Biography

In the early 1990s the U.S. Congress refused federal funding to restore Welk's boyhood home in Strasburg, ND, as a museum. His many still loyal fans, hearing of this, donated the money themselves, and to this day the Welk Home and Museum has been restored and maintained entirely by private funds.

Registered his car with a vanity license plate that read "A1 AN A2".

A common misconception is that Welk did not learn English until he was 21. In fact, he began learning English as soon as he started school. The part of North Dakota where he lived had been settled largely by Germans from Russia; even his teachers spoke English as a second language.

His show was initially canceled by ABC-TV in 1971, after 17 years as a Saturday night perennial on the network, because of a question of viewer demographics. Advertisers and networks were convinced that they should gear their shows to younger, urban audiences, who were thought to have the buying power, and Welk's audience was simply considered too old. In what was then considered a bold move, Welk began producing shows for first-run syndication, and by the start of the 1971 fall season he was back on the air, where he remained until he retired 11 years later. Ironically, many of the stations that carried his show were local ABC affiliates.

Welk's grandson, Larry Welk (aka Lawrence Welk III), is an airborne traffic and breaking news reporter in "Sky Nine" helicopter for KCAL-TV, Ch 9, Los Angeles. He is also owner/operator of the Welk Resort in Branson, MO.