Thomas Harold Netherton Jr. (January 11, 1947 – January 7, 2018), was an American singer. He was known for his tenure on ''
The Lawrence Welk Show''.
Early life
Netherton was born on January 11, 1947, in
Munich, Germany while his father, a
United States Army officer, was stationed there. The eldest of four children, Netherton and his family relocated frequently due to his father's Army career. The Nethertons permanently settled in
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...
in 1961.
After enlisting in the Army during the
Vietnam War, Netherton was stationed in Panama, serving as a 2nd Lieutenant.
He had also decided to pursue a singing career and sang with Army and
Air Force music ensembles. Netherton became a
born again Christian following a sermon he heard at a
Baptist church in Panama, spending a year at the Bethany Fellowship Missionary Training Center in Bloomington after his discharge from the Army. Faced with making a choice between missionary service and a career in entertainment, Netherton chose to follow the same path taken by his idol,
Pat Boone, and became a Christian singer.
Career
Netherton joined the
Lawrence Welk show cast in 1973. His inclusion with Welk's group of entertainers came as a result of a recommendation to Welk by Harold and Sheila Schafer, owners of a North Dakota theater where Netherton had been performing.
Netherton appeared regularly on the Lawrence Welk show from 1973 to 1982. In 1975 he appeared on "The Dating Game", choosing from three bachelorettes. In 1979, he wrote an autobiography titled "In The Morning of My Life".
Apart from his long-time attachment to the Welk program, Netherton recorded both Christian and secular music albums while still on the program and after. His career post-Lawrence Welk included touring and performing around the United States as well as acting in stage musical productions of ''
Oklahoma!'' and ''
Carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
''. During the 1970s and 1980s he appeared on television commercials for
Rose Milk skin care lotion and
Nabisco's
Triscuits
Triscuit is a brand name of snack crackers which take the form of square baked whole wheat wafers. Invented in 1900, a patent was granted in 1902 and the Shredded Wheat Company began production the next year in Niagara Falls, New York.
History ...
crackers. Netherton was a guest on television shows such as
Pat Robertson's ''
The 700 Club'',
Robert Schuller
Robert Harold Schuller (September 16, 1926 – April 2, 2015) was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. In his five decades of television, Schuller was principally known for the weekly '' Hour of P ...
's ''
The Hour of Power
''Hour of Power'' is a weekly American Evangelist television program broadcast from Shepherd's Grove Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, near Los Angeles. It is one of the most watched religious broadcasts in the world, seen by approximat ...
'' and would appear at
Billy Graham religious crusades.
Personal life
As of late 2007, Netherton had been living in
Goshen, Indiana where he performed for holiday programs and entertaining local senior citizens at Greencroft Senior Center.
Netherton never married.
On January 11, 2018, Netherton's younger brother, Brad Netherton, announced on his Facebook page that the singer had died from
pneumonia and the flu on January 7, 2018, at age 70.
An obituary appeared on the Nashville Funeral and Cremation web site.
Discography
*1975: ''My Favorite Hymns''
*1975: ''What a Friend We Have in Jesus''
*1977: ''Love Songs''
*1978: ''Hem of His Garment''
*1979: ''The Lord's Prayer''
*1981: ''Reflection''
*1984: ''Scrap Book''
*1985: ''Songs of the Savior''
*1987: ''The Tom Netherton Christmas Album''
*1992: ''How Great Thou Art''
*1994: ''22 Great Songs Of Faith''
*1995: ''Gospel Favorites''
*1996: ''Just As I Am''
Books
*1979: ''In the Morning of My Life'', autobiography, Tyndale House, 1979.
References
External links
Lawrence Welk Show Website*
Video biography from Welk Stars through the Years, 2009East Coast Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netherton, Tom
1947 births
2018 deaths
American performers of Christian music
American male singers
German emigrants to the United States
People from Bloomington, Minnesota
United States Army soldiers
Lawrence Welk
Deaths from pneumonia in Indiana