Stars of the Lawrence Welk Show With Biographies of Cast & Crew

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Billy Wright was a violinist on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1961. Wright was born in Oklahoma City, OK on February 13, 1917. First taking up the violin at a young age, he attended the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) where he played in the symphony and became a concert master. "Smiling Billy" as he was known, left for California in the 1940s to play for Bob Wills and later Spade Cooley. He joined the Welk Orchestra in 1955, the same year the Maestro's show debuted on national television and for the next six years was part of TV's most popular string section which included Aladdin, Dick Kesner, Bob Lido, Kurt Dietrle and and Jimmy Getzhoff.

Due to illness, Billy left the show in 1961 and passed on in 1975. He was the father of two children.

In this clip below, Billy Wright plays "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles":