Rosemary Clooney Net Worth

What was Rosemary Clooney's Net Worth?

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress who had a net worth of $20 million. Rosemary Clooney was known for her popular recordings of such songs as "Come On-a My House," "Mambo Italiano," "Half as Much," "This Ole House," and "Hey There." As an actress, she appeared in such musical films as "The Stars Are Singing," "Red Garters," and "White Christmas." Clooney continued recording music, mostly in the jazz and big band genres, until her death in 2002. She was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Rosemary Clooney passed away on June 29, 2002 at 74 years old from lung cancer.

She was married to actor José Ferrer twice. Their son Miguel Ferrer eventually became a successful actor. Rosemary's brother Nick Clooney is the father of George Clooney. So, George and Miguel Ferrer were first cousins. George famously lived with Rosemary when he first moved to Hollywood to launch his career.

Early Life

Rosemary Clooney was born on May 23, 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky as one of five children of Marie and Andrew. Growing up, she sang with her sister Betty, and in 1945 the duo won a spot on the Cincinnati radio station WLW.

Rosemary Clooney holding Miguel Ferrer (1955-2017) (Photo by De Carvalho Collection/Getty Images)

Singing Career

In the latter half of the 1940s, Clooney signed with Columbia Records. She recorded a number of songs with Tony Pastor's big band before making her first solo recording in 1949. Clooney went on to have her commercial breakthrough in 1951 with the song "Come On-a My House," which was produced by Mitch Miller and became a chart hit. The next year, she popularized the song "Botch-a-Me" and had a number-one hit with her version of "Half as Much." Clooney had another big hit with "Mambo Italiano," which charted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France between 1954 and 1955. Her other hits around this time included "Hey There" and "This Ole House." Clooney's last major chart hits were her covers of the songs "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face" and "Mangos," released in 1956 and 1957, respectively. Not long after those, she left Columbia Records, and subsequently did some recordings for MGM Records and Coral Records.

From 1958 to 1963, Clooney was signed with RCA Victor. After that, she spent stints with Reprise Records and Dot Records. Later, in 1976, Clooney signed with United Artists Records, and in 1977 released the album "Nice to Be Around." Also in 1977, she released "Everything's Coming Up Rosie," her first of several solo albums released through Concord Records. The album also commenced Clooney's 15-year music partnership with tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton. She went on to release such albums as "Rosie Sings Bing," "Here's to My Lady," and "Rosemary Clooney Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin." In the 1980s, Clooney recorded albums covering such artists as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. She continued recording prolifically in the 1990s, releasing such albums as "Girl Singer," "Still on the Road," "Mothers & Daughters," and "At Long Last." Clooney's final album, the live album "The Last Concert," was released posthumously in late 2002.

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Television Career

As she rose to fame as a singer in the early 1950s, Clooney appeared on the CBS variety series "Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town." Later, in 1956, she starred on her own musical variety show, "The Rosemary Clooney Show," which featured the vocal quartet the Hi-Lo's and Nelson Riddle's orchestra. The show was renamed "The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney" in 1957, and featured the vocal group the Modernaires and Frank DeVol's orchestra.

Clooney made several appearances on television with Bing Crosby, including in the 1957 CBS live special "The Edsel Show." In the late 1970s and early '80s, she did television commercials for Coronet paper towels, in which she sang the memorable jingle "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coronet." Clooney also acted in some television series later in her career, including in episodes of "Hardcastle and McCormick," "ER," and "LateLine." For her role on "ER," she earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Film Career

In 1953, Clooney made her feature film debut in Norman Taurog's musical "The Stars Are Singing," in which she starred alongside Lauritz Melchior and Anna Maria Alberghetti. Later that year, she appeared in the Bob Hope musical comedy "Here Come the Girls." In 1954, Clooney starred in two musical films: George Marshall's "Red Garters" and Michael Curtiz's "White Christmas." She also had a cameo appearance in the MGM musical "Deep in My Heart." Clooney rarely appeared on the big screen after that. Her final film role was a cameo in the 1994 comedy thriller "Radioland Murders."

Autobiographies

Clooney penned two autobiographies. The first, "This for Remembrance," was co-written with Raymond Strait and published in 1977. Bing Crosby wrote the introduction to the book. Clooney published her second autobiography, "Girl Singer," in 1999; it describes her struggles with prescription drug addiction and depression, and how she overcame them.

Personal Life and Death

Clooney married Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer in 1953. Together, they had five children before divorcing in 1961. The pair remarried in late 1964, but their second marriage was even more short-lived, ultimately falling apart due to Ferrer's affair with Stella Magee. A second divorce followed, in 1967. Clooney experienced worsening mental health over the subsequent years, and became increasingly dependent on sleeping pills. Following the assassination of her friend Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, she had a nervous breakdown onstage in Reno, Nevada. Clooney was hospitalized as a result, and spent eight years undergoing psychoanalytic therapy. Later, in 1997, she married her longtime friend Dante DiPaolo, an actor and dancer.

A heavy smoker for much of her life, Clooney was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2001. She underwent surgery and had a long period of care before she passed away on June 29, 2002 at her home in Beverly Hills.