Bobby Burgess
Bobby's dancing career goes back to when he was a four-year-old child and took dancing lessons. By the time he was 11, he had appeared in some 75 television shows in Los Angeles. An agent saw him and called the station and got him signed. By 13, he was a member of Walt Disney's original troupe of Mouseketeers for the next four years.
At a dancing school in his native Long Beach, California, fate stepped in and found a ready-made partner for him, Barbara Boylan, (another school member), when their teacher paired them in ballroom dancing. Ideal dance partners from the very outset, they vied against countless other ballroom couples in competitions waged all over the country, finally scoring a grand coup by being named King and Queen of the national Grand Medal Ball, over some 11,000 who had competed.
Following this, the duo entered Lawrence Welk's "Calcutta Dance Contest," and Bobby's especially-created routine won top honors for them, netting them a guest appearance on Lawrence's nationwide television show. That was in April, 1951, and an avalanche of favorable mail flooded the Welk offices, resulting in Bobby and Barbara joining the show six months later.
"I was practically forced into hiring them," recalls Welk. "Every time we recorded a new song, they'd create a special dance routine, and the viewers' reaction was simply tremendous. Actually, they really created a job with us for themselves!"
Bobby, the second of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Burgess, was born on May 19, and when he was 11, he was offered his first professional job, and appeared on a local Long Beach TV show for 13 weeks. He also performed on the "Donna Reed Show," "Ozzie and Harriet," and many other national programs and commercials.
While at Disney, he attended studio school through the 11th grade. In his senior year of high school, he rejoined his former classmates at Polytechnic High in Long Beach, and graduated in the upper 2 percent of his class in 1959. That fall, he entered Cal State University, Long Beach.
When Barbara left the Welk Show in 1967 to be married, Bobby searched and found Cissy King, of Albuquerque, who became his new dancing partner. Together, they continued the tradition as the dancing stars of the Welk Show.
Meanwhile, Bobby met Kristie Floren, daughter of Welk Show accordionist Myron Floren, and married her in 1971. They now have 4 children: Becki Jane, born 1976; Robert Floren, born 1979; Wendi Ellen, born 1983; and Brenton Christopher, born 1986.
When Cissy left the Welk Show in December, 1978, Bobby searched again for a suitable dancing partner. His nationwide search for a likely partner to meet the demanding standards was met by Elaine Balden, his current partner. Elaine's versatility of Latin and ballroom dancing, jazz, ballet, singing and "the right look" and size and personality, have made her the ideal partner for Bobby.
Bobby and his partners have been playing a rigorous schedule of theatres, fairs, nightclubs, dance conventions and club dates.
Bobby is also a spokesman for Disneyland, touring the US, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. "It's a tough schedule," Bobby admits, "but the rewards are great, and it gives me an opportunity to meet in person the thousands of folks who watch us each week."
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