Rosemary Clooney

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Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney on the cover of her 2000 collection 16 Biggest Hits
Rosemary Clooney on the cover of her 2000 collection 16 Biggest Hits
Background information
Born May 23, 1928, Maysville, Kentucky, United States
Died June 29, 2002, Beverly Hills, California, United States
Genre(s) Traditional pop
Years active 1946-2001
Label(s) Columbia, MGM, Coral, RCA Victor, Reprise, Dot, United Artists, Concord Jazz
Website Rosemary Clooney Palladium page

Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American popular singer and actress. She was most popular singing Traditional Pop Music in the 1940s and 50s with songs like "Come On-a My House". She was the aunt of actor George Clooney.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, though her family lived in Maysville, KY, about 45 miles up the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio to Andrew Joseph Clooney and Frances Marie Guilfoyle, both of whom were Catholics with Irish ancestry. Her father was an alcoholic and she and her brother and sister were constantly moving back and forth between her parents. Eventually, when Rosemary was thirteen, she and her sister Betty went to live with their mother and her brother Nick went with their father.

[edit] Career

Rosemary, Betty, and brother, Nick, all became entertainers. In the next generation, some of her own children, including Miguel and Rafael, and also her nephew, George Clooney (Nick's son), also became respected entertainers. In 1945 the Clooney sisters won a spot on Cincinnati's radio station WLW as singers. Her sister Betty sang in a duo with Rosemary for much of her early career.

Clooney's first recordings, in May of 1946 were for Columbia Records as a singer with the big band of Tony Pastor. She 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" became a hit, her first of many singles to hit the charts.

In 1954 she, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen, starred in the movie White Christmas. In later years, Clooney would often appear with Crosby on television, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show, and the two friends made a concert tour of Ireland together. Crosby opined that Clooney was "the best in the business."

In 1956, she starred 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 featered the "Modernaires" singing group and "Frank DeVol's orchestra".

In 1958, Clooney left Columbia, 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. In 1966 she went to United Artists Records. In 1986 she sang a duet with Wild Man Fischer on "It's a Hard Business".

Beginning in 1977, she recorded an album a year for Concord Records, which continued until her death. This made her something of an anomaly, because most of her generation of singers had long since stopped recording regularly by then.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Clooney was also a pitch-person for Coronet paper towels, for which she sang a memorable jingle that goes, "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coro-net."

[edit] Personal life

In 1968, Clooney was present at the assassination of her close friend Robert F. Kennedy. The event traumatized her for years afterward. She had a nervous breakdown onstage in Reno, Nevada, caused in part by serious drug problems. Many attribute some of Clooney’s extraordinary abilities to her being affected by bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression. In the later years of her life, Rosemary became quite overweight.

Clooney was married three times, twice to José Ferrer (from 1953 until 1961 and again from 1964 to 1967). They had five children, including actor Miguel Ferrer, born in 1955, and Gabriel Ferrer, born 1956, who married Debby Boone. She married Dante DePaolo in 1997.

A longtime smoker, Rosemary Clooney was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2001 and despite surgery died six months later at her home in Beverly Hills, California. Her nephew, George, served as a pallbearer at her funeral, which was attended by numerous stars including Al Pacino.

[edit] Best-known songs

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

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