Late Life Jazz: The Life and Career of Rosemary Clooney (46 page)

January 13
. Rosemary appears in BBC-TV’s
Starlight
show.

February 3
. Rosemary’s film
Red Garters
has its world premiere at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas.

February
. Visits England, France, and Spain with José Ferrer

March 7
. Rosemary wins the
Look
magazine award for most promising newcomer.

May 22
. Records “Hey There” and “This Ole House.” Both songs reach #1 in the Billboard charts. “This Ole House” also reaches #1 in the United Kingdom.

July 12
. Rosemary announces that she is pregnant.

July
. Films her contribution to the film
Deep in My Heart
.

September 16
. Guests on the
Amos ‘N’ Andy Music Hall
radio show.

September 23
. Records “Mambo Italiano” and it reaches the #10 slot in the Billboard charts. In the United Kingdom it goes to the #1 position.

October 12
. Starts a new radio series on CBS called
Rosemary Clooney Sings
. It is taped in advance and she is accompanied by Buddy Cole and His Trio.

October 14
. The film
White Christmas
is released and it becomes the top film of 1954 in the United States at the box office, taking $12 million in rental income in its initial release period.

December 24
. The film
Deep in My Heart
is released. Rosemary has a cameo role in which she sings “Mr. & Mrs.” with José Ferrer.

January 13
. Records “Where Will the Dimple Be.” It is intended to be released simultaneously with the arrival of her next child. The song reaches #6 in the British charts.

February 7
. Miguel José Ferrer is born in St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, California. He weighs seven pounds, nine ounces.

March 11
. The
Person to Person
TV show features Edward R. Murrow interviewing José Ferrer and Rosemary at their home.

March 30
. Performs at the Annual Academy Awards Show, singing “The Man That Got Away.”

May
. Appears at The Sands in Las Vegas.

Smartly gowned in blue lace, covered with iridescent sequins, the star is a poiseful warbler and shows unmistakably the great distance she has travelled since
the heyday of the Clooney Sisters with the Tony Pastor Orch. “We’re In the Money” and Cole Porter’s “Delightful, De-Lovely” get the show on the road swiftly for the girl with the infectious grin. “Hey There!” “This Old House” “Make Me Feel So Young” and “Tenderly” are also boffo. Alone with the piano, helmed adroitly by her conductor, Buddy Cole, Miss Clooney delivers a touching “Danny Boy,” and her three biggest hits: “Come On-a My House,” “Botch-A-Me,” and last summer’s “Mambo Italiano.” The ovation at the conclusion of her stint brings the headliner back to dedicate her final selection to her new baby son, “Brahms Lullaby.”

(
Variety
, May 18, 1955)

June 27
. In London, records a show with the BBC Show Band which is broadcast that night on the Light Programme.

July 4–9
. Performs at the Glasgow Empire Theater in Scotland.

July 18–30
. (6:15 and 8:45
P.M
.) Appears at the London Palladium.

It is almost two years since one of the fairer sex from the school of tune-tonsils has dominated the Palladium stage as the chief headliner, but the prize for our patience is the satisfying mellow appreciation of the art of natural expression of performance. No mass hysteria or false emotions; no attempt to palpitate the pulse, but a clever Clooney showing an audience how they can be nursed, coaxed, humoured and sent home contented. How many artists would fail to include a recording hit enjoying the success of “Where Will the Dimple Be?” How many artists would fail to include one of the first big-sellers to establish them—“Half As Much”? But, in the case of Clooney, the smooth make-up of the programme was designed in a manner which refused to pander to tradition. Rarely has a Palladium audience been so unanimous in appreciation, yet without visible signs of fan hysteria from any section of the house. It was an object lesson in the art of developing a polite applause into a deafening crescendo.

(
New Musical Express
)

December
. Rosemary is released from her Paramount contract at her own request.

January 11
. Rosemary announces that she is pregnant again.

January 20
. Rosemary signs to star in 39 half-hour musical television films. Filming begins on February 2 at NBC with a schedule of two half-hours a week until a total of 39 shows is reached. The show is sold on a
syndicated basis and Foremost Dairies is the main sponsor. The series is filmed in black and white. The Hi-Lo’s are regulars and Nelson Riddle leads the orchestra.

February 8/11
. In Hollywood, dubs her vocals onto tracks prepared by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in New York for an album called
Blue Rose
.

March 17
. The annual Emmy awards show at Pan Pacific Auditorium, Hollywood. Rosemary is nominated for best female singer but loses to Dinah Shore.

May 15
.
The Rosemary Clooney Show
makes its debut and continues for 39 weeks.

July 7
.
Billboard
announces that
The Rosemary Clooney Show
has won first place in the Best Music Series category of the Syndicated Film programs.

August 9
. Maria Providencia Ferrer is born in St. John’s Hospital, weighing six pounds.

October 1
. Rosemary starts filming the remaining 13 episodes of
The Rosemary Clooney Show
which she was unable to complete because of her pregnancy.

February 26
. Rosemary announces that she is pregnant again.

March 14–27
. Appears at the Riverside Theater Restaurant, Reno, Nevada.

April 9
. Arrives in England to spend time with José Ferrer who is making a film.

April 20
. (8:30–9:15
P.M
.) Stars in the British ATV presentation
The Rosemary Clooney Show
and sings seven numbers. (10:15–11:15
P.M
.) Records an hour-long radio show for the BBC.

April 25
. Flies from London to Amsterdam, Holland, with her young son Miguel. (8:00–9:45
P.M
.) Records an appearance on a Dutch radio show called
Showboat
.

August 1
. Gabriel Vicente Ferrer is born in St. John’s Hospital, two months early, weighing four pounds. He is placed in an incubator. Associated Press reports describe his condition as “hopeful.”

