Jayne Walton Rosen

Personal

Vocation

American entertainer, singer and actress, who worked as Lawrence Welk's Champagne Lady from 1940 until 1945. After high school, Dorothy Flanagan performed at talent shows and sang on local radio in the San Antonio area. Having heard one of her radio performances, musician Lawrence Welk asked her to join his band, the Lawrence Welk Orchestra. Welk named Walton as his Champagne Lady in the early 1940s during World War II. Walton, who could sing in Spanish due to her childhood in Coahuila, recorded the song Maria Elena with Welk, which was certified gold. Walton left the Lawrence Welk Orchestra in the mid-1940s to pursue a solo singing career. She enjoyed success in Chicago and New York City. She largely retired from the professional entertainment circuit in 1952, when she married her husband and adopted the name Jayne Walton Rosen. She continued to make guest appearances on Welk's long-running television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. Rosen suffered from failing health during her later years, including heart disease and kidney disease, which required dialysis. She died in San Antonio on 10 January 2010, at the age of 92. She was survived by a son and grandchildren. Link to Wikipedia biography