![was lawrence welk married was lawrence welk married](https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/fb215ce4a58246269db196963bd92352.jpg)
![was lawrence welk married was lawrence welk married](https://blog.savoringthesweetlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/San-Diego-Photography-San-Diego-Family-photographer-San-Diego-Wedding-Photographer-by-Pam-Davis-at-www.SavoringTheSweetLife.com-17-2.jpg)
The North Dakota farm boy-turned-accordionist, band man and entrepreneur was never the hippest, the most lauded or the coolest on the music scene. But tonight, he’ll still come into homes all across the country, as he has on Saturdays for more than a half-century. Sunday marks the 26th anniversary of the day Welk called “a one and a two” on “The Lawrence Welk Show” for the last time, and put down his long conductor’s baton. “I went from being an obscure guy to playing any gig I wanted. “We came back and everyone knew me,” recalled Kotwitz, who went on to become a highly respected jazz accordion player and studio player still working out of Simi Valley. The year was 1958 and this was a big, big deal.
#Was lawrence welk married tv#
Welk brought the polka phenom and his pals out and put them up in a motel, giving them a shot on his national TV show. His aunt dreamed big and sent his audition tape to bandleader Lawrence Welk in Santa Monica. He was just a teenager from Milwaukee, playing squeezebox in a combo and getting work where he could find it. "He could have lived any place he wanted to, but he chose to come back to his birthplace.SHERMAN OAKS – Kenny Kotwitz sipped his drink and slipped back into an accordion memory 50 years in the making. Just the kind of person he is," Tietz said. "He was super successful, super handsome, and just really a nice guy."Īnd even though Dale has traveled across the world to perform for international audiences, he chose to live out the rest of his life in the Iowa town. "He was an extremely loyal person," Tietz said. In his hometown Dale met Don Tietz and the two became fast friends. Welk's show debuted on Southern California TVs in 1951 it ran nationally from 1955 to 1982.Īround nine years ago, Dale and Marguerite returned to Algona to retire. "He was a great story teller on stage and off, and he was a musician's musician." "Everybody just loved him," Metzger said. Mary Lou Metzger, a former singer on the Welk show, worked with Dale and also went on tours along with him. "He took me to my little league games, and he was a supportive father." "He would always be recognized, which surprised me because growing up in Southern California he was just another dad," David said. Growing up, David said his father just seemed like an ordinary guy, though when they went on vacations, people would recognize him and speak to him. He cared a lot about what his children did, and he was supportive of everything we did do." "He was what you always want to have in a father," David said. Soon after, at a Welk tryout in Chicago, Dale auditioned his sax-playing skills and joined the Welk orchestra at a performance in Clinton. Returning to Algona after the service, Dale played in a number of bands including polka band Six Fat Dutchmen.Ī Sunday night performance with that band on a radio show in New Ulm, Minn., set his career in motion when Welk heard Dale sing. After spending six months in a military hospital, he was reassigned to Gulfport, La., and New Orleans. He was assigned to radio school, but was struck by rheumatic fever. He graduated high school at 16, and joined the Navy at 18 with the goal of fighting in World War II. As a result, Dale wanted to take up the flute, but because the school had too many flute players, he was assigned a saxophone. The fact the show is still on the air is not surprising to me."ĭale and his wife, Marguerite, were married in 1949 and had three sons and a daughter.ĭale first became focused on music when all the eighth grade students at Algona High School were required to take a music aptitude test. "More so than I would have realized, and I think a lot more than a lot of people would have realized. "'The Lawrence Welk Show' is definitely a big part of a lot of people's lives," said David Dale, Dick's youngest son. The famous musician, known for his appearances on "The Lawrence Welk Show," sang and played his way into American television sets every Saturday evening. Though Dick Dale took his last bow on Friday, friends and family said his tunes and grooves will live on forever.ĭale, an Algona native, passed away at a hospital in Algona after suffering a heart attack at 88.