Late Life Jazz: The Life and Career of Rosemary Clooney (54 page)

34
. Philip Elwood,
San Francisco Examiner
, November 5, 1986.

35
. Gerald Nachman,
San Francisco Chronicle
, November 1986.

36
. John S. Wilson,
New York Times
, May 5, 1985.

37
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview.

1
. Marian McPartland,
Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz
, National Public Radio, October 14, 1992.

2
. Deborah Grace Winer, author interview, June 15, 2011.

3
. Ron Shaw, author interview, April 15, 2011.

4
. John Schreiber, author interview, March 29, 2011.

5
. Deborah Grace Winer, author interview.

6
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview, May 14, 2011.

7
. Larry King interview, Mutual Radio, April 20, 1987.

8
. Debby Boone, author interview, May 18, 2011.

9
. Monsita Boswick, author interview, May 13, 2011.

10
. Ian Bernard, author interview, March 24, 2011.

11
. John Pizzarelli, author interview, October 26, 2010.

12
. Michael Feinstein, author interview, April 9, 2011.

13
. Deborah Grace Winer,
The Night and the Music
, Schirmer Books, New York, 1995.

14
. Deborah Grace Winer, author interview.

15
. John Pizzarelli, author interview.

16
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview, May 12, 2012.

17
. “Rosemary Clooney Sings Rodgers, Hart & Hammerstein,”
Downbeat
, July 1990.

18
. Ibid.

19
. Eliot Tiegel,
“Great Comebacks,” Pulse
magazine, May 1990.

20
. Deborah Grace Winer, author interview.

21
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview, May 14, 2011.

22
. Stephen Holden,
New York Times
, February 11, 1989.

23
. “Rainbow & Stars, N.Y.,”
Variety
, February 15, 1989.

24
. William A. Raidy,
The Star Ledger
, February 13, 1989.

25
. Gary Giddins,
Village Voice
, October 29, 1991.

26
. Ibid.

27
. Joanne Kaufman,
New York Magazine
, April 22, 1991.

28
. “New York Rainbow & Stars (90 seats); Jan. 30–Feb. 24, 1990; $35 cover. Performance January 30, 1990,”
Variety
, February 7, 1990.

29
. Sherm Holvey, author interview 2, May 9, 2011.

30
. Dante DiPaolo, author interview, May 12, 2011.

31
. Ken Peplowski, author interview, October 26, 2010.

32
.
Larry King Weekend
, CNN, May 10, 1997.

33
. Quoted by James Gavin in sleeve note to
Do You Miss New York
.

34
. Joanne Kaufman,
Wall Street Journal
, February 1994.

35
. Gene Seymour,
Newsday
, February 2, 1994.

36
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview, May 14, 2011

37
. Matt Connor, “The Four Girls Phenomenon,”
www.Rosemaryclooney.com
, 2004.

38
. Jay Leonhart, author interview, March 31, 2011.

39
.
Fresh Air
, interview with Terry Gross, National Public Radio, January 18, 1997.

40
.
Demi-Centennial Video
, A&E Home Video, 1995.

41
.
Larry King Weekend
.

1
. Philip Elwood,
San Francisco Examiner
, July 31, 1995.

2
. Philip Elwood,
San Francisco Examiner
, July 30, 1996.

3
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview, May 14, 2011.

4
.
The Rosie O’Donnell Show
(syndicated TV), May 9, 1997.

5
. The reply was not strictly true. Recording contracts had meant that Rosemary was unable to appear on the “official” soundtrack album for the film (see
Chapter 5
), but Columbia had issued Rosemary’s own versions of the songs from the movie, along with other seasonal tracks on a 10’’ LP called
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
in 1955. In 1978, Rosemary had also recorded a collection of Christmas songs for Mistletoe Records (see
Appendix A
).

6
. Glen Barros, author interview, March 24, 2011.

7
. Allen Sviridoff, author interview.

8
. Steve Eddy,
Orange County Register
, December 17, 2000.

9
. Peter Watrous,
New York Times
, December 6, 1996.

