Kathie Sullivan (born May 31, 1953) is an American-born singer who appeared on television's ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1 ...

'' from 1976 to 1982.

Biography

Early years

Born in Oshkosh,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Sullivan began singing in

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and later at

George Nelson Tremper High School George Nelson Tremper High School is a high school located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Part of the Kenosha Unified School District, it was named after George Nelson Tremper, the principal of Kenosha High School from 1911 to 1944. The mascot of Trempe ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

where she sang in the choir and also played cello in the orchestra.

Musical career

She was discovered by

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

while attending the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, where she was the local Miss Champagne Lady in a show that went on the road. She was hired in 1976 after completing her studies. She sang numerous solos, and often was paired with

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known a ...

in various numbers. As a

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

artist, she released several Gospel music albums and has performed for charitable originations as

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. Kathie also performed in a one-woman show as Jane Long around her home in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Today, she continues to perform, mostly at

retirement communities A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socializ ...

for seniors, and has hosted wraparounds for Welk repeats aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Personal life

Once believed to be romantically involved with

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

, with whom she appeared on a 1981 episode of '' Fridays'' (the incident was a hoax), she married in 1986 to high school boyfriend Hugh Tollack and is the mother of two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Kathie 1953 births American gospel singers Living people Musicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin People from Oshkosh, Wisconsin Singers from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni