Rose Marie Has Died
Rose Marie, the comedy actress and singer, who was a regular cast member on the Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s, has died at the age of 94.
Rose Marie Mazetta was born on 15 August 1923 in New York City, the same day that the Broadway musical Rose-Marie opened.
She got her first taste of showbiz at the age of three following an amateur contest that took her to Atlantic City, where she was billed as Baby Rose Marie.
She went on to sing for US Presidents Coolidge, Hoover and Roosevelt, and starred in some of the earliest talking films, including the 1929 short Baby Rose Marie The Child Wonder.
In 1946, she married musician Bobby Guy, a trumpeter for the The Tonight Show, and the couple remained together until his death in 1964.
Between 1961 and 1966, she starred in all five seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show and quickly became a household name as quick-witted comedy writer Sally Rogers.
Her famous black hair bow, which she wore constantly, was inducted into the Smithsonian Museum in 2008, along with other items from her career.
Loved her on "Hollywood Squares".
ReplyDeleteApparently she and MTM had a lifelong beef - RoseMarie claimed she was promised female lead on "DVD", and always felt like Mary stole her thunder.
She was always an All-American gal. A lady everyone loved and admired in a business that is cut-throat and ugly. She brought a million trillion smiles to her fans. A class act. They broke the mold when they made you! Now she can twinkle forever! Thank you for your incredible life! Just know you were dearly loved!
ReplyDeleteLOVED Rose Marie. One of the few women "back in the day" who could hold her own in a group of men or "boys club."
ReplyDeleteRose Marie and Mary Tyler Moore played a huge part in women roles on tv. Amazing legends who will be sorely missed in this crazy world.
RIP.
ReplyDeleteI remember her, she was a hoot. Great actress. We're losing all the truly great ones. TV shows sure aren't what they used to be. (Now, I sound like my grandparents!!)
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ReplyDeleteThe new Rose Marie documentary "Wait For Your Laugh" is wonderful with lots of color home movie footage, especially from the Dick Van Dyke set. She had a great last few months, with a burgeoning Twitter following and getting lots of love from old and new fans thanks to the film.
ReplyDelete@houston bch - the "the boys at the Flamingo" shout out is a mob reference, she was friends with Bugsy Siegel.
ReplyDeleteShe was a good dame.
ReplyDeleteI always thought she had the best lines on the "Dick Van Dyke" show.
ReplyDeleteRIP. 💛
ReplyDeleteRose Marie was a blast on DVD and hollywodd squares. Just read a really good article couple months ago in LA Times about her family and mob connections! RIP funny lady!!
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I saw Rose Marie on a talk show where she said that Bugsy Siegel had hired her as one of the acts for his recently opened Las Vegas Flamingo Casino.
ReplyDeleteAfter performing, she was told Bugsy wanted to see her. She went to him and he gave her +/-$10,000 and told her to go play craps!
Rose Marie retorted that she didn't know how to play craps.
Bugsy replied, it doesn't matter.
So, she went to the craps table, started making all kinds of bets and was "Winning!"
She was so excited, she created such a stir, others started playing, too.
Afterward, she took her winnings loaded into her skirt to Bugsy were she said to him, I couldn't believe she won so much.
Rose Marie said, Bugsy's reply was: "I knew I could trust you."
Apparently, he took the winnings, handed Rose the original $10,000 which Rose said she was grateful to receive.
RIP she seemed to be able to hold her own with a group of guys. I don't think Sally on Dick Van Dyck was too much of a stretch as a character.
ReplyDeleteHer father was an arsonist for Al Capone, who told her to call him "Uncle Al." I thought that was an interesting little factoid!
ReplyDeleteDo Tell: That is a fabulous bit of unknown information. Thanks for sharing it. My grandmother, Miz Mamie, was a rum runner during Prohibition. She bought a private island off Savannah to bring her illegal booze in. My dad said he grew up with all these strange looking men with strange accents (Yankees!) visiting her for a week or two. He remembered Al Capone and Frank Nitti, among others. When The Untouchables first came on in the 50s, my dad was in Hog Heaven. After the show he would tell us funny stories about the mobsters featured that week. Mom was always upset because she wanted us girls to believe we were Lace Curtain Irish when we were as Shanty Irish as they came! Then you've got the Lakota Sioux mixed in. Didn't stand a chance, did I?
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can get Tricia to share her Hell's Kitchen stories! The Westies. When I moved to Hell's Kitchen in the early 80s, the last of the hooligans were about to leave. But the stories still reverberate even now. Mickey Spillane's son has a bar on 9th Avenue. His dad was a major power back in the day. Not the writer, the mobster. Any stories Trish?
ReplyDeleteFortunately, there is a documentary about her life that is making the festival rounds. For those interested, it's called "Wait for your laugh"
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