Bob Ralston

Bob Ralston
Born Robert Howard Ralston
(1938-07-02) July 2, 1938
Upland, California
Nationality American
Occupation Musician
Known for Pianist on The Lawrence Welk Show
Spouse(s)
Josephine C. Tangel "Fietje" Ralston (m. 1963)
Children

Randy Ralston

Dianne Ralston Cate
Parent(s) Bradford and Marjorie Elizabeth Norton Ralston
Relatives

Actor Howard Ralston (uncle)
Esther Ralston (aunt)

Field Cate (grandson)

Robert Howard Ralston (born July 2, 1938, in Upland, California) is an American pianist and organist who performed on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1963 until 1982, when the series ended.[1][2]

Career

A native of San Bernardino County in Southern California, Ralston graduated from Montebello High School in 1955 and attended Wheaton College in Illinois on a full music scholarship. Before finishing his degree, he transferred to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, from which he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and accompanying in 1964. During his college years, Ralston played six nights a week with the Freddy Martin orchestra (1959-1962) at Los Angeles's Coconut Grove nightclub, where in 1962, Welk invited him on his show as a guest musician.

Playing with Freddy Martin lasted until the summer of 1963, when one of Welk's original pianists, Jerry Burke, fell ill and soon died, and Ralston was hired on a permanent basis. The Welk programs feature Ralston's piano and organ solos, but they frequently include his performances as a singer, dancer, and comedian. He arranged music and continued to perform for the Music Makers live and on television until 1982 when Welk retired from active performing. Since 1988, he has been the pianist and organist for the Founders Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles, an affiliate of the Centers for Spiritual Living.[3]

Throughout his career, Ralston has recorded several hundred albums; many of them as a solo artist or with bandleaders, including Welk, Ray Conniff, and Billy Vaughn. He has also been active in the preservation of theater pipe organs across America and has been a guest conductor for several symphony orchestras. Ralston appeared as host in a 1999 PBS rerun of Lawrence Welk's "Time" show. He still holds regular concerts in his home with various guest vocalists.

Family

Ralston and his Dutch-born wife, Fietje (born in 1946 as Josephine C. Tangel) have been married fifty-five years — since March 3, 1963. They have a son and daughter, Randy Ralston (age 54) and Dianne Cate (age 51.[4] The Ralstons reside in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

Ralston's parents were Bradford Ralston and the former Marjorie Elizabeth Norton (1911–1998), an early cartoonist for Walt Disney. In 1928, Disney hired her as an inker, the thirteenth person employed by the new company. She was the second voice actor for Minnie Mouse in the 1929 series Wild Waves.[5] Disney, himself, in 1928, was the first voice of Minnie Mouse.[4] Ralston's brother, Frederick Carleton "Rick" Ralston (born August 25, 1941), founded Crazy Shirts in Honolulu, Hawaii. His paternal aunt and uncle, Esther Ralston and Howard Ralston (1904-1992), were actors. His grandson, Field Cate, is also an actor.[4]

References

  1. ↑ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, by Tim Brooks, Earle Marsh, Ballantine Books (2003), pg. 669; OCLC 53228840; ISBN 978-0345455420 (retrieved August 17, 2011)
  2. ↑ "Lawrence Welk Organist To Perform At PalaceMarion Star, December 6, 1979, pg. 2 (retrieved via www.newspapers.com/image/294272735)
  3. ↑ "Musicians". Founders Church of Religious Science. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Marjorie Ralston Biography," IMDb (www.imdb.com) (retrieved May 13, 2016)
  5. ↑ "Voice of Minnie Mouse Leaves Legacy of Art" (obituary), by Lori Tighe, Star-Bulletin, August 4, 1998.
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