to work on the family farm. At age 21, he left home to make his way in the music business.
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Registered his car with a vanity license plate that read "A1 AN A2".
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His show was initially cancelled by ABC-TV in 1971, after 17 years as a Saturday night perennial on the network, because of a question of viewer demographics. Advertisers and networks were convinced that they should gear their shows to younger, urban audiences, who were thought to have the buying power, and Welk's audience was simply considered too old. In what was then considered a bold move, Welk began producing shows for first-run syndication, and by the start of the 1971 fall season he was back on the air, where he remained until he retired eleven years later. Ironically, many of the stations that carried his show were local ABC affiliates.
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Parents, Ludwig and Christina Welk, emigrated from Alsace-Lorraine via Russia to Strasburg, North Dakota, where Lawrence was born.
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A common misconception is that Welk did not learn English until he was 21. In fact, he began learning English as soon as he started school. The part of North Dakota where he lived had been settled largely by Germans from Russia; even his teachers spoke English as a second language.
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In the early 1990s, the U.S. Congress refused federal funding to restore Welk's boyhood home in Strasburg, N.D., as a museum. His many still loyal fans, hearing of this, donated the money themselves, and to this day the Welk Home and Museum has been restored and maintained entirely by private funds.
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Served as his own producer for most of his years on TV, via Teleklew Productions. The name was made up of "tele" for television and "klew" was Welk spelled backwards.
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Founder of the still-thriving Lawrence Welk Resort and Country Club in Escondido, California.
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A good judge of talent, Welk's discoveries included Lynn Anderson and Pete Fountain, both of whom got their starts with his band.
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Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989.
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Recorded prolifically before and during his TV years, primarily for Columbia, Coral, Dot and Ranwood, scoring a #1 single and album with "Calcutta" in 1961.
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Welk's show was originaly entitled "The Dodge Dancing Party," after his first national sponsor. His longest-lasting sponsors were two over-the-counter medicines, Geritol and Serutan ("That's 'nature's,' spelled backwards!").
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Welk's son, Larry Welk (aka Lawrence Welk Jr), is owner/operator of the "Welk Resort" in Branson, Missouri.
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Welk's grandson, Larry Welk (aka Lawrence Welk III), is an airborne traffic and breaking news reporter in "Sky Nine" helicopter for KCAL-TV, Ch 9, Los Angeles.