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 Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia *Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre * Glendale, Queensland, ...

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 largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

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 envisio ...

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 A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

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, G2, ...

, 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 Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

' 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 (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

''. In 1969, she recorded the album ''Let It Be Me'' which was released by Ranwood Records. 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. H ...

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