Rosemary Clooney Biography, Photos and Posters

Rosemary Clooney

Biography

Born: May 23, 1928
City and Country of Origin: Maysville, Kentucky
Music Training:
Awards: Grammy 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award
Top Recordings: "Come On-a My House," "Half as Much," "Hey There," "Mambo Italiano," "This Ole House"
Rosemary Clooney Biography: Rosemary Clooney was an American popular singer and actress. She was best known for singing traditional pop music in the 1940s and 1950s with songs like "Come On-a My House". She was the aunt of actor George Clooney, and the sister to former television personality Nick Clooney.

Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, 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. When Rosemary was fifteen, her mother and brother Nick moved to California. She and her sister Betty remained with their father.

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 first recorded for Columbia Records in May of 1946 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, all 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.

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 featured 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".

Starting 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 byt hat time.

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."

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

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: Miguel Ferrer born in 1955, Maria born in 1956, Gabriel Ferrer born 1957 (who married Debby Boone), Monsita in 1958, and Rafael Ferrer, born in 1960. She married Dante DiPaolo in 1997. In 1980, she purchased a second home on 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 (January 2, 2007) and discussed, among other things, how Rosemary Clooney had sheltered both Jay Leno and himself early in their careers.

A longtime smoker, 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. 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.
Died: June 29, 2002

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