Kathie Sullivan

Kathie Sullivan was an American-born singer who appeared on television's The [Lawrence Welk Show] from 1976 to 1982.

Biography

Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Sullivan began singing in church and later at George Nelson Tremper High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin where she sang in the choir and also played cello in the orchestra.

She was discovered by Lawrence Welk while attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was the local Miss Champagne Lady in a show that went on the road. She was hired by Welk in 1976 just 9 credits short of finishing her Bachelor’s Degree, which she ultimately completed as an adult while raising her family. On the Welk Show she sang numerous solos, and often was paired with Dick Dale in various numbers.
As a Christian music artist, she released several Gospel music albums and has performed for charitable originations as World Vision. Kathie also performed in a one-woman show as Jane [Herbert Wilkinson Long|Jane Long] around her home in Dallas, Texas.
she continued to perform, mostly at retirement communities for seniors, and has hosted wraparounds for Welk repeats aired on PBS.

Once believed to be romantically involved with Andy Kaufman, with whom she appeared on a 1981 episode of Fridays, she married her high school boyfriend Hugh Tollack in 1986,and had a daughter, but they divorced in 1999, Sullivan had several nervous breakdowns, On October 23 2007 she was found dead aged 54 at her home. The cause of death was an overdose of barbiturates, and a coroner later concluded that it was a case of suicide