Vintage Beauty - Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney, known to her friends as Rosie, or even Clooney, was born in Kentucky on 23 May 1928. 

A talented singer, one of her earliest hits was the crazy but cute "Come On-a My House" in 1951.

Other hit's included s "Botch-a-Me",  "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There","This Ole House" and my favourite,"Mambo Italiano". the pop-star with the warm, low pitched voice sang her way into the movies, with Paramount giving her a long term contract after the success of her first movie, 'The stars are singing." Her best movie break was probably "white Christmas" with Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby. The petite 5'4" tall star looked taller on screen, and at the height of her acting career in the mid 50s she weighed only 7st 6lb. Like many of us, her weight bloomed in her later years!

Rosemary Clooney 1954

In the late 1960s she suffered from a nervous breakdown and drug addiction related to depression. She slowly recovered and signed with United Artists Records in 1976.  In 1977 Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She then recorded an album a year for the Concord Jazz record label, until her death on 29 June 2002.  

Rosemary was married twice to movie star José Ferrer, and they had five children together.  In 1997, she married her long-time friend and former dance teacher Dante DiPaolo. And yes, she is related to actor George Clooney - she was his aunt.