Rosemary Clooney
Encyclopedia
Rosemary Clooney was an American
singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House
" written by William Saroyan
and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville), which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me
" (a cover version
of the Italian
song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina by Alberto Rabagliati
), "Mambo Italiano
", "Tenderly
", "Half as Much
", "Hey There
" and "This Ole House
", although she had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1974, when her White Christmas
co-star Bing Crosby
asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. She is the aunt of Academy Award winning actor George Clooney
.
, Kentucky
, the daughter of Marie Frances (Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. Her father was of Irish and German descent and her mother was of Irish and English ancestry. She was raised Catholic. When Clooney was fifteen, her mother and brother, Nick
, moved to California
. She and her sister, Betty, remained with their father. Rosemary, Betty and Nick all became entertainers. In the next generation, some of her children, including Miguel Ferrer
and Rafael Ferrer
, and her nephew, George Clooney
, also became respected entertainers. In 1945, the Clooney sisters won a spot on Cincinnati, Ohio
's radio station WLW
as singers. Her sister Betty sang in a duo with Clooney for much of her early career.
. She sang with Tony Pastor
's big band. Clooney continued working with the Pastor band until 1949, making her last recording with the band in May of that year and her first as a solo artist a month later, still for Columbia. In 1951, her record of "Come On-a My House", produced by Mitch Miller
, became a hit. It was her first of many singles to hit the charts—despite the fact that Clooney hated the song passionately. She had been told by Columbia Records to record the song, and that she would be in violation of her contract if she did not do so. Around 1952, Rosemary recorded several duets with Marlene Dietrich
.
In 1954, she starred, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye
, and Vera-Ellen
, in the movie White Christmas
. She starred, in 1956, in a half-hour syndicated television musical-variety
show The Rosemary Clooney Show. The show featured The Hi-Lo's
singing group and Nelson Riddle
's orchestra. The following year, the show moved to NBC
prime time
as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney but only lasted one season. The new show featured the singing group The Modernaires
and Frank DeVol's orchestra. In later years, Clooney would often appear with Bing Crosby on television
, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show
, and the two friends made a concert tour of Ireland
together. On November 21, 1957, she appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
, a frequent entry in the "Top 20" and featuring a musical group called "The Top Twenty." In 1960, Clooney and Crosby co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio
program aired before the midday news each weekday.
Clooney left Columbia Records in 1958, doing a number of recordings for MGM Records
and then some for Coral Records
. Finally, toward the end of 1958, she signed with RCA Victor Records, where she stayed until 1963. In 1964, she went to Reprise Records
, and in 1965 to Dot Records
. She moved to United Artists Records
in 1966.
Beginning in 1977, she recorded an album a year for the Concord Jazz record label, which continued until her death. This was in contrast to most of her generation of singers who had long since stopped recording regularly by then. In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Clooney did television commercial
s for Coronet brand paper towels, during which she sang a memorable jingle
that goes, "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coro-net." James Belushi
later parodied Clooney and the commercial while as a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live
in the early 1980s. Clooney sang a duet with Wild Man Fischer
on "It's a Hard Business" in 1986, and in 1994 she sang a duet of Green Eyes
with Barry Manilow
in his 1994 album, Singin' with the Big Bands
.
She guest-starred
in the NBC television medical drama
ER
(starring her nephew, George Clooney
) in 1995; she received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. On January 27, 1996, Clooney appeared on Garrison Keillor
's Prairie Home Companion radio program. She sang "When October Goes
" -- lyrics by Johnny Mercer
and music by Barry Manilow
(after Mercer's death) -- from Manilow's 1984 album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe
, and discussed what an excellent musician Manilow was.
In 1999, Clooney founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in Maysville, her hometown. She performed at the festival every year until her death. Proceeds benefit the restoration of the Russell Theater in Maysville, where Clooney's first film, The Stars are Singing
, premiered in 1953.
She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
in 2002.
. She revealed this and other details of her life in her two autobiographies.
Clooney was married twice to the movie star José Ferrer
, who was sixteen years her senior. They were first married from 1953 until 1961 and, despite his open infidelities, again from 1964 to 1967. They had five children: actor Miguel Ferrer
(b. 1955), Maria Ferrer (b. 1956), Gabriel Ferrer (b. 1957) (who married singer Debby Boone
), Monsita Ferrer (b. 1958), and Rafael Ferrer (b. 1960).
