Tanya Falan Welk (born May 4, 1948) is an American singer who appeared on ''
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 1968 to 1977.
Born and raised in
Glendale,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, Tanya began singing at age four at her uncle's
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
restaurant. As a teenager, she worked at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
where she had her own band known as Tanya and the Thunderbirds. While in high school, she developed her skills with other instruments such as the
drums,
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...
, bass and
xylophone
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...
in addition to singing.
Tanya made her Welk show debut on New Year's Eve 1967, and shortly afterwards was made a regular member of the cast. A few months later in the summer of 1968, she also became a member of
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 ...
's own family when she married his son Larry, Jr. The couple had two sons,
Lawrence Welk, III (born 1970) and Kevin (born 1971).
During her tenure on the show, she sang solo numbers and in many group numbers, pairing with
Anacani
"Anacani" María Consuelo Castillo-López y Cantor-Montoya (born April 10, 1954) is a Mexican singer best known as a featured performer on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' television program.http://www.welkshow.net Stars of the Lawrence Welk Show
Born ...
as a duo and often as a trio with fellow Italian-American music makers
Bob Lido
Robert Lido (September 21, 1914 – August 9, 2000) was an American musician and singer who was a regular member of television's '' The Lawrence Welk Show''. His instrument was the violin.
Life and career
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, he began ...
and
Charlie Parlato
Charles Parlato (February 16, 1919 – September 8, 2007) was an American musician who performed with the Lawrence Welk orchestra. His instrument was the trumpet.
Bio
Born and raised in Fredonia, New York, Charlie studied music at Ithaca Conser ...
.
Tanya also branched out in other areas of television, making guest appearances on
Jerry Lewis'
Labor Day Telethon and in 1971, guest starred on the
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
General Hospital''.
In 1969, she recorded the album ''Let It Be Me'' 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 ...
.
She left the show in 1977, and two years later (1979) her marriage to Larry Welk ended. In 1980 she married former world champion motorcycle racer and racing team owner,
Kenny Roberts
Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951, in Modesto, California) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...
.
External links
Welk Musical Family.com profile
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falan, Tanya
1948 births
Living people
People from Glendale, California
American women singers
American people of Italian descent
Big band singers
Lawrence Welk