Who was Lawrence Welk?
A: Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television
impresario, who hosted the television program The Lawrence Welk Show from
1951 to 1982.
When was Welk born?
A: March 11, 1903.
Where was he born?
A: Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg,
North
Dakota.
When did Lawrence die?
A: May 17, 1992 (aged 89).
Where is his final resting place?
A: Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City,
California
He was sixth of how many children?
A: Eight.
Who were his parents?
A: Ludwig and Christiana Welk.
They were Roman Catholic ethnic Germans who emigrated
in 1892 from where?
A: Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine).
Welk was a first cousin, once removed, of whom?
A: Former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (Welk's mother and Schweitzer's
paternal grandmother were siblings).
The family lived on a homestead that is now a what?
A: A tourist attraction.
They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first
year inside a what?
A: An upturned wagon covered in sod.
Welk left school during fourth grade to work full-time
on what?
A: The family farm.
Welk decided on a career in music and persuaded his
father to do what?
A: To buy a mail-order accordion for $400 (equivalent to $5,411 in 2021).
He promised his father what?
A: That he would work on the farm until he was 21, in repayment for the
accordion.
Any money he made elsewhere during that time, doing
farm work or performing, would go to who?
A: His family.
Welk did not learn to speak English until he was how
old?
A: Twenty-one and never felt comfortable speaking it in public.
Welk became an iconic figure in the German-Russian
community of the northern Great Plains—his success story personified what?
A: The American dream.
On his 21st birthday, having fulfilled his promise to
his father, Welk left the family farm to pursue what?
A: A career in music.
During the 1920s, he performed with various bands
before forming what?
A: An orchestra.
He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South
Dakota, including who?
A: The Hotsy Totsy Boys and the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra.
The Lawrence Welk Orchestra scored an immediate success
and began a daily what?
A: Radio show.
In 1951, Welk settled in what city?
A: Los Angeles.
The same year, he began producing what?
A: The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles, where it was broadcast
from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach.
The show became a local hit and was picked up by who in
June 1955?
A: ABC.