| Parents:
Marriage: |
Joseph Dezurik Mary Katharine Popilek Ralph "Rusty" Gill September 1, 1940 |
| Children: | Donald Allen | July 6, 1941 | † Feb. 20, 2008 |
| Notes: |
At the time of the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Carolina A. was 12 years old and living with her
parents and her five siblings on the family farm in Langola Township, Benton
County, Minnesota. Her father was working as a farmer in general farming. The family owned
their own home and a radio as well. Carolina was attending school.
[Source: 1930 U.S. Census, Langola, Benton, Minnesota; Roll: T626-1078; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 7]
Carolyn and Mary Jane Dezurik, farm girls from six miles east of Royalton, Minnesota, perfected and raised the bar for American yodelers, appearing on radio shows, including the Grand Ole Opry, as the Cackle Sisters. They were noted for their sky-high yodels, triple-tongue yodels, machine-gun yodels and for their ability to make their yodels sound like chickens. It led to their being employed by the Ralston Purina Company for their Checkerboard Square program 1937-1941. They came along during a period when most yodeling was done by traveling minstrel shows, featuring male singers in blackface doing racist parodies. The yodeling perfected by the DeZuriks was much more than falsetto. Among their talents were complex imitations of animal sounds. "We listened to the birds and tried to sing with the birds," Carolyn Dezurik recalled many years later. Sometimes some of the other sisters would dress up like Mary Jane, Carolyn or Lorraine and go to the local fairs in Minnesota, but not as performers. Carolyn and Mary Jane first appeared on WLS in 1936 and although their career lasted until the early 50’s, they made only three 78 rpm records. A better idea of their work is contained on numerous radio transcriptions they did for the Checkerboard Square shows, many of which are now in the hands of collectors. In 1938 they signed a contract to record for the Vocalion label. They recorded six songs: Arizona Yodeler, Sweet Hawaiian Chimes, Birmingham Jail, I Left Her Standing There, Go To Sleep My Darling Baby, and Guitar Blues. Caroline is five feet and one inch tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair. A month after their marriages the DeZurik sisters were off to Hollywood to star in the Republic Pictures movie "Barnyard Follies" which also featured June Storey, long-time leading lady in Gene Autry westerns; and Pappy Cheshire, a country music radio personality at KMOX in St. Louis. The songs Mary Jane and Carolyn sang in the movie were: Barnyard Holiday, Poppin' the Corn, Big Boy Blues, Listen To the Mocking Bird, and Lollipop Lane. After the sister act ended Carolyn and husband, Rusty, continued to perform, first in Dayton, Ohio and then back in Chicago, where for several years they hosted a TV show called It’s Polka Time. From the Musicweb Encyclopedia of Popular Music : Popular in the '30s-40s-50s, working as a duet comprising of Carolyn (b.1919) and sister Mary Jane DeZurik (b. 1917). Noted for sky-high yodels, they could also make their yodels sound like chickens and were later known also as the Cackle Sisters. Appeared as the DeZurik Sisters on the WLS Barn Dance (1936-49) and as the Cackle Sisters on the Grand Ole Opry (1944-48). Mary Jane retired in 1948 to raise a family, replaced by younger sister Lorraine; the new duo appeared on the Midwestern Hayride Show (1949-50). They disbanded in the early 1950s and Carolyn joined the Prairie Ramblers which included her husband Rusty Gill. The Ramblers and Carolyn went on to perform on ABC television in Chicago in the mid-1950s-60s on such shows as Chicago Parade (one of the first morning shows in Chicago), Crazy Acres, It's Polka Time and Polka Go Round.Don Gill talks about his mother Carolyn and aunt Mary Jane: "Just want to let you know there are tapes of the DeZurik Sisters on the internet that have both the DeZurik and Cackle Sister tunes, you just have to look. Just a little info on the act, the girls initially performed as the DeZurik Sisters on the WLS National Barndance for several years. Then Purina Mills wanted them to come to Nashville to perform on the Eddie Arnold segment of the Grand Ole Opry and be an act identified will the Purina Mills Products. That is the reason behind all the cackle sounds. I have found some tapes with them as the DeZuriks and they do talk on them. When they performed on the Opry they also performed on the Barndance. They accomplished this by an every other week arrangement. One week on the Barndance and the next on the Opry. Likewise, one week they were the DeZuriks and the next they were the Cackle Sisters. They were and I believe still are the only singing duo to perform concurrently on two network shows under two different names. "Did you see the CD from Trikont in Germany on American Yodeling? Its an assortment of yodelers and the DeZurik's Arizona Yodeler is on it, but, what makes it special is the cover has their photo on it. If you ever have any questions on them I’ll be happy to try an answer them. "I have a little bit of an inside track. My mother is Carolyn DeZurik, one of the two original Dezurik and Cackle Sisters. Mary Jane, my aunt, passed away several years ago but Carolyn is still alive and kicking at 84 years old. "As a sidenote, Mary Jane and Carolyn performed together until about 1948, when Mary Jane retired from the business to raise a family. Another sister Lorraine joined the act and Carolyn and Lorraine performed together for about 4 more years. Then Carolyn went on as a solo for a while until joining the Prairie Ramblers (which included my father Rusty Gill), taking over the spot vacated by Patsy Montana. They performed for 10 years on ABC Chicago on various show (Country and Pop) and two polka shows, It’s Polka Time and Polka Go Round. They recorded several albums for these shows and Carolyn does several yodel tunes. But, even I have to say the best tunes are the ones from the Opry and Barndance with the synchronized yodels. No one was ever able to duplicate their sound. "My mother retired in 1965 and my dad in 1973, amassing, together, a total of 70 years in show business. I think what is amazing is that they still get fan letters." -- January 23, 2003 Carolina died in West Chicago, Du Page, Illinois on Mar. 19, 2009, just four months after her beloved husband Rusty. She was 89 years old. |
| Ancestry: | The Jacob Popiolek Line |
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