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The proposed television documentary Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents is a biography of one America’s most enduring musical legends.

This documentary depicts the life of Louis Weertz, born in Omaha, Nebraska, October 1, 1924 and follows his journey as he becomes Roger Williams the number one top charting pianist in the history of the record business. The son of a Lutheran minister and college professor, raised in Des Moines, Iowa, his success has earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and 18 gold and platinum albums. He has performed for nine Presidents beginning with Harry Truman earning him the distinguished title of Pianist to the Presidents.

Young Roger started playing the piano at the age of three and by the time he was 12 years old he could play 13 instruments. As a teenager he had his own radio program from the local department store’s tea room.

Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Roger enlisted in the US Navy. While in boot camp he almost ended his musical career by nearly losing a finger in a gun

accident. At the end of training the fellow men in his company recognized Roger’s grit, stamina and determination and honored him with his most prized honor of all, the man of warsman trophy.

The Navy decided Roger was officer material and sent him to Idaho State University for officer’s training in the V-12 program. After the war ended Roger enrolled back in ISU to finish his engineering degree and met Joy Dunsmoor whom he married. The newlyweds followed Roger’s musical dreams to New York where he initially failed in his bid for show business success. In a dreary one room basement apartment on Long Island, the pianist’s family now included a little girl Laura.

“The only furniture we had was a crib for Laura, a tiny cot for Joy and the floor for me,” remembers Roger.

Roger agreed to accompany a young singer at an audition for Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. When she didn’t show, Roger auditioned for the show himself and ended up winning that show and the Chance of a Lifetime program. The appearances led to a full time job at the prestigious Forest Hills Inn, site of the US Open tennis championships.

One night an enterprising young record label owner, Dave Kapp happened to see Roger perform and signed him to his new record label. The first recording effort, a solo album received great critical reviews but did little in the way of sales.

Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents

Then one day Kapp asked Williams to record a song at the end of a recording session for singer Jane Morgan. Roger had only a couple of days to learn the song and write the arrangement. “Kapp asked me if I knew Autumn Leaves. And I said, ‘You mean Falling Leaves?’ I didn’t even know the song, and that’s why I open up with the thirds which I wanted to sound like falling leaves.”

The first take was 3 minutes and five seconds, during a time that disc jockeys would not play a record more than three minutes long. With only a few minutes left in the session Roger played the thirds a little faster and the second take came in at two minutes and fifty-nine seconds. History was made, and Autumn Leaves still stands as the greatest selling piano recording of all time.

Shortly after Roger’s rise to popularity, he was contacted by a fellow pianist and fan, former President Harry Truman. While performing in Kansas City, Roger was invited by Truman to come to his office in Independence, MO and play for him.

“Here I was face to face with my former Commander in Chief. It was quite an experience. I took requests from President Truman, and he surprised me by asking for all the classics from Bach to Debussy,” says Roger.

“When I finished he said, ‘Roger, now I’m going to play for you.’ I expected him to play something like the Missouri Waltz. However he sat down and performed Chopin’s C Sharp Minor Waltz and he played beautifully.”

“I turned to him and said, ‘Mr. President you would have made a great pianist.’ And he shot right back at me, ‘A hell of a lot of people wish I had stuck with it!’”

The meeting with Truman was the beginning of what was to become a long and continuing association with our Chief Executives. Not long after, Roger was called to perform at the White House. “I was thrilled to meet IKE and Mamie. They couldn’t have been more wonderful. IKE’s favorite song was Autumn Leaves.”

When the decade turned and the Kennedys came to White House, Roger found he had two very ardent fans in the President and First Lady. They collected all of Roger’s albums and traveled with a portable record player.

“On November 22, 1963, the Kennedys were getting ready in their hotel suite in Fort Worth for the big parade in Dallas. The President was playing my recording of Yellow Bird on the turntable. It was the last music he ever heard.”

Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents

“LBJ was bigger than life. When I first shook hands with him he yanked me and we were standing face to face and he said, “Roger do you know The Yellow Rose of Texas?’ I replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ And he said, ‘Good, I don’t want any of that classical crap!’

“Lady Bird was so nice and she was a real powerhouse, LBJ really relied on her. She was smart, strong and very perceptive. Her favorite song was San Antonio Rose.”

Roger first met Richard Nixon when he was Vice President. They had remained friends through the years and once President Nixon moved into the White House he called for Roger in what was to be the first of many performances.

“Nixon was aware of every detail around him. He also did his homework to know something about every guest who attended a White House function. He always asked about my wife and children, by name,” said Roger.

“He also was a pretty good piano player and loved to play God Bless America. He even composed some music during the time he left politics after he lost the Governorship of California in 1962.”

Roger was also very friendly with Pat Nixon and played her favorite song The Rose for her when she was dying of Cancer in 1993.

President Nixon in his book, In the Arena, named Roger as one of a handful of friends who stood by him during the dark days of Watergate.

“He was a very complicated guy, but probably one of the most brilliant Presidents we ever had. He lost it all when he tried to protect his administration and friends over Watergate.”

After Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 Roger was playing the White House and sitting next to Congressman Gerald Ford who was just announced by Nixon as his pick for the Vice Presidency.

“Jerry turned to me and said ‘Rog, how am I going to handle this?’ Then flashed that great grin of his and hit me on the shoulder. Both Jerry and Betty Ford were two of the most down to earth people in the world.”

The next occupant of the White House was a little known Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter. Both Roger and President Carter are born on the same day, October 1, 1924.

Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents

“We celebrated our 80th birthdays together in 2004 when I performed a 12 hour marathon in his beautiful library in Atlanta. My fondest memory was when Jimmy and Rosalyn got up and danced when I played Margie.”

“To me, Jimmy Carter has been our greatest former President from building homes with Habitat for Humanity to helping to wipe out disease around the world with the work of the Carter Center.”

Roger fist met Ronald Reagan when he was known as Dutch Reagan the radio sports announcer in Des Moines and Roger was a child prodigy with his own radio program. He first played for the Reagans when they were Governor and First Lady of California.

“Their song was Our Love Is Here to Stay and that says it all. I never met two people more meant to be together then they were. Their love grew stronger every day.”

“George and Barbara Bush are just a class act. He loves for me to play Bring Him Home from Les Miserables which I first played during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.”

Roger performs his annual birthday marathons at Presidential Libraries around the country. He has donated a concert Steinway to both the Nixon and Reagan libraries. In 2008 he was honored with the Pianist to the Presidents Award at the Nixon Library.

This documentary will show Roger’s dizzying popularity and remarkable career with clips from This Is Your Life, Edward R. Murrow’s Person To Person, The Perry Como Show and The Merv Grffin Show among others.

On camera interviews with family, friends and associates including his daughters Laura and Alice, pianists Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, former Presidents George Bush and Jimmy Carter, Art Linkletter, Wink Martindale, Dr. Robert Schuller, Tony Orlando, Bob Barker and Roger’s longtime personal manager Dale Sheets.

This documentary follows the 53 years since that first hit record right up to today showing the 84 year old pianist still at the top of his game touring in front of sold-out audiences.

The story also shows the adversity and sorrow behind the scenes. Roger’s two ex-wives died of Cancer, his son Jim died of a heart attack and Roger is almost forced to end his career due to a problem with the joint in the thumb of his hand which he originally injured in a boxing accident.

Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents

In 2004, Steinway & Sons honored Roger by building the Roger Williams Autumn Leaves Gold Piano. It is the only piano Steinway has named for an artist in their 150 year history.

Through it all Roger has prevailed and triumphed from the Hollywood Bowl to Carnegie Hall. Roger Williams is the Pianist to the Presidents.

Roger Williams: Pianist to the Presidents