Rosemary Clooney

b. 23 May 1928, Maysville, Kentucky, USA, d. 29 June 2002, Beverly Hills, California, USA. Although her heyday was back in the 50s, this popular singer and actress remained close to the peak of her powers well into the 90s. Rosemary and her sister Betty sang at political rallies in support of their paternal grandfather. When Rosemary was 13 the Clooney children moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and appeared on radio station WLW. In 1945 they auditioned successfully for tenor saxophonist Tony Pastor and joined his band as featured vocalists, travelling the country doing mainly one-night shows. Rosemary made her first solo record in 1946 with "I'm Sorry I Didn't Say I'm Sorry When I Made You Cry Last Night". After around three years of touring, Betty quit, and Rosemary stayed on as a soloist with the band. She signed for Columbia Records in 1950 and had some success with children's songs such as "Me And My Teddy Bear" and "Little Johnny Chickadee", before coming under the influence of A&R manager Mitch Miller, who had a penchant for folksy, novelty dialect songs. In 1951 Clooney's warm, husky melodious voice registered well on minor hits, "You're Just In Love", a duet with Guy Mitchell, and "Beautiful Brown Eyes".

Later that year she topped the US chart with "Come On-A My House" from the off-Broadway musical The Son, with a catchy harpsichord accompaniment by Stan Freeman. During the next four years Clooney had a string of US hits including "Tenderly", which became her theme tune, "Half As Much" (number 1), "Botcha-Me", "Too Old To Cut The Mustard" (a duet with Marlene Dietrich), "The Night Before Christmas Song" (with Gene Autry), "Hey There" and "This Ole House" (both number 1 hits), and "Mambo Italiano". UK hits included "Man", with the b-side, "Woman", sung by her then husband, actor/producer/director José Ferrer, and the novelty, "Where Will The Dimple Be". Her last singles hit was "Mangos", in 1957. Her own US television series regularly featured close harmony vocal group the Hi-Lo's, leading to their communal album Ring Around Rosie.
Clooney's film career started in 1953 with Here Come The Girls with Bob Hope and The Stars Are Singing, and was followed by three films the next year, including Red Garters with Guy Mitchell and the Sigmund Romberg biopic, Deep In My Heart, in which she sang "Mr And Mrs" with Ferrer. In the same year she teamed with Bing Crosby in White Christmas.

Highly compatible, with friendly, easy-going styles, their professional association was to last until Crosby died, and included, in 1958, the highly regarded album Fancy Meeting You Here, a musical travelogue with special material by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, arranged and conducted by Billy May. Semi-retired in the 60s, Clooney's psychiatric problems were chronicled in her autobiography, This For Remembrance, later dramatized on television as Escape From Madness. After four years of therapy, she returned to performing in 1972 at Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens.
Clooney's later career was jazz-based, and included a series of tributes to the "great" songwriters such as Harold Arlen, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington, released on the Concord Jazz label. In time, she was recognised as one of America's finest jazz-based vocalists. In 1991, Clooney gave an "assured performance" in concert at Carnegie Hall, and duetted with her special guest artist, Linda Ronstadt. Her 1998 album, A Seventieth Birthday Celebration, with guest stars k.d. lang and Ronstadt, contained some of the best material from the Concord Jazz years (two new selections, "Secret Of Life" and "Love Is Here To Stay", opened and closed the album). She also made occasional appearances in the popular US medical drama ER, which also featured her nephew George Clooney.

Late in 1999, Clooney published the second volume of her memoirs, and received excellent reviews when she became the first star to appear at Michael Feinstein's new supper club at New York's Regency Hotel. Clooney continued to play US clubs into the new millennium, including her much appreciated annual stint at the Rainbow & Stars in New York. In January 2002 she underwent surgery for lung cancer. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the following month's Grammys, but died only a few months later.