10
. Glen Barros, author interview.

11
. Nick Clooney, author interview, May 16, 2011. “I did hear the Pope sneeze,” Nick said. Others in the party heard the blessings exchange and it was part of the account of the meeting that Rosemary would tell.

12
. Ibid.

13
.
The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder
, CBS-TV, February 16, 1999.

14
. Jim Knippenberg,
Cincinnati Enquirer
, November 8, 1997.

15
. Philip Elwood,
San Francisco Examiner
, July 30, 1996.

16
.
Larry King Weekend
, CNN, May 10, 1997.

17
. Stephen Holden, author interview, March 27, 2011.

18
. “Clooney’s Crooning Past Prime, but Pleasant,”
Tulsa World
, November 23, 1998.

19
. Michael Feinstein, author interview, April 9, 2011.

20
. Jonathan Schwarz interview, 1560 WQEW, May 10, 1998.

21
. Quoted by James Barron,
New York Times
, May 27, 1998.

22
. Quoted by Michael Quintanilla,
Los Angeles Times
, October 7, 1998.

23
. Philip Elwood,
San Francisco Examiner
, November 9, 1998.

24
. Michael Feinstein, author interview.

25
. Stephen Holden,
New York Times
, October 8, 1999.

26
. Stephen Holden, author interview.

27
. Michael Feinstein, author interview.

28
. Quoted by Jesse Hamlin,
San Francisco Chronicle
, January 20, 1997.

1
. Jeffrey Lee Puckett,
Courier-Journal
, March 4, 2001.

2
. Will Friedwald,
Sentimental Journey
CD, 2001, sleeve note.

3
.
The Rosie O’Donnell Show
(syndicated), March 28, 2000.

4
. Matt Catingub, author interview, March 21, 2011.

5
. Interview with Jonathan Schwartz, on 1560 WQEW AM, May 10, 1998.

6
. Stephen Holden,
New York Times
, March 29, 2001.

7
. Michael Feinstein, author interview, April 9, 2011.

8
. Sherry Crawford,
Courier & Press
, September 17, 2001.

9
. Ibid.

10
. Quoted by Janelle Gelfand,
Cincinnati Enquirer
, July 1, 2002.

11
. Nick Clooney, author interview, May 16, 2011.

12
. Elysa Gardner, “Clooney Carried a Torch for Music,”
USA Today
, June 30, 2002.

13
. Terry Teachout, “Better With Age? Its Not That Simple,”
New York Times
, July 7, 2002.

14
. CBS
Sunday Gold
, November 28, 1999.

Many people and many organizations have helped us prepare this biography of Rosemary Clooney. We were particularly fortunate to have the help of Allen Sviridoff who was Rosemary’s manager for the last 20 years of her life. Allen could not have done more to aid us in bringing the project to fruition. He welcomed us to his home in Woodland Hills, California, for a long interview and patiently answered the host of questions with which we bombarded him over many months. Through his contacts he was able to introduce us to many others we might not have been able to access. Our thanks are also due to Allen’s hard-working secretary, Kimberly Reeves, who oiled the wheels for us throughout the process.

Rosemary’s daughters, Maria and Monsita, both gave us in-depth interviews as did Rosemary’s brother, Nick, who consented to a long meeting at his home in Augusta, Kentucky, and generously entertained us afterward. Dante DiPaolo, Rosemary’s second husband, met us in Beverly Hills for a fascinating conversation. Phyllis Holvey (Rosemary’s cousin) and her husband Sherm gave us several interviews by phone and also entertained us at their home in Palm Desert.

