Ken Delo sells hypnosis tapes and a self-published novel the Lennons sell dolls Ava Barber opened a sandwich shop, etc., etc. And they are all trying to find ways to make more money. They were famous for the brief time they appeared on the show and now have to base their entire careers on their status as a 'former Welk star' as they appear on cruise ships, small nightclubs, etc. If you watch the PBS rebroadcasts and reunion shows, it's a little sad to see these performers today. He later went to prison for molesting one of his young male piano students, but he's out of prison now and apparently nobody on the show holds it against him, as he frequently appears on Welk reunion specials. I don't know if there were any other gays on the show, but piano player Bob Ralston was married to the harshest looking Dutch lady you ever saw. Former umpire Dave Pallone came out in 1990. But he's not the first umpire to come out as gay. Kathie Lee outed him in her autobiography when she wrote about her first husband, who was gay and 'lived with a gay performer on the Lawrence Welk Show.' Dale Scott became the first active umpire to publicly came out as gay on Tuesday. He was also the only performer on the show that I ever saw go up on his lyrics (ironically, it was 'Young at Heart' which begins, 'Fairy tales can come true.' and then he froze and went, 'buh-buh-buh-buh.' He forgot more lyrics later in the song. Tom Netherton used to sweat so much on the show that I'm surprised he didn't get electrocuted by the microphone.