In 1968, her relationship with a young drummer ended after two years, and she became increasingly dependent on pills after a punishing tour.
She joined the presidential campaign of close friend Bobby Kennedy
, and heard the shots when he was assassinated on June 5, 1968. A month later she had a nervous breakdown
onstage in Reno
, Nevada
, and was hospitalized. She remained in psychoanalysis therapy for eight years afterwards.
Her sister Betty died suddenly of a brain aneurysm
in 1976. She subsequently started a foundation in memory of and named for her sister. During this time she wrote her first autobiography, This for Remembrance: the Autobiography of Rosemary Clooney, an Irish-American Singer, written in collaboration with Raymond Strait and published by Playboy Press in 1977. She chronicled her unhappy early life, her career as a singer, her marriage to Ferrer and mental health problems, concluding with her comeback as a singer and her happiness. Her good friend Bing Crosby
wrote the introduction. Katherine Coker adapted the book for Jackie Cooper who produced and directed the television movie, Rosie: the Rosemary Clooney Story (1982) starring Sondra Locke
(who lip syncs Clooney's songs), Penelope Milford
as Betty and Tony Orlando
who plays Jose Ferrer.
Living for many years in Beverly Hills, California, in the house formerly owned by George and Ira Gershwin, in 1980, she purchased a second home on Riverside Drive in Augusta
, Kentucky, near Maysville, her childhood hometown.
In 1983, Rosemary and her brother Nick co-chaired the Betty Clooney Foundation for the Brain-Injured, addressing the needs of survivors of cognitive disabilities caused by stroke
s, tumor
s and brain damage
from trauma or age.
In 1999 Clooney published her second autobiography, Girl Singer: An Autobiography describing her battles with addiction to prescription drugs for depression, and how she lost and then regained a fortune. "I'd call myself a sweet singer with a big band sensibility," she wrote.
Today, the Augusta house offers viewing of collections of her personal items and from many of her films and singing performances. Her Beverly Hills home at 1019 North Roxbury Drive was sold to a developer after her death in 2002 and has been demolished.
She married her longtime friend, a former dancer, Dante DiPaolo in 1997 at St. Patrick's Church in Maysville, Kentucky.
at the end of 2001. Around this time, she gave her last concert, in Hawaii
, backed by the Honolulu Symphony Pops; her last song was "God Bless America
". Despite surgery, she died six months later on June 29, 2002, at her Beverly Hills home. Her nephew, George Clooney
, was a pallbearer
at her funeral, which was attended by numerous stars, including Al Pacino
. She is buried at Saint Patrick's Cemetery, Maysville.
In 2003 Rosemary Clooney was inducted into the Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit and her portrait by Alison Lyne is on permanent display in the Kentucky State Capitol's rotunda.
In September 2007 a mural
honoring moments from her life was painted in downtown Maysville. The mural highlights her lifelong friendship with Blanche Chambers, the 1953 premier of The Stars are Singing and her singing career. It was painted by Louisiana
muralists Robert Dafford
, Herb Roe
and Brett Chigoy as part of the Maysville Floodwall Murals project. Her brother Nick Clooney spoke during the dedication for the mural, explaining various images to the crowd.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House
Come on-a My House
"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and noted Armenian American writer William Saroyan in the summer of 1939 but did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording...
" written by William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville), which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me
Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)
Botch-a-Me is a popular song, written in 1941. The original Italian version by Alberto Rabagliati was written by Riccardo Morbelli and Luigi Astore . English lyrics were written by Eddie Stanley. Baciami in Italian means kiss me.The song was popularized by Rosemary Clooney in 1952...
" (a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina by Alberto Rabagliati
Alberto Rabagliati
Alberto Rabagliati was an Italian singer.- Early career:Rabagliati was born in Milan.In 1927 he moved to Hollywood as the winner of a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest...
), "Mambo Italiano
Mambo Italiano (song)
"Mambo Italiano" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954 and recorded by Rosemary Clooney. Merrill actually wrote it on deadline, scribbled hastily on a paper napkin in an Italian restaurant in New York, United States using the wall pay-phone to dictate the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the...
