The Lennon Sisters grew up on television. Sixteen-year old Dianne (known as Dee Dee to her family), 14-year-old Peggy, 12-year-old Kathy and 9-year-old Janet made their debut on the "Lawrence Welk Show" on Christmas Eve 1955.
They immediately captured the hearts of America, and for the next 13 years they appeared on Welk's show almost every Saturday night. Then they went on to their own show, "Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters Hour." They also became staples on the "Andy Williams Show." They recorded albums, and they toured the country.
America watched as they grew from teenagers to young women to sophisticated ladies who never seemed to let fame and fortune go to their heads.
For the sisters, it was always all about family, says Kathy, who with sisters Janet and Mimi continues to perform regularly at the Welk Champagne Theatre in Branson, Mo.
"Mom and Dad kept our house normal," she said in a telephone chat from her home in Missouri. "It was just a job. We'd go do the show, and then we'd come home and there were diapers to change and dishes to do and homework. We went to a regular school, with the same kids we grew up with."
With nine children in the family, they often had to baby-sit younger siblings and help around the house. "We never looked at ourselves as being stars," added Janet.
Looking back at their 50-year career, however, they realize how remarkable it has been. "We were incredibly blessed to have been working at a time when we got to work with so many great people," said Kathy.
They performed regularly with the likes of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, George Burns, Bing Crosby and Sammy Davis Jr. "To be educated by them was incredible," added Janet. "We have also sung for seven presidents and been to the White House several times. Looking back, it was such a full, full life. But it never took away from our normal existence."
Growing up, Kathy and Janet were always especially close. They were the youngest of the singing group, but even earlier, "we were inseparable," said Kathy. "From playing cowboys to dress-up, we did everything together. Our favorite thing was playing with rag dolls that had been made for us by our mother and grandmother, when Janet was 3 and I was 6. They were so precious to us. Later, we took them on the road with us so we could always have a little bit of home with us. We were best pals, and the dolls were our best pals."
A while back, Kathy and Janet began thinking about doing a CD of their favorite childhood songs for their own grandchildren, and they remembered the dolls they still have. "We thought, what if we re-created them for a new generation of children," said Kathy. "It seemed to us like there was a hole in the toy industry. There are a lot of modern dolls and hi-tech dolls, but not the simple, traditional dolls."
Plus, the two sisters have always loved dolls, and both have doll collections, so it was natural for them to go into the doll business, they say.
In August, they introduced their Best Pal dolls, a brunette doll for Kathy and a blonde doll for Janet, exact replicas — down to the width of the bows and the vintage dress fabric — of their original dolls.
After they did the CD of children's songs, they decided to do another one of Christmas songs. The cover illustrator did a picture of the dolls in red and green, "so we decided we had to do a set of those dolls, too," said Kathy. So, there is also a Christmas pair — Kathy in green and Janet in red — that comes with little white nighties just like the girls wore. "It's been a dream come true for us. It's not always that you get to see a dream come true like that."
The dolls are 16 inches high with embroidered faces and yarn hair that can be styled. All clothes and accessories can be removed for added play. "We loved dressing and changing clothes on our dolls," said Janet. (For more information on the dolls and their availability, visit www.bestpals.net or www.lennonsisters.com.)
In honor of their 50 years in show business, the Lennon Sisters have also released a "50th Anniversary Anthology," a three-CD set (the CDs look like vintage 45s) that contains original recordings from 1955-2005. Included is a picture booklet that provides a visual record of their careers.
They've also released a reproduction of the paper-doll set that came out during the early days of the Lennon Sisters. "So many people come up to us at our shows and comment on the paper dolls they played with," said Janet. "They feel like they know us because of those paper dolls. So we picked one old set and had it reproduced. These are the kind with the paper tabs to fold back, from the days when paper dolls were a huge form of entertainment."
They look at these projects as a way to "give a little back to the fans that have been so incredibly loyal all these years," said Kathy. "We were so little when we started. We had no idea we'd end up where we did."
The girls never did learn to read music. They'd hear songs and then be able to copy them and add harmony — and it was their sweet harmony that seemed to strike a chord with the audience, because it came not only from their voices, but from their hearts. "There's just something about family blends," said Kathy, "that is incredible."
With their father as their coach, they began singing, at first at church, then at school and public gatherings. "At that time, there were eight of us in a two-bedroom house. We thought maybe we could make enough money to add on a dormitory-style bedroom."
Their "big break" came because Dianne went to school with Lawrence Welk Jr., and he had heard them sing. "He called us up one day and told us to come right over to his house. He said he'd been bugging his dad about us, but now his dad had a cold and couldn't leave the house, so we'd have a captive audience," explained Kathy. "Mr. Welk came out and said, 'My boy told me about you. So just sing.' We sang 'He,' a gospel song that was very popular then, and he loved it. He asked us right then to be on his Christmas show."
It's been an exciting and interesting career, they say. But the best part, they say, is that they've stayed true to their faith and their values. "And we've stayed close," says Kathy. "We've been singers, but that doesn't define who we are."
"Someone once asked me if I would be the same person if I had never sung," said Janet. "And I think, absolutely. I think I'd have the same sense of joy and love and responsibility, because those were instilled at home."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com