Born in Maysville, Kentucky, on May 23, 1928, Rosemary Clooney was the daughter of Andrew and Frances Clooney. One of three children, she and her sister, Betty, used to sing in her grandfather’s mayoral election campaigns, which he won three times. In 1941, at the age of thirteen, she made her singing debut on the Cincinnati radio station WLW. Here she worked with bandleader, Barney Rapp, who had also worked with Doris Day and Andy Williams. In 1946 she and her sister appeared in Atlantic City at the Steel Pier with Tony Pastor’s band.
She decided to go solo in 1949 and in 1951 had her first big hit, “Come On A My House,” a song based on an old Armenian folk tune, which she hated. She resisted recording it because she considered it to be “a dumb song” but ironically, very soon afterwards, she found herself with one of the biggest-selling hits in the country! Even though the song sold more than one million copies, she never liked it and almost always tried to get out of singing it when it was requested at concerts and nightclubs.
In 1954 she appeared with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in “White Christmas”. By this time, she had also scored hits with “This Ole House”, “Half As Much,” “Hey There” and “Tenderly.” She married actor, Jose Ferrer and they had five children between the years 1950-1960. Their marriage was an unhappy one and the couple divorced in 1967, after which she suffered a nervous breakdown. Although she gained a great deal of weight at this time, she rallied and went on to resume her career. Her life was dramatized in a 1982 made-for-television film staring Sondra Locke.
Her son, Gabriel, is married to Debbie Boone, daughter of pop singer, Pat Boone. Her brother, Nick Clooney, is an ABC news anchor in Cincinnati and her nephew George, well, her nephew George is one of the biggest movie stars of the 21st century!
Rosemary Clooney died of lung cancer at the age of seventy-four on June 29, 2002. She left a legacy of many songs and appearances.
What is YOUR favorite Rosemary Clooney song? Please share.