Actor

Writer

Singer

Dancer

Musician

Bob was born and raised in Marion, the youngest of five Walton kids, all of whom attended MHS: Rich, Joan, Jim, and Nancy. Their parents, Lee and Barbara Walton, provided exposure and lessons in all things music, dance, and theater in Marion and beyond. Bob was lucky to be a part of many Civic Theatre shows as well as a couple of high school musical productions when he was in elementary school. Growing up seeing his older siblings in the bands, show choirs and musicals made him impatient to want to get to MHS. Bob was in The Choral Company, directed by Linda Sandrich, where not only did he sing and dance, but he also arranged many choral pieces and performed songs he had written. Through his high school years, Bob formed a quartet with other MHS students, who performed all around the Marion area. After attending the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as a musical theater major, Bob married Laurie Amari, a singer/actor from Battle Creek, Mich., and they moved to New York City. Some of his favorite theater credits include A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (national tour with Mickey Rooney) and Babes In Arms (directed by Ginger Rogers). On Broadway, Bob was in City of Angels, Showboat (with wife Laurie), Once Upon A Mattress (with Sarah Jessica Parker), 42nd Street, and The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 (alongside his brother Jim.) Bob has also appeared on many television shows, including Newhart, Law, and Order: SVU, Person of Interest, The Americans, Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, and Elementary. A credit he is very proud of is with his sister Joan: They transcribed the Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell dance Begin The Beguine, from the movie Broadway Melody of 1940. Bob orchestrated it and the two of them danced while the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, conducted by Keith Lockhart, played. Bob has written several shows with his brother Jim, including My Brother’s Keeper, *Double Trouble (A Musical Tour de Farce), *Mid-Life! (The Crisis Musical), *Mid-Life 2! #WhatDidIComeInHereFor?, and A Day In Gloucester. (*Indicates shows licensed with The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.) Bob is also the co-author of the Off-Broadway play Game Show (licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide), and he wrote Can You Dig It?, which was performed at MHS in 2010 (under the title, That 70s Musical!) Laurie is the head of performing arts at the YM-YWHA in Riverdale, New York, where she directs many different theater groups and Bob musically directs. They have two very talented adult children who also act: Emily Walton and Alex Walton.