", "Tenderly
Tenderly
"Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Copyright 1946 by Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc....
", "Half as Much
Half as Much
"Half as Much" is an American pop standard written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. The same year, Rosemary Clooney recorded a hit version for Top 40 markets and Alma Cogan in the...
", "Hey There
Hey There
"Hey There" is a show tune from the musical play The Pajama Game, written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It was published in 1954.It was subsequently recorded by a number of artists. The recording by Rosemary Clooney reached #1 on Billboard's chart in 1954. Another version was also recorded about...
" and "This Ole House
This Ole House
"This Ole House" is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.-Background:Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization...
", although she had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1974, when her White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
co-star Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. She is the aunt of Academy Award winning actor George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
.
Early life
Clooney was born in MaysvilleMaysville, Kentucky
Maysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, northeast of Lexington. It is the principal city of the Maysville...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, the daughter of Marie Frances (Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. Her father was of Irish and German descent and her mother was of Irish and English ancestry. She was raised Catholic. When Clooney was fifteen, her mother and brother, Nick
Nick Clooney
Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Clooney is an American journalist, anchorman, and television host. He is the brother of the late singer Rosemary Clooney, and father of actor and film director George Clooney.-Early life:...
, moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She and her sister, Betty, remained with their father. Rosemary, Betty and Nick all became entertainers. In the next generation, some of her children, including Miguel Ferrer
Miguel Ferrer
Miguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...
and Rafael Ferrer
Rafael Ferrer
Rafael Ferrer is an American actor.Ferrer is the son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, and the brother of Miguel and Gabriel. He is a cousin of George Clooney. Ferrer is best known for his voiceover work in commercials, trailers and on-air promotions...
, and her nephew, George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, also became respected entertainers. In 1945, the Clooney sisters won a spot on Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
's radio station WLW
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...
as singers. Her sister Betty sang in a duo with Clooney for much of her early career.
Career
Clooney's first recordings, in May 1946, were for Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. She sang with Tony Pastor
Tony Pastor (bandleader)
Tony Pastor was an Italian American novelty singer and tenor saxophonist, who played tenor sax with John Cavallaro , Irving Aaronson , Austin Wylie , Smith Ballew , Joe Venuti, Paul Fredricks, Vincent Lopez, and Artie Shaw's first and second orchestras...
's big band. Clooney continued working with the Pastor band until 1949, making her last recording with the band in May of that year and her first as a solo artist a month later, still for Columbia. In 1951, her record of "Come On-a My House", produced by Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
, became a hit. It was her first of many singles to hit the charts—despite the fact that Clooney hated the song passionately. She had been told by Columbia Records to record the song, and that she would be in violation of her contract if she did not do so. Around 1952, Rosemary recorded several duets with Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
.
In 1954, she starred, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, and Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor.-Early life:...
, in the movie White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
. She starred, in 1956, in a half-hour syndicated television musical-variety
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
show The Rosemary Clooney Show. The show featured The Hi-Lo's
The Hi-Lo's
The Hi-Lo's were an a cappella quartet formed in 1953. The group's name is reportedly a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges .-History:The group consisted of Gene Puerling , Bob Strasen , Bob Morse...
singing group and Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
's orchestra. The following year, the show moved to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney but only lasted one season. The new show featured the singing group The Modernaires
The Modernaires
The Modernaires are an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s alongside Glenn Miller- Career :The Modernaires began in 1935 as a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York...
and Frank DeVol's orchestra. In later years, Clooney would often appear with Bing Crosby on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show
The Edsel Show
The Edsel Show is an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars...
, and the two friends made a concert tour of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
together. On November 21, 1957, she appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
, a frequent entry in the "Top 20" and featuring a musical group called "The Top Twenty." In 1960, Clooney and Crosby co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
program aired before the midday news each weekday.
Clooney left Columbia Records in 1958, doing a number of recordings for MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
and then some for Coral Records
Coral Records
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
. Finally, toward the end of 1958, she signed with RCA Victor Records, where she stayed until 1963. In 1964, she went to Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
, and in 1965 to Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
. She moved to United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
in 1966.
