Rosemary Clooney

Southern belle Rosemary Clooney started her musical career as a jazz and big band singer and then shot to fame after she co-starred alongside Bing Crosby in the 1954 film 'White Christmas'. Her first big hit 'Come On-a My House' was allegedly hated by Clooney but Columbia, her record company insisted she recorded it. It was the first of many hits and her chart success coupled with her film career turned Clooney into a major star in the late '50s and early '60s. As well as starring on her own TV show she recorded a series of duets with Marlene Dietricht and made regular appearances with Bing Crosby. Behind the scenes things were going awry and Clooney struggled with pill addiction and mental health issues. She was present when her close friend Robert Kennedy was assassinated and a month later suffered a breakdown on stage which led to a prolonged period of psychoanalytic therapy. She eventually moved to Beverly Hills where she lived until she died of lung cancer in 1982. Her nephew, the actor George Clooney was a pallbearer at the funeral.

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