Jo Ann Castle

Who is Jo Ann Castle?

Jo Ann Castle was a honky-tonk pianist on The Lawrence Welk Show. Her offstage personal struggles made her infamous among bandmembers. She adopted the stage name "Castle" from the name of an accordion manufacturer, another instrument she played with great proficiency. She was often referred to as "Queen of the Honky-Tonk Piano" by Lawrence Welk himself.

Originally discovered for Welk by Joe Feeney in 1959, Castle became a permanent member of the "Welk Family" just prior to her twentieth birthday, replacing the departing Big Tiny Little. Welk wished to announce her age on the air, but she informed him that revealing her actual age publicly would jeopardize her job as an underage Las Vegas bar and nightclub entertainer. At first nonplussed, he then surprised her on air a week later with a cake and announcing her hiring. Shortly after joining the Show, Castle eloped and married cameraman, Dean Hall. They divorced in 1966 after having a daughter together. Castle met and married Bill Roeschlein in 1968, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Castle left the Welk Show in 1969 and divorced Roeschlein in 1971. Her third marriage, in 1978, ended in 1986.