America's Girl Singer: Rosemary Clooney Quiz

Answer: 1928

May 23, to be precise, in Maysville, Kentucky, the oldest of three children. Her family moved to Cincinnati, the parents split up and the mother remarried and moved to California with the youngest child. Rosemary and her sister remained with their father who subsequently departed also, leaving the two teenagers on their own.

Answer: Betty, Nick

Betty and Rosemary Clooney started out as a duo. They worked for orchestra leader Tony Pastor for three years in the 1940s, then Betty returned home to work in local radio while Rosemary remained as a solo. Betty passed away in 1976 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 44. Nick Clooney, an actor, is best known as a longtime host on the American Movie Channel and newspaper columnist based in Cincinnati.

He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress in Kentucky in 2004. He and his wife, Nina, are the parents of beautiful boy George.

Answer: Come On-a My House

Rosemary (by now known as "Rosie" to her fans) did not like the song. She thought it was demeaning, and she particularly felt uncomfortable putting on an Italian accent. She also thought the lyrics were risque. Her fans, obviously, disagreed, and she achieved her first gold record. "Abba Dabba Honeymoon" (Spelled variously as "Aba Daba") was a hit for Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter (you remember him, of course). "They're Either too Young or too Old" is a Rosemary Clooney song, but it was recorded in the 1940s and referred to the men left at home during World War II. Finally, the Oscar winning "High Hopes" (from the film "A Hole in the Head") was performed by Frank Sinatra.

Answer: Jose Ferrer

Jose and Mel Ferrer are no relation to each other, but are frequently confused. (The Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton of their day, I suppose.) Both were actors, and both were married to beautiful, talented women.
Jose Ferrer won an Academy Award in 1952 for "Cyrano de Bergerac." Television audiences might remember him as Stephanie Van der Kellan's father on "Newhart" in the 1990s.

Mel Ferrer was Audrey Hepburn's first husband. Jose Melis was Jack Paar's bandleader on "The Tonight Show" in the '50s, and Mel Torme, dubbed "The Velvet Fog" much to his chagrin, was another popular cabaret singer and contemporary of Rosie's.

Answer: White Christmas

"White Christmas" had a spectacular array of music and dancing talent in its four leads: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, and Rosie. The latter played sisters and one of the most memorable numbers in the film is when they sing a song called "Sisters" which is later performed in semi-drag by Crosby and Kaye. If you know the tune, it's hard to get out of your head! "Marty" won the Best Picture Oscar for 1955, but no one has ever confused Rosemary Clooney with Ernest Borgnine. "Two Weeks in Love" (1950) contained the "classic" "Abba Dabba Honeymoon." Finally, "Roman Holiday" was the first film of the other Mrs. Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn, released in 1953.

Answer: You Started Something

It was 1948. The other songs are all beautiful standards involving pronouns, but "You Started Something" was certainly an appropriate beginning for Rosie.

Answer: The assassination of Robert Kennedy

Rosie was a staunch R.F.K. supporter, and was standing quite near the podium when Sirhan Sirhan struck. After several other incidents such as breaking down on stage and cursing an audience in Reno and sobbing incoherently at a press conference she had called to announce her retirement, she admitted herself to Mt. Sinai hospital for treatment.

She was in therapy for many years, working in small clubs when she could.

Answer: Bounty Paper Towels

All these products had celebrity spokeswomen: Jan Minor (Madge the Manicurist) for Palmolive, Florence Henderson for Wesson Oil, and Anna Maria Albergetti for Good Seasons, but Rosie was the "Bounty Lady." (Subsequently, she was succeeded by Nancy Walker, a diner waitress named (what else?) "Rosie."

Answer: Bing Crosby

It may have been Rosie's comeback, but it was Crosby's farewell. He died in 1977, and this was his final tour. The two did a duet of "Slow Boat to China" that brought down the house. Even though "Come On-a My House" was huge, Rosie didn't have anything to do with Mitch Miller after the 1950s! Danny Kaye was, as mentioned above, a co-star in "White Christmas," and Clooney and Hope worked together in other concerts and television shows.

Answer: Debby Boone

Debby Boone has recorded a CD called "Reflections of Rosemary." Brave girl. By the way, I found it enormously convenient for this question that Pat Boone had four daughters. Thanks, Pat!