Bobby Burgess

Education

Burgess attended Southern California Military Academy in Long Beach for his elementary and junior high school.

Career

He was one of the original Mouseketeers. Later, he was a regular on the The Lawrence Welk Show. Growing up in Southern California, Burgess first started performing at age five, which included dancing, singing and playing the accordion.

In 1955 he was selected as one of the original Mouseketeers by Walt Disney to appear on his new American Broadcasting Company television series, The Mickey Mouse Club, giving young Burgess his first taste of celebrity.

He also guest starred on The Donna Reed Show as a suitor of Mary Stone (Shelley Fabares). When the series ended in 1959, Burgess returned to a normal teenager"s life, completing high school.

After their initial appearance, Burgess and Boylan continued to guest on the maestro"s show for the next few weeks, either dancing to Calcutta or to the orchestra"s next hit song Yellow Bird. He did song-and-dance numbers with Arthur Duncan and Jack Imel and co-hosted, with Mary Lou Metzger, wraparound segments on The Lawrence Welk Show"s Public Broadcasting Service reruns in 2010.

Burgess still dances when he is touring with Elaine Balden, and at his own dance studio, where he instructs young students.

He is the cotillion instructor at Miraleste, Palos Verdes and Ridgecrest Intermediate Schools. The couple today lives in Hollywood Hills and are the parents of four children.

Achievements

• They won the contest and first prize was an appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show, which appeared nationally on American Broadcasting Company.

Membership

The positive fan response led to Welk hiring the dance couple as permanent members of the show, which was described by the maestro as having created a job for themselves.