Born and raised in the Bluegrass State, Jimmy first joined the music makers in the early 1950s when they were headquartered at the Aragon Ballroom, and once the Welk family made it's national television debut in 1955, Jimmy became a household name.
His specality is in romantic songs, pop standards and religious hyms, but his most famous and most requested is "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", made famous by Tony Bennent. He was also very popular in romantic duet numbers with Norma Zimmer.
Jimmy was a mainstay of the show for every year it was on, and until his passing from bone cancer in 1999, continued to perform with the same dignity, warmth and professionalism that fans remember.
Jimmy was married twice, first to Jane who passed in 1976; and second to Vi until his passing, He also had two sons, Gary and Steven.
I just found the Lawrence Welk show on PBS recently. I never saw or knew anything about it. All I can say is its GREAT and your Blog is GREAT.
ReplyDeleteThank you