Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney was born on May 23, 1928, in Maysville, Kentucky, the daughter of Marie Frances Guilfoyle and Andrew Joseph Clooney. Andrew was of Irish and German descent, and Marie was of Irish ancestry. Clooney was raised Catholic and was one of five children. When she was fifteen, her mother and brother Nick relocated to California, leaving Clooney and her sister Betty in the care of their father.

The two sisters launched their performing careers together, winning a spot as singers on Cincinnati radio station WLW in 1945. In 1947, they signed with Columbia Records and recorded their first sides with Tony Pastor's big band, beginning with "I'm Sorry I Didn't Say Sorry" backed with "The Lady from Twenty-Nine Palms." The sisters recorded fourteen tracks with Pastor's band before parting ways professionally. Clooney made her solo recording debut in mid-1949 with "Bargain Day" and "Cabaret."

Her rise to national prominence came in the early 1950s. She was a regular on both the radio and television versions of the CBS program Songs for Sale in 1950 and 1951, and scored a minor hit with "Beautiful Brown Eyes" in early 1951. Her recording of "Come On-a My House," produced by Mitch Miller, became her first major chart hit later that year. Additional pop successes followed, including "Botch-a-Me," "Mambo Italiano," "Tenderly," "Half as Much," "Hey There," "This Ole House," and "Sway." Between 1951 and 1956, sixteen of her songs appeared on the Billboard pop chart, establishing her as one of the most prominent names in popular music during that period. Her last major chart entry was "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face," released in May 1956.

During the early 1950s, Clooney recorded duets with Marlene Dietrich, released on the EP Rosie and Marlene, and made guest appearances on the Arthur Godfrey radio show. She also appeared on Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town series on CBS. In 1954, she starred alongside Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen in the film White Christmas. Her first film, The Stars Are Singing, had premiered the previous year, 1953, at the Russell Theater in her hometown of Maysville. Beginning in 1956, she hosted a half-hour syndicated television musical-variety program, The Rosemary Clooney Show, featuring the Hi-Lo's singing group and Nelson Riddle's orchestra. In 1957, the program moved to NBC prime time as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney, with the Modernaires and Frank DeVol's orchestra, though it ran for only one season. That same year, she appeared with Crosby in the television special The Edsel Show, and on November 21, 1957, she was a guest on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. She and Crosby also made a concert tour of Ireland together. In 1960, the two co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio program that aired before the midday news each weekday.

Clooney left Columbia Records in 1958 and subsequently recorded for MGM Records, Coral Records, and then RCA Victor, where she remained until 1963. She recorded for Reprise Records in 1964 and Dot Records in 1965. A single for Dot, "Let Me Down Easy," released in 1968, was the last new material she would issue for eight years. Her career slowed considerably during the 1960s, in part due to the displacement of older pop singers by rock and roll, and in part due to struggles with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. Multiple pregnancies and childbirths in a short span also limited her ability to tour or promote recordings. In June 1968, Clooney was present on the presidential campaign trail with close friend Robert F. Kennedy and was there when he was assassinated on June 5, 1968. A month later, she suffered a nervous breakdown onstage in Reno, Nevada, and was subsequently hospitalized in a mental health care facility.

Her professional recovery began in the mid-1970s. In 1976, she recorded two albums for United Artists Records, her first new long-playing releases in more than a decade. That same year, she appeared on Broadway in Bing Crosby on Broadway. Her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby had asked her to join him for the show, which marked his 50th anniversary in show business. Beginning in 1977, Clooney recorded an album each year for the Concord Jazz label, a pace she maintained until her death, making her one of the few singers of her generation to sustain a regular recording schedule. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she appeared in television commercials for Coronet brand paper towels. In 1986, she recorded a duet with Wild Man Fischer on "It's a Hard Business," and in 1994, she sang "Green Eyes" with Barry Manilow on his album Singin' with the Big Bands.

Also in 1994, Clooney guest-starred in the NBC medical drama ER, which featured her nephew, actor George Clooney, in a leading role. Her performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. On January 27, 1996, she appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio program, where she performed "When October Goes," with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Barry Manilow. In 1998, she received the Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award. The following year, she founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in Maysville, with proceeds benefiting the restoration of the Russell Theater. She performed at the festival each year until her death. In 2002, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In her personal life, Clooney married actor José Ferrer on July 13, 1953, in Durant, Oklahoma. The couple moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1954, and to Los Angeles in 1958, and had five children together, including son Miguel Ferrer, who became an actor. They divorced in 1961, remarried on November 22, 1964, in Los Angeles, and divorced again in 1967. She was also the aunt of actor George Clooney. Rosemary Clooney died on June 29, 2002.