Ken Welch

Ken Welch was a composer and musician.

Welch began his professional career in the late 1950s working with Carol Burnett, accompanying her on piano at auditions, and writing songs for her nightclub act.

In the early 1960s, Welch was hired to work on Garry Moore's CBS variety show, on which Burnett regularly performed, and he created a 1962 CBS special, Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, featuring Burnett and Julie Andrews. Welch wrote musical numbers for 1963's An Evening With Carol Burnett, and in 1970, he and his wife, Marilyn, moved to Los Angeles to work on Burnett's eponymous variety show starting with its fifth season.

Welch continued to work with Burnett on numerous television specials, the most recent being a 2005 adaptation of Once Upon a Mattress, the show which marked Burnett’s Broadway debut in 1959.

Additionally, Welch wrote and produced material for Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Dolly Parton, Linda Lavin, Burt Bacharach, Suzanne Somers, The Carpenters, Hal Linden, and Bob Hope.

Welch was nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five.

Welch died January 26, 2019, in Encino, California. He was 92.