Rosemary Clooney

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Rosemary Clooney

Background information
Born May 23, 1928(1928-05-23),
Maysville, Kentucky
Died June 29, 2002 (aged 74)
Beverly Hills, California
Genre(s) Traditional pop, Vocal Jazz
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 a popular American singer and actress. She was most popular singing traditional pop music in the 1940s and 1950s with songs like "Come On-a My House". She was the mother of actor Miguel Ferrer, aunt of actor George Clooney, and the sister to former television personality Nick Clooney.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, to Andrew Joseph Clooney and Frances Marie Guilfoyle, both of whom were Roman Catholics of Irish ancestry. Her father was an alcoholic and she and her brother and sister were constantly moving back and forth between her parents. When Rosemary was fifteen, her mother and brother, Nick, moved to California. She and her sister, Betty, remained with their father. Clooney suffered from bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic-depression.

[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 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 — despite the fact that Clooney hated the song passionately. She had been told by Columbia to record the song, and that she would be in violation of her contract if she did not record it.

Around 1952, Rosemary recorded several duets with Marlene Dietrich.

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 1960 she and Crosby co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio show that went to air before the midday news every weekday.

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 featured the 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." Jim Belushi later parodied Clooney and the commercial while as a cast member for NBC's Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.

In 1994, Clooney guest starred in the NBC medical drama ER, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award.

In 1999, Clooney founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in her hometown of Maysville, Kentucky.[1] 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.[2]

Clooney received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

[edit] Personal life

Rosemary Clooney's Riverfront Home, Augusta, Kentucky
Rosemary Clooney's Riverfront Home, Augusta, Kentucky

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.

Clooney was married three times, twice to José Ferrer (from 1953 until 1961 and again from 1964 to 1967). They had five children:

  1. Miguel Ferrer (b. 1955),
  2. Maria (b. 1956),
  3. Gabriel Ferrer (b. 1957), who married Debby Boone,
  4. Monsita (b. 1958), and
  5. Rafael Ferrer, (b. 1960).

She married Dante DiPaolo in 1997.

In 1980, she purchased a second home at 106 Riverside Drive in Augusta, Kentucky, near her childhood hometown of Maysville. Today, it houses collections of her personal items and memorabilia from many of her films and singing performances.

George Clooney, her nephew, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (January 2, 2007) and discussed, among other things, how Rosemary Clooney had sheltered both Leno and himself early in their careers.

Her version of There's No Business Like Show Business was used at the conclusion of a film that George Clooney directed, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

A longtime smoker, Rosemary was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2001. Around this time, she gave her last concert. It was 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 home in Beverly Hills, California. George Clooney served as a pall bearer at her funeral, which was attended by numerous stars including Al Pacino. Clooney is buried at Saint Patricks Cemetery, Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Rosemary Clooney to help rescue ailing theater", Showbuzz, CNN.com, 1999-06-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ The Rosemary Clooney Palladium page.

[edit] See also

[edit] Best-known songs

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

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Persondata
NAME Clooney, Rosemary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION singer, actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Maysville, Kentucky, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 2002
PLACE OF DEATH Beverly Hills, California, United States