Posted on 05/11/2011 9:31:32 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES – Norma Zimmer, the "Champagne Lady" of TV's "The Lawrence Welk Show" and a studio singer who worked with Frank Sinatra and other pop stars, has died. She was 87.
Zimmer died peacefully Tuesday at her Brea, Calif., home, Welk's son, Larry, said Wednesday. Larry Welk didn't know the cause of death but said Zimmer had been living an active life in recent years.
"She was one of the most gracious, likable people that anyone could ever meet. The other people on the show, to this day, just respect and love her," Larry Welk said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I can hear Lawrence Welk now..
Thannnk You Norma!! Wunnerful Wunnerful!!!
God bless, and thanks for the beautiful music
One of the earliest memories of my childhood was watching “The Lawrence Welk Show” with my Mom and Dad on Saturday night, and hearing this beautiful Christian lady’s remarkable voice. I loved her duets with Jimmy Roberts. R.I.P. “Champagne Lady.”
How America has changed.
A cop hating rapper just performed in our White House.
Amen.
RIP, beautiful lady.
Another favorite of mine, Bill Gallo, the sports cartoonist, also passed away today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/business/media/12gallo.html
I remember the Lawrence Welk Show when I was young. My grandparents wouldn’t budge from their chairs. My dad could take it or leave it except the St. Patrick Day shows, which he loved.
Norma’s father taught violin to my great-uncle. My great-uncle enjoyed playing violin and continued well into his 80’s. We grew up watching Lawrence Welk’s show as kids. It was pretty wholesome entertainment and a music appreciation class as far as the many tunes and songs that were performed.
With the magnificent tenor Joe Feeney singing a great old Irish tune. He passed sometime in the last year or so. About the only one’s remaining from the 50s-early 60s (the best years of Welk IMHO) are the “lovely Lennon Sisters.” (sigh)
One of my oldest aunts would watch the re-runs of the show in the early 90’s. She thought Lawrence Welk was still alive and would get tears in her eyes when the show came on. None of us had the heart to tell he’d been dead for years and she was watching re-runs. She never caught on.
I agree....rest in peace, Mrs. Zimmer!
Yes, Dad wouldn’t miss him. What a voice. Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories.
“Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehn...Goodnight!”
A cop hating rapper just performed in our White House.
We've gone to hell.
Our poor kids.
AMEN! AMEN!
WUNNERFUL WUNNERFUL!
Yep, me too...every Saturday night. My mom, now in her 70’s, DVR’s it off public TV these days.
My father couldn’t believe it when he found out that Guy and Ralna had been divorced for over 20 years. He had a hard time accepting that.
Sorry to hear of Norma’s passing. She was a great one.
Norma Zimmer (Short Bio) - His Eye Is On The Sparrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3se8SkR2GNM&feature=related
My Aunt and Norma Zimmer were friends..My aunt will be thrilled to see her again.My aunt died in 2000...I have pictures of them together.She indeed was a gracious lady.
Oh wow, just seeing her name brings back such memories of my grandparents. I instantly smelled my grandfather’s tobacco. We always watched the show together, and listened to all the albums. I LOVED Norma Zimmer when I was little. I thought she and Julie Andrews were the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. I’m glad she is with the Lord. She was such a powerful witness for Christ.
My parents had 2 favorites. Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw. They’d have a glass of buttermilk with cornbread during the show. Those memories sadden me now. As an earlier post pointed out...”A cop hating rapper just performed in our White House”.
My folks never could’ve imagined such an atrocity.
He had a hard time accepting that.
Of course he did. He was a good, moral man.
We’ve gone to hell.
Our poor kids.
I have a little 13 month old grandson. I try not to think of what he’s going to face. We must keep up the fight for them.
Not that this will surprise anyone, but a lovelier, more kind and gracious, down-to-earth lady you could never hope to meet.
Rest in peace, Norma.
I get all choked up just thinking about it...
I used to watch Lawrence Welk with my grandma, who has now been dead for nearly 13 years. I must have been about 7 years old.
When my oldest child was a toddler, we were at the local town to watch fireworks, and he was fussy, and I started to sing him the “Goodnight” song, and an older lady looked at me in amazement that I could possibly know it.
I hated the LW show when I was a kid. Now every so often I watch it and enjoy it, especially the older shows. I wish they would run reruns with the the Lennon Sisters. When they were on I was really young and liked them. Norma sure was angelic like.
RIP Norma....I remember watching you on tv with my parents. You always looked beautiful.
RIP.
You mean the "luffly" Lennon sisters.
Exactly.
When I was a kid, I wondered why “Choe” Feeney had such a strange first name...
A few weeks ago we were keeping our 3 year old granddaughter for the weekend, and she's a never ending bundle of energy and excitement. As I was flipping the channels, and as she was running around and playing between me and the TV, I came across one of those old episodes. I told my wife let's conduct a little experiment and see if that show would have the same effect on our granddaughter as it did on our kids, so I left the TV on that show. In less than five minutes our granddaughter who had been running around the room like a wild indian (yes, I'm un-PC) was sitting cross-legged on the floor absolutely mezmerized by the show from start to finish, just like our kids were 20+ years ago.
I'd challenge other FReepers to try this little experiment with their young kids or grandkids and report back their results. I've decided that the show is a shock to kids systems today because it projects an atmosphere of civility, calmness, and beautiful music and talent that is so antithetical to what kids are exposed to in today's crude, coarse, and vulgar entertainment environment.
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