Beginning in 1977, she recorded an album a year for the Concord Jazz record label, which continued until her death. This was in contrast to most of her generation of singers who had long since stopped recording regularly by then. In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Clooney did television commercial
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
s for Coronet brand paper towels, during which she sang a memorable jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
that goes, "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coro-net." James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
later parodied Clooney and the commercial while as a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in the early 1980s. Clooney sang a duet with Wild Man Fischer
Wild Man Fischer
Larry Wayne Fischer , better known as Wild Man Fischer, was an American songwriter in the outsider genre. He was notable for being responsible for Rhino Records' first release, Go To Rhino Records...
on "It's a Hard Business" in 1986, and in 1994 she sang a duet of Green Eyes
Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes)
"Green Eyes" is a popular song, originally written in Spanish under the title "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menéndez. The English translation was made by Eddie Rivera and Eddie Woods in 1929....
with Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
in his 1994 album, Singin' with the Big Bands
Singin' with the Big Bands
Singin' with the Big Bands is a 1994 album by Barry Manilow.The album was Manilow's first to reach gold since 1990's Because It's Christmas.-Track listing:#"Singin' With The Big Bands" 2:28...
.
She guest-starred
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
in the NBC television medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(starring her nephew, George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
) in 1995; she received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. On January 27, 1996, Clooney appeared on Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
's Prairie Home Companion radio program. She sang "When October Goes
When October Goes
"When October Goes" is a ballad based on a lyric Johnny Mercer had written but did not complete. It was matched up to a melody by Barry Manilow and published in 1984, becoming one of the top Adult Contemporary hits of that year in the United States....
" -- lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
and music by Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
(after Mercer's death) -- from Manilow's 1984 album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe
2:00 AM Paradise Cafe
-Side Two:-Personnel:*Barry Manilow – vocals, keyboards, piano*Mel Tormé – vocals*Sarah Vaughan – vocals*Bill Mays – piano, Fender Rhodes*Gerry Mulligan – baritone Saxophone*Mundell Lowe – electric guitar, acoustic guitar...
, and discussed what an excellent musician Manilow was.
In 1999, Clooney founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in Maysville, her hometown. She performed at the festival every year until her death. Proceeds benefit the restoration of the Russell Theater in Maysville, where Clooney's first film, The Stars are Singing
The Stars Are Singing
The Stars Are Singing is a 1953 Paramount Pictures musical starring Rosemary Clooney, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lauritz Melchior. A 15-year-old Polish girl attempts to enter the U.S...
, premiered in 1953.
She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
in 2002.
Personal life
Clooney suffered for much of her life from bipolar disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
. She revealed this and other details of her life in her two autobiographies.
Clooney was married twice to the movie star José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
, who was sixteen years her senior. They were first married from 1953 until 1961 and, despite his open infidelities, again from 1964 to 1967. They had five children: actor Miguel Ferrer
Miguel Ferrer
Miguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...
(b. 1955), Maria Ferrer (b. 1956), Gabriel Ferrer (b. 1957) (who married singer Debby Boone
Debby Boone
Deborah Anne Boone is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," which spent a then record ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year...
), Monsita Ferrer (b. 1958), and Rafael Ferrer (b. 1960).
In 1968, her relationship with a young drummer ended after two years, and she became increasingly dependent on pills after a punishing tour.
She joined the presidential campaign of close friend Bobby Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, and heard the shots when he was assassinated on June 5, 1968. A month later she had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
onstage in Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and was hospitalized. She remained in psychoanalysis therapy for eight years afterwards.
Her sister Betty died suddenly of a brain aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
in 1976. She subsequently started a foundation in memory of and named for her sister. During this time she wrote her first autobiography, This for Remembrance: the Autobiography of Rosemary Clooney, an Irish-American Singer, written in collaboration with Raymond Strait and published by Playboy Press in 1977. She chronicled her unhappy early life, her career as a singer, her marriage to Ferrer and mental health problems, concluding with her comeback as a singer and her happiness. Her good friend Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
wrote the introduction. Katherine Coker adapted the book for Jackie Cooper who produced and directed the television movie, Rosie: the Rosemary Clooney Story (1982) starring Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke is an American actress, singer and film director.She made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter , for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress...
