Natalie Nevins (May 15, 1925 – August 23, 2010) was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

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 195 ...

'' from 1965 to 1969.

Early life

Born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Nevins began singing when she was five and later took

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

lessons. She graduated from Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in

Hunting Park Hunting Park is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2005, the 19140 ZIP code, which roughly consists of Hunting Park and Nicetown–Tioga, had a median home sale price of $ ...

and later attended

Chestnut Hill College Chestnut Hill College is a private Catholic college in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1924 as a women's college by the Sisters of St. Joseph. It was originally named Mount Saint Joseph College ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Singing career

In 1950, she had her own television program on

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jerse ...

titled ''Notes From Natalie''. Two years later, she was asked by

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...

to appear on his show after meeting him at a benefit in Philadelphia. In 1965, she was hired 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, tele ...

as a vocalist on his weekly television program, where her pitch perfect singing voice earned Natalie nationwide fans and admirers. Nevins was hired after she sang to him over the phone after the suggestion of her doctor, of which Welk was among the patients. In addition to solo numbers, she sang in duets with

Jimmy Roberts Jimmy Roberts (born 1957) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports. Roberts joined NBC in May 2000 after serving as a sports reporter for almost 12 years at ESPN and ABC Sports where he won 11 Sports Emmy Awards. Early life and career Roberts grew up in ...

and Joe Feeney and recorded a solo album titled ''Natalie Nevins Sings I Believe & Other Inspirational Songs'' which was released by

Ranwood Records Ranwood Records was an American record label started in 1968 by Randy Wood (after he left Dot Records) and Lawrence Welk. Lawrence Welk owned all of the recordings that he released on Dot as they were produced and manufactured by Teleklew Produc ...

in 1968. Nevins left the Lawrence Welk show in 1969 and was mostly out of the public spotlight after that. Nevins briefly was an assistant on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' and later moved back to Philadelphia to care for her mother and to be near her brother, Reverend John Nevins, a Roman Catholic priest.

Death

Natalie Nevins died on August 23, 2010 from complications from hip

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

at St. Mary's Medical Center in

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surrou ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevins, Natalie 1925 births 2010 deaths American women singers Musicians from Philadelphia Lawrence Welk