Rosie All the Way: The Rosemary Clooney Story

Ruthie Henshall tells the story of the singing star.

01. 20051125

    Ruthie Henshall tells the story of the successful singer and star of 
    the film White Christmas.

    Rosemary Clooney was a great singing talent - and led an extraordinary 
    life to match, with a career encompassing as many triumphs and tragedies 
    as Judy Garland's. Her friends included Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, she 
    was Nelson Riddle's lover and, in later years, she became a mentor to 
    artists like Diana Krall. She won fame and success early on, but nearly 
    lost it all with an addiction to pills and a resulting breakdown which 
    put her in a mental hospital. And yet she made her way back up to the 
    top, with concerts at Carnegie Hall and a major recording contract which 
    started her off on a whole new way of singing.

    This series examines her life, charts the highs and lows of her 
    extraordinary career and evaluates her importance as a performer and an 
    influence to a whole new generation of singers.

    Rosemary and her sister Betty began singing to help pay the rent when 
    their father disappeared one night in 1945, and won a spot on a radio 
    show which paid $20 a week. The sisters were then taken on by the 
    bandleader Tony Pastor and they toured with his musicians for the next 
    three years with their Uncle George, who went on the road with them as 
    a chaperone.
 

02. Fancy Meeting You Here. 20051202 

    Rosemary's career is on the up: her hits continue and she records with 
    the likes of Bing Crosby. Her private life is also happy: she marries 
    actor Jose Ferrer and has five children. But the strains of being 
    America's sweetheart, and juggling a family, are beginning to show.


03. How Will I Remember You? 20051209 

    Rosemary's marriage foundered and she began an affair with arranger 
    Nelson Riddle. But when that came to an end as well, she began to 
    spiral downwards into a sedative-fuelled decline which resulted in a 
    breakdown. Could her career ever recover?

04. 20051216 

    Rosemary Clooney was an extraordinary singing talent - and led an 
    extraordinary life to match. Her career encompassed almost as many 
    triumphs and tragedies as Judy Garland, but she is far less well-known.

    Her friends included Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, she was the arranger 
    Nelson Riddle's lover and, in later years, she became a mentor to 
    artists like Diana Krall. She won fame and success early on, but nearly 
    lost it all with an addiction to pills and a resulting breakdown which 
    put her in a mental hospital. And yet she made her way back up to the 
    top, with concerts at Carnegie Hall and a major recording contract 
    which would start her off on a whole new way of singing. This series 
    examines her life, charts the highs and lows of her extraordinary 
    career and evaluates her importance as a performer and an important 
    influence on a whole new generation of singers. 


BBC R2 - 20051125-1216