Rosemary has always had a loyal fan base, and many of them provided invaluable assistance. Paul Barouh, in particular, deserves special mention. Paul was tireless in his support and he also generously loaned us a colossal number of items from his collection, which enabled us to see and hear many of Rosemary’s radio and TV appearances that would otherwise have been unavailable to us. Kathy Brown and Rogier Rubens have also given important and substantial help in many areas. To each of them we give our heartfelt appreciation of their efforts with our project. Our thanks are also given to the following, all of whom made significant contributions to the preparation of this book: Dieter Beier, Ross Brethour, David Currington, Ian and Mavis Coleman, Matt Connor, Cheryl French, Dee Goldstein, Brian Henson, MaryLou Mattingly, Martin McQuade, Wendy Mitchell, Keith Parkinson, Graham Pascoe, Pamela S. Schlereth, Michael Schnurr, Mark Sendroff, Ron Shaw, Maureen Solomon, J. J. Tohill, and Greg Van Beek.

Those from the world of show business and entertainment who have given us tremendous assistance are (in alphabetical order) Ken Barnes, Glen Barros, Ian Bernard, Debby Boone, John Burk, Matt Catingub, Ray Charles, Gene Cipriano, Michael Feinstein (who also kindly contributed the Foreword), Will Friedwald (who also gave us access to his unpublished essay on the making of the
Blue Rose
album), Gary Giddins, Henry Riggs Guidotti, Ken Guidotti, Scott Hamilton, Stephen Holden, Leslie Ann Jones, Jay Leonhart, Rich Little, Bill Loeb, Roy Oakshott, John Oddo, Ken Peplowski, Stephen Pouliot, John Schreiber, Bonnie Sugarman, Jack Swersie, Warren Vaché, Roger Vorce, and Deborah Grace Winer. It was a pleasure and an honor to engage with these professionals.

As well as our interview program, our research also drew upon a variety of libraries and museums, plus online resources. Our primary aim was to access material that was contemporaneous with Rosemary’s career. We found that online archive sources for newspapers and periodicals such as
Variety, Billboard
, and the
New York Times
were invaluable in this regard. Web-based sites including
newspaperarchive.com
,
newslibrary.com
, and
TV.com
, gave much useful information too. We also thank the staff of the Kentucky-Gateway Museum, Maysville, Kentucky; the Rosemary Clooney house, Augusta, Kentucky; the Los Angeles Public Library system; the main library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County; and the Atlantic City Free Public Library. In the United Kingdom, thanks go to the BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham, the staff at the British Library in London and at the Manchester Central Public Library.

In respect of other internet-based references, pride of place must go to the Rosemary Clooney Palladium site run by Kathy Brown. This was a wonderful resource. We are indebted to Judy Carmichael’s
Jazzinspired.com
site for her interviews with Scott Hamilton, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Mark Sendroff, Allen Sviridoff, and Warren Vaché. Other very helpful sites were
78discography.com
;
Allmusic.com
; GOLDINdex database; the Internet Movie Database;
kiddierekordking.com
; Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago; Wikipedia; and
youtube.com
.

Suzanne Ryan and the staff at Oxford University Press in New York have been enthusiastic supporters of our book since we first proposed it to them, and we extend our thanks for their editorial and production work.

Last, but certainly not least, we must make special mention of our spouses, Linda and Pat, whose tolerance, love, and support we too easily take for granted! Thank you, ladies.

Ken Crossland and Malcolm Macfarlane
England, January 2013

Reference was made to the following books and published articles.

Bennett, Tony, with Friedwald, Will,
The Good Life: The Autobiography of Tony Bennett
, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998.

Clooney, Rosemary, with Strait, Raymond,
This for Remembrance
, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1977.

Clooney, Rosemary, with Barthel, Joan,
Girl Singer
, Doubleday, New York, 1999.

Crosby, Bing, with Martin, Pete,
Call Me Lucky
, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1953.

Fass, John,
Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport ’56
, Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, NJ, 2008.

Friedwald, Will,
Jazz Singing—America’s Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond
, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1990.

Friedwald, Will,
A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers
, Pantheon Books, New York, 2010.

Friedwald, Will,
Sinatra! The Song Is You
, Da Capo, New York, 1997.

Giddins, Gary,
Riding on a Blue Note
, Oxford University Press, New York, 1981.

Giddins, Gary,
Visions of Jazz
, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998.

Hajdu, David,
Lush Life, a Biography of Billy Strayhorn
, North Point Press, New York, 1997.