Career
Clooney never received singing lessons or learned how to read sheet music. She and her sister Betty learned to sing by ear and began singing to attract crowds before their grandfather's campaign speeches for mayor of Maysville; he was elected three times. The performances built their confidence and gave them local recognition.
In 1945, Rosemary and Betty won a spot singing on the WLW radio station in Cincinnati, making $20 per week. While on the radio, in 1947, they were heard by Tony Pastor when he was in Cincinnati. Pastor was initially reluctant to take both sisters into his band as Betty was still under the age of 18 but hired them to record "I'm Sorry I Didn't Say Sorry", backed with "The Lady from Twenty-Nine Palms". The Clooneys recorded 14 songs with the Pastor band.
Rosemary signed to Columbia Records and made her solo recording debut in mid-1949 with "Bargain Day" and "Cabaret".
In 1950 and 1951, Clooney was a regular on the CBS Radio and television versions of Songs for Sale. In early 1951, she had a minor hit with "Beautiful Brown Eyes".
Clooney's recording of "Come On-a My House" (1951), produced by Mitch Miller, became her first big chart hit. The song was a novelty pop song that Clooney did not like and required her to sing with an accent, but Miller forced her to record it to keep her recording contract. The song sold over 1 million copies and it propelled her to stardom. Clooney's first royalty check from the song was $130,000.
In 1951 and 1952, Clooney made several guest appearances on Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town on CBS. She also made several guest appearances on the Arthur Godfrey radio show. They did duets as he played his ukulele, and other times, Clooney sang one of her latest hits.
Clooney made several duets with Marlene Dietrich, released on the EP Rosie and Marlene (1953).
In 1954, Clooney starred, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen, in the movie White Christmas. During the production, Clooney realized she could not dance, so she began taking dance lessons from Dante DiPaolo; they fell madly in love.
In 1956, she starred in a half-hour syndicated television musical-variety show, The Rosemary Clooney Show, which featured The Hi-Lo's singing group and Nelson Riddle's orchestra. In 1957, the show moved to NBC prime time as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney, but it lasted only one season. It featured the singing group The Modernaires and Frank DeVol's orchestra.
Clooney often appeared with Bing Crosby on television, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show, and they made a concert tour of Ireland together. In November 1957, she appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, a frequent entry in the "Top 20" and featuring a musical group called "The Top Twenty". In 1960, Clooney and Crosby co-starred in The Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show, a 20-minute CBS Radio program that aired before the midday news each weekday.
Clooney had 16 songs make the Billboard pop chart from 1951 to 1956.
Clooney's last major chart hit was a jazz-infused vocal rendition of "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", released in May 1956.
Between 1955 and 1960, Clooney gave birth to 5 children, which impaired her ability to tour or promote her music during this time.
Clooney left Columbia in 1958. She made several recordings for MGM Records and then some for Coral Records. In 1958, she signed with RCA Victor, where she recorded until 1963. In 1958, she recorded Fancy Meeting You Here, an album of duets with Bing Crosby. In 1964, Clooney recorded for Reprise Records, and in 1965, Dot Records.
A one-off single for Dot, "Let Me Down Easy", in 1968 was the last new material Clooney released for eight years as she spent most of that time recovering from a severe mental breakdown and substance abuse issues.
In the mid-1970s, Clooney started to rebuild her career by playing at smaller venues such as Holiday Inn lounges.
In 1976, Clooney recorded two albums for United Artists Records, the first new LP she had released in more than a decade.
Also in 1976, Clooney was invited by her friend, Merv Griffin to appear on his show and she was invited by Bing Crosby to join his 50th anniversary tour.
From 1977 until her death, she recorded an album every year for Concord Jazz.
From 1978 to 1985, Clooney was the spokesperson in television commercials for Coronet paper towels by Georgia-Pacific, during which she sang the jingle, "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coronet."
Clooney sang a duet with Wild Man Fischer on "It's a Hard Business" (1986).
She sang a duet of "Green Eyes" with Barry Manilow for his album, Singin' with the Big Bands (1994).
In 1994, Clooney guest-starred in the NBC television medical drama ER (starring her nephew, George Clooney); she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance.
In January 1996, Clooney sang "When October Goes" on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio program.
Clooney was awarded the Ella Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Singers in 1998.
In 1999, Clooney founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in Maysville, her hometown to benefit the restoration of the Russell Theater in Maysville, where Clooney's first film, The Stars Are Singing, premiered in 1953. Clooney performed at the festival every year until her death.
Clooney received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2002.