September 2
. Daily
Ford Road Shows
featuring Rosemary and Bing Crosby separately commence on CBS radio. The shows are of five-minute duration and Rosemary and Bing alternate with each other. Rosemary sings one or two songs in each show. The shows continue until August 31, 1958, and use songs from a library of musical items recorded with Buddy Cole and His Trio.

September 26
.
The Lux Show with Rosemary Clooney
, a 30-minute program, makes its debut on NBC-TV. The series is broadcast live and in color on Thursday evenings from September 1957 through June 1958. Regulars on the program are Frank De Vol and his orchestra and the Modernaires.

October 13
. Guests on
The Edsel Show
, a live television program on CBS hosted by Bing Crosby with Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. The program wins the
Look
magazine TV Award for “Best Musical Show, 1957” and is nominated for an Emmy as the “Best Single Program of the Year.”

March 23
. Rosemary announces that she is expecting her fourth child.

June 21–29
. Entertains at the Riverside in Reno, Nevada.

July 2–15
. Entertains at The Sands, Las Vegas.

She appears onstage in a tent dress, explaining that she’s not doing it to follow the current styles, but simply because she’s pregnant. Miss Clooney’s distinctive voice sounds better than ever as she effectively sells such numbers as “Give It All You’ve Got,” “Tenderly,” “I Miss New Orleans,” “This Old House” (with Buddy Cole), “A Foggy Day” and “Come On-a My House.”

(
Variety
, July 9, 1958)

July 28–August 11
. A pregnant Rosemary Clooney records the
Fancy Meeting You Here
album with Bing Crosby.

October 13
. Monsita Teresa Ferrer is born at St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, weighing six pounds, four ounces.

December 31
. Adelia Guilfoyle, Rosemary’s grandmother, dies in Maysville.

January 18
. Rosemary again entertains at the clambake following the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

March 3
. Appears on “Some of Manie’s Friends,” a tribute on NBC-TV to the late Manie Sachs.

June 3–28
. Sings at Harrah’s in Reno, Nevada.

September 11–13
. Performs at the Kentucky State Fair with Fabian, Jimmy Dean, and the Four Lads. The takings are disappointing.

November
. Rosemary announces that she is pregnant again.

January
. Rosemary signs a recording contract with RCA Victor.

February 29
. (11:40–12:00 noon)
The Crosby–Clooney Show
, a 20-minute, five days a week radio show premieres on CBS. It continues until November 2, 1962, and uses items from a library of songs recorded with Buddy Cole and His Trio. Bing and Rosemary Clooney record new linking dialogue periodically.

March 23
. Rafael Francisco Ferrer, a five-pound, six-ounce baby boy, is born in St. John’s, Santa Monica.

June 6–22
. Rosemary performs at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe.

September
. Entertains at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York for a month.

To the bright strains of “Clap Hands, Here Comes Rosie,” Rosemary Clooney bounced up to the bandstand of the Empire Room at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria last week. With hardly a pause for breath, the blond singer belted out “Ev’rything’s Coming up Roses,” and then moved into the seductive, husky-voiced rendition of “Tenderly,” which has become her theme song. Before the roar of applause died down, she abruptly threw off the white ostrich-feather coat which had enveloped her like a tent. “I’ll bet,” she told the packed room, “that 50 per cent of the audience was saying ‘She’s pregnant again.’ I fooled you, didn’t I?”

(Newsweek
, October 3, 1960)

October 21
. Sings at a rally for Senator John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.

March 1
. Internal Revenue Service officials charge that Rosemary owes $52,522 in back income taxes for the years 1957–1959. A tax lien is placed on her property.

April
. Entertains at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas.

July 21
. Tapes a Jo Stafford TV special in London with Mel Tormé. The show is seen in the United Kingdom during September and later syndicated in the United States.

August 5
. Stars in
The Rosemary Clooney Show
on the British ATV network. Bing Crosby makes an unbilled live appearance and sings “Fancy Meeting You Here” with Rosemary and Dave King.

August 9
. Flies back to California and turns José Ferrer out of the house.

August 26
. Nelson Riddle tells his wife he is leaving her. Within a few weeks he leaves the apartment he has rented in Malibu and returns home.

August 28–September 3
. Rosemary performs at the Du Quoin State Fair, Illinois, with Nelson Eddy.

September 22
. Rosemary files suit for divorce from José Ferrer in Superior Court in Santa Monica charging mental cruelty.

September 26
. Pulls out of
The Bell Telephone Hour
(scheduled for September 29) after the sponsor and the show producer insist that she eliminate the song “If Love Were All.”

October 8
. In Toronto, Rosemary stars in the CBC-TV show
Parade–The Swingin’ Sound of Nelson Riddle
. Rosemary and Nelson Riddle present music from their latest albums.

October 19
. In Superior Court in Santa Monica, Rosemary and José Ferrer agree to temporary alimony of $1,500 per month pending the trial of her suit for divorce.

November 28–December 11
. Appears at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas.

January 20
. Sings at an inaugural anniversary dinner for the Democratic Party in Washington, DC.

January 25
. Opens a three-week engagement at Harrah’s, Lake Tahoe.

April 10
. Opens at the Copacabana in New York.

May 9
. Rosemary is given a divorce from José Ferrer on grounds of infidelity. She receives $300 per month for each of the five children of the marriage, $1 per year token alimony, $22,000 in attorney’s fees, and use of their Beverly Hills mansion in Roxbury Drive until she remarries. The Roxbury Drive house is put into trust for the five children.

June 9
. Sings at a Democratic Party dinner in Washington, DC. Later, Rosemary is called to the White House to meet President Kennedy who cooks her scrambled eggs.