Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Another time, another Clooney


Pat, an Arkansas Stamper, who by her own admission lives in a cave on the back side of beyond, revealed in a comment on yesterday’s post that (a) she had never before seen George Clooney, (b) she would not try to set any speed records to do so again, and (c) her idea of a sexy-looking man was Yul Brynner.


There must be something in the water out in Arkansas. The expression on his face and in his eyes make him look like a man who has just been told he must move the privy before he will get any supper.

To be fair, though, here he is all cleaned up and looking spiffy. Unless I am mistaken, this photo is from the movie Anastasia in which he co-starred with actresses Ingrid Bergman and Helen Hayes.


I didn’t set out to blog about Yul Brynner, but Pat’s comment helped me to realize that certain niche groups exist in my audience. So today I have decided to accommodate them by presenting to you a star of another era, George Clooney’s aunt, Rosemary.

If you never heard of her, never heard her sing, and have no idea what she looked like, you can start by clicking here for a photo gallery.

Then listen to “If You Loved Me Half As Much As I Love You” and “Botch-a-Me” with an introduction by Dean Martin.

Next, check out Rosemary’s rendition of “I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plan.”

Listening to this duet with Judy Canova three times in a row is guaranteed to put a bounce in your step and make your day happier.

If you just cannot get enough of Rosemary Clooney, listen to “Alone At Last.”

Lastly, here is an audio version of what was probably her biggest hit, “Hey There.” I did find a youtube version of it from the eighties, but it is far too uptempo and jazzy and I refuse to link to it.

In my research, I discovered that George Clooney is not only the nephew of Rosemary Clooney, he is also the son of Nick Clooney (Rosemary’s brother, who hosts movies on the AMC channel), the nephew of Jose Ferrer (Rosemary’s husband, twice), the cousin of actors Miguel, Gabriel, and Rafael Ferrer (Rosemary’s and Jose’s sons who were named after angels), and Debbie Boone, who sang “You Light Up My Life” (wife of Gabriel and daughter of Pat Boone and Shirley Foley Boone, who just happens to be the daughter of country singer Red Foley, who had a big hit way back when with “Peace in the Valley”).



That is not Rosemary Clooney. That is Rosemary’s sister, Betty. Together, they recorded a duet called “Sisters” in nineteen something-or-other. Just another fascinating fact from my bottomless bag of trivia.

Okay, I'll throw in one more fact for good measure. The wife of actor Ricardo Montalban was also the sister of Academy-Award-winning actress Loretta Young.

I never said it would be about Rosemary Clooney.

Honestly, the lengths I go to just to make the niche groups in my audience happy.

10 comments:

  1. I'm with Pat. Yul had more sex appeal that George will ever have.

    I didn't know Rosemary Clooney did "Sisters" before White Christmas.

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  2. 'Fraid Rosemary Clooney always made me cringe, but Pat Boone? Don't know what he looked like, but his voice was sweet...

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  3. WOW! You sure know how to pick on a poor, defenseless old lady!! However, I hope I am mature enough to suffer the slings and arrows of this blog world without excessive complaining.)

    That was a terrible photo (first one) of my heart-throb, Yul, but even so, his eyes... oh, his eyes!!!

    I didn't know that George C. was related to Rosemary, so I thank you for that piece of triva ...uh, I mean fascinating information. Unlike Jinksy, I find Rosemary's singing quite pleasant.

    We also serve who only stand (or sit, as the case may be) and create fodder for blog posts.

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  4. You know, there surely will be a special place in blogger heaven for those bloggers who took the time to cater to the various niche interests of their readers. You are to be commended.

    Thanks for the info on the famous family connections of the Clooneys and Ferrars. I did not know Debbie Boone was married to one. I enjoy hearing about famous family connections....you can blog about that anytime.

    That "move the privy" line was great....how did you come up with that? Maybe Billy Ray thought of it....

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  5. I always liked Yul in The King and I but I can't exactly say i ever thought he was good looking. I saw Rosemary in White Christmas and she was alright. yeah, ok, I admit I think Georgie is cute... I knew about a lot of the family connections, why I don't know. My mom talks about the time she was a teenager and practically swooned because Pat Boone LOOKED RIGHT AT HER!!! apparently it was exciting. He's pretty cool in Journey to the Center of the Earth.

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  6. Ruth - I remember hearing "Sisters" and thinking that Rosemary was singing a dut with herself, so much did Betty's voice resemble hers.

    Jinksy - See tomorrow's post. But please elaborate; why did R.C.'s voice make you cringe? (Granted, she wasn't Maria Callas.)

    Pat - I thought you would be THRILLED to have inspired a post! :) And I have never thought of your musings as fodder.

    Jeannelle - Thanks for the kind words. I thought of that line myself, and I'm every bit as clever as Billy Ray Barnwell!

    Rosezilla/Tracie - When I was in high school, Pat Boone was in college at North Texas State College in Denton, and when I participated in some sort of statewide competition there, Pat was the singer with the NTSC (now NTSU) Jazz Band and provided the entertainment for the evening. A few months later he was hosting a local dance program on TV in Dallas/Fort Worth. And a few months after that, I was dancing in the presence of Dick Clark in Philadelphia (blogged about on an earlier post). Tell your mother I'll see her Pat Boone and raise her a Dick Clark.

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  7. hit parade, once saw her kissing another woman in a movie later in her life and had to leave the movie embarassed after paying for it in the middle....sang italian son called 'WHAT'S FOR DINNER, OR WHAT'S THAT COOKIN ON THE STOVE...or something like that...burnt the meat in the end of the song....was in love with her so, but was embarassed for her

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  8. rosemary's song now that i remember was "how lovely cooks the meat"" remember????

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  9. Correction! That should have been "duet" in my comment to Ruth!

    Putz - I didn't see that movie and I don't remember that song. Are we living on the same planet?

    I do remember "How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings, O Lord of Hosts" but Rosemary Clooney wasn't singing it.

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  10. So are you the one that popped Dick Clark in formaldehyde so he'd stay the same forever? Come to think of it, my mother has stayed preserved quite well, no one ever believes her age. Maybe it was a "Tuck Everlasting" type thing going on back then.

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