DISCOGRAPHY: Hollywood's Best (Columbia 1952)***, Deep In My Heart film soundtrack (MGM 1954)***, Rosemary Clooney 10-inch album (Columbia 1954)***, White Christmas 10-inch album (Columbia 1954)****, Red Garters film soundtrack (Columbia 1954)***, Tenderly 10-inch album (Columbia 1955)****, Children's Favorites 10-inch album (Columbia 1956)**, Blue Rose (Columbia 1956)***, A Date With The King 10-inch album (Columbia 1956)***, On Stage 10-inch album (Columbia 1956)**, My Fair Lady 10-inch album (Columbia 1956)**, Clooney Tunes (Columbia 1957)***, with the Hi-Lo's Ring A Round Rosie (Columbia 1957)****, The Ferrers: Rosemary Clooney And José Ferrer Sing Selections From The Broadway Musical "Oh Captain!' (MGM 1958)***, Swing Around Rosie (Coral 1958)****, with Bing Crosby Fancy Meeting You Here (RCA Victor 1958)****, Hymns From The Heart (MGM 1959)**, A Touch Of Tabasco (RCA Victor 1959)***, Swings Softly (MGM 1960)****, Clap Hands!

Here Comes Rosie! (RCA Victor 1960)***, Rosie Solves The Swingin' Riddle! (RCA Victor 1961)****, Sings Country Hits From The Heart (RCA Victor 1963)**, Love (Reprise 1963)***, Thanks For Nothing (Reprise 1965)***, with Crosby That Travelin" Two Beat (Capitol 1965)***, Mixed Emotions (Harmony 1967)***, Look My Way (United Artists 1976)***, Nice To Be Around (United Artists 1977)***, A Tribute To Duke (Concord Jazz 1977)***, Everything's Coming Up Rosie (Concord Jazz 1977)***, Rosie Sings Bing (Concord Jazz 1978)****, Here's To My Lady (Concord Jazz 1979)***, Sings The Lyrics Of Ira Gershwin (Concord Jazz 1980)****, With Love (Concord Jazz 1981)***, Sings The Music Of Cole Porter (Concord Jazz 1982)****, Sings The Music Of Harold Arlen (Concord Jazz 1983)****, My Buddy (Concord Jazz 1983)***, Sings The Music Of Irving Berlin (Concord Jazz 1984)****, Sings Ballads (Concord Jazz 1985)****, Sings The Music Of Jimmy Van Heusen (Concord Jazz 1986)****, Sings The Lyrics Of Johnny Mercer (Concord Jazz 1987)****, Show Tunes (Concord Jazz 1989)***, Sings Rodgers, Hart & Hammerstein (Concord Jazz 1990)***, For The Duration (Concord Jazz 1991)***, Girl Singer (Concord Jazz 1992)***, Do You Miss New York? (Concord Jazz 1993)***, Still On The Road (Concord Jazz 1994)****, Demi-Centennial (Concord Jazz 1995)***, Dedicated To Nelson (Concord Jazz 1996)****, White Christmas (Concord Jazz 1996)**, Mothers & Daughters (Concord Jazz 1997)***, with The Count Basie Orchestra At Long Last (Concord Jazz 1998)***, Rosemary Clooney 70: A Seventieth Birthday Celebration (Concord Jazz 1998)***, with John Pizzarelli Brazil (Concord Jazz 1999)***, with Big Kahuna And The Copa Cat Pack Sentimental Journey: The Girl Singer And Her New Big Band (Concord Jazz 2001)***, The Last Concert (Concord Jazz 2002)**.


COMPILATIONS: Rosie's Greatest Hits (Columbia 1957)****, Rosemary Clooney Showcase Of Hits (Columbia 1959)****, The Best Of Rosemary Clooney (CBS 1966)****, The Rosemary Clooney Songbook (Columbia 1984)****, The Uncollected Rosemary Clooney (1951-1952) (Hindsight 1988)***, 16 Most Requested Songs (Columbia/Legacy 1991)***, Come On-A My House 7-CD box set (Bear Family 1997)****, Memories Of You 7-CD box set (Bear Family 1998)***, Songs From The Girl Singer: A Musical Autobiography (Concord Jazz 1999)****, Many A Wonderful Moment 8-CD box set (Bear Family 2000)***, The Songbook Collection 6-CD set (Concord Jazz 2000)****, Legacy Of Song: Original Recordings (Green Hill 2001)***, The Classic Rosemary Clooney (RCA 2001)****, Jazz Singer (Columbia 2003)****.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: This For Remembrance, Rosemary Clooney. Girl Singer, Rosemary Clooney with Joan Barthel.
FILMOGRAPHY: Here Come The Girls aka Champagne For Everybody (1953), The Stars Are Singing (1953), Red Garters (1954), White Christmas (1954), Deep In My Heart (1954), Conquest Of Space (1955), Radioland Murders (1994).

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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