Rose Marie

'Rose Marie' (qv) was a legend of show business, with a career stretching 90 years, since her debut as her self in a Vitaphone musical short that appeared on the bill with _The Jazz Singer (1927)_ (qv) at its premiere in 1927. According to 'Rose Marie' (qv), when she approached 'Al Jolson' (qv) at The Wintergarden Theater in New York on the night of the premiere that made movie history and told him, "You were wonderful, Mr. Jolson!", his reply was, "Get away, you little brat!""He didn't like kids," 'Rose Marie' (qv) explained. Her first credited appearance was in another musical short, Baby 'Rose Marie' (qv) the Child Wonder (1929) in 1929.The legendary performer was born 'Rose Marie' (qv) Mazetta on August 15, 1923 in New York City, the daughter of an Italian-American father, Frank Mazetta (known as Frank Curley), and Polish-American mother, Stella (Gluszcak). Blessed with a remarkable singing voice for a child that allowed her to belt out jazz songs in the "coon shouter" style of the 1920s (as exemplified by 'Sophie Tucker' (qv)), she began performing when she was three years old as "Baby 'Rose Marie' (qv)." By the time she was five, she had her own radio show on NBC, appearing after 'Amos and Andy' (1949)_, the most popular show in the country. Many people could not believe the voice they were hearing actually belonged to a child.Baby 'Rose Marie' (qv) made many appearances in films in the 1930s, most famously in _International House (1933)_ (qv), a movie about television, the medium in which 'Rose Marie' (qv) would win her everlasting fame. In addition to her film performances, Baby 'Rose Marie' (qv) also appeared on records and performed in vaudeville as a headliner. One of the acts she appeared with was 'Edgar Bergen' (qv) before his Charlie McCarthy ventriloquism act, when he was still a small-timer. A half century later, when she appeared on _Murphy Brown (1988)_ (qv), she told star 'Candice Bergen' (qv), "I worked with your father in vaudeville when he was doing a doctor sketch."When Bergen replied that she couldn't have played the nurse in the act as she was too young, 'Rose Marie' (qv) told her that she was the headliner and he was her opening act. "She didn't care for that too much," 'Rose Marie' (qv) remembered.She also appeared in vaudeville with 'Dick Powell' (qv), 'Rudy Vallee' (qv) and 'Jimmy Durante' (qv), who mentored her. She also entertained at the White House three separate times at the request of three presidents. They were 'Calvin Coolidge' (qv), 'Herbert Hoover' (qv) and 'Franklin D. Roosevelt' (qv).She transitioned to becoming a nightclub chanteuse as a teenager, playing all the big night clubs and hotels in New York, Chicago, Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Miami, Florida, usually in Mob-controlled venues. (Prominent mobsters, who called her "The Kid", liked her and protected her.) A young 'Milton Berle' (qv), whom she had known since she was a child, wrote some of her material, as did 'Morey Amsterdam' (qv), her future "'Dick Van Dyke' (qv)" co-star whom she knew since she was nine years old.After the war she married trumpeter 'Bobby Guy' (qv) of the 'Kay Kyser' (qv) Orchestra, in 1946. She made her Broadway debut in 1951, co-starring with 'Phil Silvers' (qv) in the hit show _Top Banana (1954)_ (qv) (she also appeared in the 1954 film adaptation). 'Rose Marie' (qv) also appeared on radio on "The 'Phil Harris' (qv) - 'Alice Faye' (qv) Show", playing the sister of 'Sheldon Leonard' (qv), who would later hire her for The 'Dick Van Dyke' (qv) Show (1961) in his capacity as executive producer.'Rose Marie' (qv) had a career resurgence as an actress in the 1960s, starring in three sit-coms during the decade: First, _My Sister Eileen (1960)_ (qv) in the 1960-1961 season. Second: as comedy writer "Sally Rogers" on The 'Dick Van Dyke' (qv) Show (1961) from 1961 to 1966, and on _The Doris Day Show (1968)_ (qv) from 1969 to 1971. She also appeared frequently on _The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965)_ (qv). She was the center square at least once, and had a recurring role on _Murphy Brown (1988)_ (qv) and _Wings (1990)_ (qv). She appeared in a Remington Steele episode "Steele in the Spotlight (1986).She also kept her singing career going, touring as part of the musical revue "4 Girls 4" from 1977 to 1981 with 'Rosemary Clooney' (qv), 'Helen O'Connell' (qv) and 'Margaret Whiting' (qv). In her latter years, she continued to make occasional appearances.She died on December 28, 2017 in Van Nuys, California, at 94 years old.::Jon C. Hopwood