Lawrence Welk was born on the 11th March 1903, in The Bronx, New York City USA, and was a musician, television host and impresario, best known to the world as the host of his own show “The Lawrence Welk Show”, which aired from 1955 until 1982. Lawrence passed away in May 1992.
Have you ever wondered how rich Lawrence Welk was, at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Lawrence’s net worth was as high as $8 million, an amount he acquired through his successful career in the entertainment industry.
Lawrence Welk Net Worth $8 Million
Lawrence was of German and Ukrainian ancestry, as his parents were immigrants who settled in Strasburg, North Dakota. Lawrence was the third youngest of eight children born to Ludwig and Christiana Welk.
Growing up poor on a family farm, Lawrence left school in order to help his family. As he grew older, he fell in love with music, and was able to persuade his father to by him an accordion, but on the condition that Lawrence would work on the farm until 21 and all the money he would earn he would give to his father.
When he turned 21, Lawrence left the family home, and proudly began to pursue a career in music. In the beginning he played with big bands of North and South Dakota, before eventually starting a band of his own. In the 1930s, he became more confident in his talents, and led his own band touring across the USA. Little by little his name became more and more known in the music scene, mostly in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas, however, in the 1940s he and his band were regular guests at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, and later in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. Before the end of the 1940s, the band had its own show on the ABC network, which lasted until 1951.
Lawrence started his own record label called Ranwood Records with Randy Wood, through which he released the majority of his songs. During his musical career, Lawrence released over 50 singles, many of which increased his popularity and net worth. Some of the most popular include “”I Won’t Tell a Soul”, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “The Moon Is a Silver Dollar” No. 7, “Don’t Sweetheart Me” No 2., Oh Happy Day”, which was on the No. 5, “Calcutta”, an instrumental that topped the chart, and “Southtown, USA”, which was his last recording.
In 1955, he started his own show, “The Lawrence Welk Show”, which firstly aired only in Los Angeles for the first few years, however, from 1959 until 1982 it was aired nationally through the ABC network. It was a variety music show, which brought immense popularity to Lawrence, and was the main source of his net worth.
Because of his successful career and contribution to both television and music, Lawrence received numerous awards, including two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1994, among many other awards.
Lawrence`s net worth also benefited from his career as a businessman, investing in numerous industries and companies, including real estate and music publishing, among others.
Lawrence died at his home, age 89, from bronchopneumonia; he left behind his wife of 71 years Fern Veronica Renner, and their three children.
