Carson Wayne Newton appears as a contestant in the fifth season of the ABC network’s celebrity reality TV dance competition series Dancing with the Stars. He is an American entertainer and singer who was born on April 3, 1942 in Roanoke, Virginia. He is known by the moniker “Mr. Las Vegas” for having performed in over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas for more than four decades. Among his signature songs are “Danke Schoen,” “Years,” and “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast.” Raised in a family of Native American heritage, his father was an Irish-Powhatan auto mechanic while his mother was German-Cherokee.
He trained and learned how to play the guitar, steel guitar, and piano when he was six years old. Accompanying his older brother Jerry Newton, the two of them performed together with the Grand Ole Opry road shows, performing for the likes of U.S. president Harry S Truman. However, Newton also suffered from severe asthma attacks periodically. He eventually became famous after performing repeatedly on The Jackie Gleason Show, and earned the admiration and respect of iconic show business figures such as Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas, and George Burns. He was also hired by Jack Benny to be a regular opening act for Benny’s show.
Cheryl Burke and Wayne Newton
(Photos courtesy of ABC)