Myron Floren (November 5, 1919 – July 23, 2005) was an American accordionist, most famous as a regular performer and assistant conductor on The Lawrence Welk Show between 1950 and 1980.
Floren made his professional debut at the Day County Fair when he was only eight. He later went on to study music at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, where he earned extra money by giving accordion lessons (he would eventually marry one of his students, Berdyne). In 1939, Floren got his own radio show on the local station KSOO, playing mostly polkas and Scandinavian-style waltzes as “The Melody Man” and teaching accordion in the area. He attempted to enlist in the Air Force during World War II, but was turned down because of complications from a near-fatal bout with rheumatic fever in his early teens; instead, he joined the USO and entertained troops near the European front with notable stars such as Lily Pons and Marlene Dietrich. In 1946, he and his wife moved to St. Louis, where he performed regularly on local radio with a country band called the Buckeye Four; he also made his television debut locally in 1948.
In 1950, Floren and his wife attended a performance by Lawrence Welk, whom Floren had admired since Welk's days on South Dakota radio. Welk had also heard of Floren, and invited him on-stage to do a number. Floren launched into a version of "Lady of Spain" that drew a loud ovation from the crowd, and Welk offered him a job with his band. "Lady of Spain" also became Floren's trademark song and he played it countless times on the Welk show. Floren went on tour for the next year, until Welk settled the band into a regular local television spot in Southern California.
The Lawrence Welk Show was picked up nationally by ABC in 1955, and Floren assumed a highly prominent role second only to the host himself. Floren and Welk were both accordion players who shared a taste for polka, and Floren was featured on a polka number virtually every week; plus, he served as the Welk band's manager and as an assistant conductor, directing the band when Welk himself picked up his instrument.
When ABC canceled the series in 1971, Welk secured a syndication deal that kept the show on over 200 stations until 1982, and Floren stayed for the duration of its run. In the mid-1970s, Floren formed an orchestra of his own while still employed by the Welk organization. Headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, the Myron Floren Orchestra played during the Welk show's off-season and during holiday breaks, becoming a regional favourite.
Floren released some two dozen albums over the years, most of them on Welk's Ranwood label. His recordings emphasized polkas and waltzes, some of them original Floren compositions. He teamed with upstate New York polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr and wrote new music with him. Floren's list of compositions includes "Skating Waltz in Swing,""Swingin' in Vienna,""Kavallo's Kapers,""Windy River,""Dakota Polka,""Long Long Ago in Swing,""Minute Waltz in Swing," and "Accordion Man Polka." In 1981 Floren penned an autobiography, Accordion Man , with his daughter Randee.
After the Welk show went off the air, Floren expanded his touring commitments, playing with big bands around the country and making regular appearances at festivals and ethnic events. At a 1980 performance at Norsk Høstfest in Minot, North Dakota, Floren mentioned that he had a heart valve replacement (from a pig's heart) two years earlier. Floren continued to perform on the road, as many as 200 days a year, either as a solo artist, with his orchestra, or with other members of the Welk Show cast. He is also shown playing in the music video 'Can't Cry Anymore' by the band Kansas.
Floren was among the first class of inductees into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in 1984 and inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1990. Among the annual events which he headlined were the German Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida; the Wurstfest and his birthday in New Braunfels, Texas; and the PolkaFest at the Welk Resort in Branson, Missouri.
In 1998, Floren suffered a small stroke; although he recovered completely, his treatment revealed the presence of colon cancer, for which he underwent surgery. He was able to return to the road for a time, but further health problems began to affect his ability to maintain such a busy schedule. He died of cancer on July 23, 2005, at age 85 in his home in Rolling Hills Estates, California. (Edited from AllMusic &Wikipedia)