Lawrence Welk
TV Show Host — born 1903
Lawrence Welk is recognized for his sparkling music style which came to be known as the ‘Champagne Style’ later on.
Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist, bandleader, and TV personality whose ABC TV variety series The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1971, then in syndication 1971–1982) ran for 27 consecutive years across two distinct broadcast formats — making it one of the longest-running American TV variety programs in history. He was born Lawrence Welk on March 11, 1903, in Strasburg, North Dakota, into a German-Russian (Volga German) farming family. He spoke only German until age 21 and learned to play the accordion as a teenager on the family farm.
His professional music career began in his early twenties as an accordionist with traveling dance bands across the American Midwest. By the late 1920s and 1930s he was leading his own touring dance orchestra ("The Hotsy-Totsy Boys" and later "Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music Makers"). The "Champagne Music" genre name was coined by an Pittsburgh dance-hall promoter who suggested that the bubbly quality of Welk's accordion-led waltz arrangements resembled champagne effervescence.
His ABC TV series began on July 2, 1955 — initially as a regional Los Angeles broadcast and quickly expanding to network. The show ran for 16 seasons on ABC across 1955–1971, then continued in syndication for an additional 11 years until 1982. The Welk format — opening with the catchphrase "And a-one, and a-two" leading into the "Champagne Music" orchestra performances, alternating with featured singers and dance numbers — was unusually durable in American TV variety programming.
The show's continuous broadcast presence made Welk one of the most-iconic American TV bandleaders of the second half of the 20th century. The Lawrence Welk Champagne Music Makers (later known as the Lawrence Welk Orchestra) continued performing live concerts after Welk's 1982 retirement. Welk died on May 17, 1992, at age 89, in Santa Monica, California. The Lawrence Welk Show has continued in PBS reruns since the 1980s and continues to draw American multi-generational viewing.
His name Lawrence is from the Latin Laurentius meaning "from Laurentum." Lawrence has been continuously among the most-popular American boys' names for over a century.
About the name Lawrence
Gender: Male · Origin: English
A Modern English Form Of Laurence And The Preferred Form In America.