(who lip syncs Clooney's songs), Penelope Milford
Penelope Milford
Penelope Milford is an American film, stage, and television actress.An alumnus of the Chicago/New York theatrical scene , American actress Penelope Milford struck paydirt with her first film Coming Home...
as Betty and Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando
Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis , better known as Tony Orlando, is an American show business professional, best known as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Discovered by producer Don Kirshner, Orlando had songs on the charts in 1961 when he was 16, "Halfway to...
who plays Jose Ferrer.
Living for many years in Beverly Hills, California, in the house formerly owned by George and Ira Gershwin, in 1980, she purchased a second home on Riverside Drive in Augusta
Augusta, Kentucky
Augusta is a city in Bracken County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2005 census, the city population was 2,004. When Bracken County was organized in 1796, Augusta was the county seat...
, Kentucky, near Maysville, her childhood hometown.
In 1983, Rosemary and her brother Nick co-chaired the Betty Clooney Foundation for the Brain-Injured, addressing the needs of survivors of cognitive disabilities caused by stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
s, tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
s and brain damage
Brain damage
"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
from trauma or age.
In 1999 Clooney published her second autobiography, Girl Singer: An Autobiography describing her battles with addiction to prescription drugs for depression, and how she lost and then regained a fortune. "I'd call myself a sweet singer with a big band sensibility," she wrote.
Today, the Augusta house offers viewing of collections of her personal items and from many of her films and singing performances. Her Beverly Hills home at 1019 North Roxbury Drive was sold to a developer after her death in 2002 and has been demolished.
She married her longtime friend, a former dancer, Dante DiPaolo in 1997 at St. Patrick's Church in Maysville, Kentucky.
Lung cancer and death
Clooney was diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at the end of 2001. Around this time, she gave her last concert, in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, backed by the Honolulu Symphony Pops; her last song was "God Bless America
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
". Despite surgery, she died six months later on June 29, 2002, at her Beverly Hills home. Her nephew, George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, was a pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
at her funeral, which was attended by numerous stars, including Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
. She is buried at Saint Patrick's Cemetery, Maysville.
In 2003 Rosemary Clooney was inducted into the Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit and her portrait by Alison Lyne is on permanent display in the Kentucky State Capitol's rotunda.
In September 2007 a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
honoring moments from her life was painted in downtown Maysville. The mural highlights her lifelong friendship with Blanche Chambers, the 1953 premier of The Stars are Singing and her singing career. It was painted by Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
muralists Robert Dafford
Robert Dafford
-Life and work:Robert Dafford is a current resident of Lafayette, Louisiana. Dafford has painted over 300 murals across the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and England. He has been painting murals, signs and fine art paintings for 35 years...
, Herb Roe
Herb Roe
Herb Roe is a painter of large scale outdoor murals and classical realist oil paintings. After attending the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio for a short time, he apprenticed to mural artist Robert Dafford. After 15 years with Dafford Murals, he left to pursue his own art...
and Brett Chigoy as part of the Maysville Floodwall Murals project. Her brother Nick Clooney spoke during the dedication for the mural, explaining various images to the crowd.
Filmography
- Tony Pastor and His Orchestra (1947) (short subject)
- Slaughter TrailSlaughter TrailSlaughter Trail is a 1951 Cinecolor Western produced and directed by Irving Allen, filmed in Corriganville and released by RKO Pictures.-Plot:...
(1951) - The Stars Are Singing (1953)
- Here Come the GirlsHere Come the Girls (1953 film)Here Come the Girls is a comedy film directed by Claude Binyon, filmed in Technicolor, produced by Hope's company Hope Productions Inc., and released by Paramount Pictures.-Storyline:...
(1953) - Red GartersRed Garters (film)Red Garters is a 1954 film starring Rosemary Clooney, Guy Mitchell, and Jack Carson. It was a musical spoof of Westerns. The director was George Marshall....
(1954) - White ChristmasWhite Christmas (film)White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
(1954) - Deep in My Heart (1954; cameo appearance)
- FrasierFrasierFrasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
(1993) - Radioland MurdersRadioland MurdersRadioland Murders is a 1994 black comedy mystery film directed by Mel Smith and co-written/produced by George Lucas. Radioland Murders is set in the 1939 atmosphere of old-time radio and pays homage to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s...
(1994) - ERER (TV series)ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(1994) - Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2002) (documentary)