Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress whose career spanned popular music, jazz, film, and television. Associated with the post‑war popular songbook, she achieved commercial success in the 1950s and experienced a late‑career resurgence through cabaret, jazz recordings, and stage work. Clooney's life intersected with figures from the worlds of music, film, and television and she remained influential on vocalists and entertainers into the 21st century.

Early life and family

Born in Maysville, Kentucky, Clooney grew up in a household with ties to Ohio River riverboat culture and Midwestern musical traditions. Her family moved to Chicago, Illinois and later to Maysville, Kentucky suburbs before settling in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, where she and her siblings performed locally. Clooney's brother, singer and actor Nick Clooney, later became a television host and father of journalist George Clooney; other family connections included performers and broadcasters who worked in radio and regional vaudeville circuits. Early influences included records by Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bobby Hackett, and she sang with local bands before joining national touring ensembles.

Career

Clooney's professional career began in the mid‑1940s when she sang with big bands such as the Tony Pastor orchestra and ensembles linked to Harry James and Woody Herman. She signed with Columbia Records and later Capitol Records, charting hits that included standards penned by songwriters like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, and Hoagy Carmichael. Her 1951 recording of "Come On-a My House," written by Ross Bagdasarian and William Saroyan, became a breakout pop hit and led to appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, and major variety stages. Clooney worked with arrangers and conductors such as Nelson Riddle, Franz Waxman, and Budd Johnson, and collaborated with jazz musicians including Ben Webster, Chet Baker, Stuart Canin, and Cal Tjader on sessions that bridged popular song and jazz repertory. She recorded albums for labels including Reprise Records and Concord Records as formats shifted from 78 rpm singles to LP albums, and she toured extensively across venues in Las Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, and international circuits including London and Tokyo.

Personal life and struggles

Clooney's personal life included marriages to bandleader Teddy Stauffer, actor and director José Ferrer, and dancer Dante DiPaolo, and she was the mother of actor Miguel Ferrer. She faced challenges common to mid‑20th‑century entertainers, including pressures from the recording industry represented by executives at labels like Columbia Records and Capitol Records, and struggles with mental health leading to a highly publicized episode in 1968 that required treatment at psychiatric facilities in Los Angeles and Kentucky. Clooney later spoke about recovery, working with clinicians in psychotherapy and support networks that included fellow performers such as Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and friends from the Actors Studio community. Her battles with depression and addiction occurred alongside the shifting music business dominated by figures like Berry Gordy and trends led by artists including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan.

Film and television

Clooney transitioned into film and television with appearances in movies like The Stars Are Singing (1953) opposite performers connected to Paramount Pictures and RKO Pictures distribution circuits. She guest‑starred on variety programs and sitcoms produced by studios such as Desilu Productions and performed on televised specials hosted by Jack Benny, Dean Martin, and Perry Como. In the 1970s and 1980s she acted in television movies and theatrical productions associated with companies like ABC, NBC, and CBS, and she returned to screen acting in projects that reunited her with contemporaries from Hollywood's Golden Age including Groucho Marx collaborators and musicians from the Big Band era. Clooney's filmography reflects mid‑century American studio systems and the later era of independent television production.

Later career and legacy

In the 1970s and 1980s Clooney experienced a revival through jazz and cabaret recordings produced for labels such as Concord Records and appearances at venues affiliated with the New York City jazz scene. She recorded with musicians including Scott Hamilton, Strunz & Farah collaborators in cross‑genre projects, and orchestras led by John Pizzarelli and Bucky Pizzarelli. Clooney won accolades from institutions like the Grammy Awards and received honors from organizations including the Kennedy Center affiliate programs and regional arts councils. Her influence is cited by singers such as Diana Krall, Norah Jones, K.D. Lang, Linda Ronstadt, and Carly Simon, and her recordings of the Great American Songbook continue to be referenced in academic work at Berklee College of Music and The Juilliard School. After her death in Beverly Hills in 2002, retrospectives at institutions such as the Library of Congress and exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution have examined her role in post‑war American popular music. Her family legacy includes ongoing work by relatives in film and broadcasting at organizations like CNN and public television.

Category:American singers Category:American film actresses Category:1928 births Category:2002 deaths