Richard Maloof (born January 17, 1940) is an American musician who played bass and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

for the

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 ...

orchestra. He was born and raised by Cy and Lucille Maloof, one of four children. Richard graduated from San Juan High School in Citrus Heights, then attended

Sacramento State University California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

while searching for work as a musician. He got his first break playing for Les Brown's band and later

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

before joining the

U. S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. While stationed at the

North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD), Richard played in the NORAD Commanders Jazz Band alongside future Welk musicians

Johnny Zell Johnathan Zell (born November 24, 1947) is an American musician, best known as a trumpeter from ''The Lawrence Welk Show'', a musical, variety-show television series. Early life and education Zell was born at Fort Benning, a United States Army ...

and Dave Edwards. During his

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

stint he got the invitation to join

, both with the

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

and on his weekly

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

. That was in August 1967 and he remained until the show ended in February 1982. Starting in 1976, he had a mustache as shown on the show. Richard has also performed music for several TV shows such as '' The Julie Andrews Show'' and ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

'' as well as several commercials and feature films, and has performed on stage for the show ''

Forever Plaid ''Forever Plaid'' is an Off-Broadway musical revue written by Stuart Ross, and first performed in New York in 1989 and now performed internationally. Overview The show is a revue of the close-harmony "guy groups" (''e.g.'' The Four Aces, The ...

''. He also served six years with the Los Angeles Pops and also teaches music sight and ear training for LA's Musicians Institute. He married fellow Welk star

Mary Lou Metzger Mary Lou Metzger (born November 13, 1950) is an American singer and dancer best known as a cast member on ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. Metzger was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only child of Ernie and Helen Metzger. The family moved to Ha ...

16 June 1973. They reside in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloof, Richard 1940 births Living people American bass guitarists American classical tubists American people of Lebanese descent Musicians from Sacramento, California Los Angeles City College alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni California State University, Sacramento alumni United States Army soldiers Lawrence Welk 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Los Angeles 21st-century tubists

See also

References