Rosemary Clooney, An Enduring Girl Singer
Jazz and Pop Music Entertainer for Almost Six Decades
Jun 18, 2009
Born in Maysville, Kentucky on May 23, 1928, Rosemary was the oldest child of Andrew and Frances Clooney. She and her two younger siblings, sister Betty and brother Nick, (father of George) endured a difficult childhood. Rosemary began to sing at the age of three and idolized jazz, singer Billie Holiday.
First Job as, The Clooney Sisters
Rosemary and Betty Clooney started singing together professionally in 1945, when they won an audition to perform on Cincinnati, radio station, WLC. Known, as The Clooney Sisters, they were so impressive; the station paid them each, twenty dollars a week .
Orchestra leader, Tony Pastor, heard the Clooney Sisters, and invited Rosemary and Betty to join the band. The tour with the Pastor Orchestra ended in 1948, when Betty decided to return to Cincinnati. Rosemary stayed on for another year, then she traveled alone to New York City.
Come on a My House and Mambo Italiano Recorded
Rosemary's timing couldn’t have been better. A door was open because so many big, band soloists had enlisted in the army. Rosemary was immediately signed to a recording contract with Columbia Records. Bandleader, Mitch Miller persuaded her to record an oddball song called, Come on a my House. At first she balked thinking the song was not her style and she didn't like the Italian accent. Much to her surprise, the record shot to the top of the charts and earned Rosemary Clooney a first, gold record.
Rosie followed up, Come on a My House, with Mambo Italiano and a string of hit recordings. See her discography at, Rosemary Clooney.com
In 1953, Rosie shocked everyone by suddenly eloping with actor Jose Ferrer. The couple moved to Hollywood and in 1955, Rosemary Clooney gave birth to her first child. She had her own television show, co-hosted a daily, morning radio show with Bing Crosby and also appeared with Crosby in the 1954, movie, White Chrismas. She went on to have four more children, but the pressures of trying to raise five children and juggle a hectic, career took its toll.
Rosemary began abusing drugs and alcohol and in 1961, she divorced Jose Ferrer. They reconciled briefly in 1967. Then in 1968, after her friend, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated while standing just a few yards away from her; Clooney suffered a total mental collapse.
Rosemary Clooney’s career languished until 1976, when Bing Crosby invited her to join him on his fiftieth anniversary tour. Her health and career restored, she began recording again and fans once again flocked to hear the distinctive stylings of Rosemary Clooney. Frank Sinatra said on Clooney's website, "Rosemary Clooney has that great talent which exudes warmth and feeling in every song she sings."
Appears on ER with George Clooney
In 1995, a recurring role on nephew, George Clooney's medical drama ER, garnered Rosemary an Emmy. In a video clip, George said of his Aunt Rosemary, "She serves up a song better than any other singer." Vodpod.com After marrying old friend, Dante DiPaolo in 1997, Rosie was at last happy in both her personal and her professional life
Rosemary Clooney was granted a Lifetime Achievement Award on February 28, 2002.
She once said, “I just would like to keep singing. As soon as I’m not singing well, I hope I'll know and if I don't, I hope somebody tells me.”
Nobody ever had to tell her.
Rosie wrote two autobiographies,Girl Singer(Random House, 1999) and This is Remembrance (Playboy Press, 1977)
Rosemary Clooney died of lung cancer on June 29, 2002 and is buried in her hometown of Maysville, Kentucky.
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