Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was born May 23, 1928, in Maysfield, Kentucky to Mary Frances and Andrew Joseph Clooney. Being one of five, Rosemary Clooney grew very close to her sister, Betty, because of their shared interest in singing.
The two sisters (along with their brother Nick) found their calling in the Performing Arts Industry. Nick Clooney (father of present-day movie star, George Clooney) made it as a television broadcaster while Rosemary and Betty Clooney became entertainers. Clooney made her first public debut at only 13 years old in 1941 on the Cincinnati radio station WLW. By 1945, she and her sister Betty became regular entertainers.
Rosemary Clooney continued her career doing radio and television shows with Tony Pastor’s Big Band, but in 1951 she skyrocketed into stardom with her hit recording of “Come on-a My House”. Clooney would go on to record more hit singles as well as duetts with notable names like Frank Sinatra, Arthur Godfrey, and Marlene Dietrich.
In 1953, Rosemary Clooney married her first husband Puerto Rican movie star, José Ferrer. The couple appeared together in Deep in My Heart (1954).
One of the most iconic moments of Rosemary Clooney’s career was her appearance in the Christmas classic White Christmas (1954) alongside Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen.
However, in the late 60s, Clooney suffered through a serious nervous breakdown due to the assassination of her close friend, Robert F. Kennedy. At this point in her life, she struggled with addiction and depression, becoming very reliant on pills. In 1976, Clooney made efforts to restart her career signing with United Artists Records.
In 1983, Rosemary Clooney and her brother, Nick, decided to co-chair the "Betty Clooney Foundation for the Brain-Injured". The foundation was dedicated to their late sister who died of brain asylum in 1976. The purpose of the Betty Clooney Foundation for the Brain-Injured was to address the needs of survivors of cognitive disabilities caused by strokes, tumors, and brain damage from trauma or age.
About 20 years later, Clooney married her long-time friend and former dancer, Dante DiPaolo at a private ceremony.
Rosemary Clooney died of lung cancer on June 9, 2002.
Doris Day
Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff was born on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents, Fredrick Wilhelm Von Kappelhoff and Alma Sophia Welz came over to America from Germany along with their passion for music. Kappelhoff’s father was a music teacher and did a lot of work with the church choir due to his love of classical music. It’s no surprise that the young Kappelhoff found a passion for being an entertainer. While recovering from a dance injury, Doris engaged in self-taught singing lessons by listening and singing along to songs on the radio. Her mother took notice of her daughter’s talent and took her to Grace Raine, a vocal coach that Doris would later credit for her successful career.
Kappelhoff landed her first singing career at the WLW radio station (yes..the same one that booked Rosemary Clooney and her sister Betty). During a performance for WLW, Kappelhoff caught the attention of jazz musician Barney Rapp, who coincidentally was looking for a female vocalist. While they were working together, Doris Kappelhoff took on the stage name “Doris Day” because Rapp was inspired by her cover of “Day By Day”.
In 1945, Doris Day released her first single “Sentimental Journey” which would later become the anthem for the returning of World War II troops.
Two years after her first hit, Doris Day made her debut in acting with Romance on the High Seas (1948). Despite having very little experience in acting, Day was picked by director Michael Curtiz because of her “All-American Girl” look. Day had massive success from the film and went on to star in more movies, television shows, and record more music. From 1959 through 1969, Doris Day received six Golden Globe nominations for best female performance in three comedies, one drama, one musical, and her television series. In addition, over the course of 1959 to 1970, Day received nine Laurel Award nominations (and won four times) for best female performance in eight comedies and one drama.
Doris Day was known to have a strong love for animals, and in 1971 she co-founded “Actors and Others for Animals” which ran in newspaper advertisements to diminish the use of animal fur on clothing. Seven years later she established the Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF), a non-profit organization to help carry on Day’s mission to protect animals. The DDAF, influenced a chain of animal activist groups such as Doris Day Animal League (DDAL), for lobbyists who, like Doris Day, want to fight for the reduced suffering of animals. She faced a lot of ups and downs in her life including multiple marriages, bankruptcy, animal activism, etc.
Doris Day lived on to be 97 years old, dying of pneumonia on May 13, 2019.
Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (better known as Etta James) was born on January 25th, 1938 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Dorothy Hawkins, was only fourteen when she gave birth to Jamesetta and her father has never been identified. With her mother primarily out of the apartment, Etta James went through multiple foster families in her life.
She had her first proper vocal lessons at age of five from James Earle Hines, the musical director at Echoes of Eden choir at the St. Paul Baptist Church, in South-Central Los Angeles. James suffered physical abuse from her instructor punching her in the chest while she sang to force her to sing from her gut. Her foster father often abused James and made her sing on-command which later had a negative impact on her career.
In the early 50s, Etta James returned to her biological mother after her foster mother died, and she began to get inspired by doo-wop and formed the Creolettes (a girl group named for the members' light-skinned complexions). When James was 14, she got the opportunity to audition for musician Johnny Otis. Otis took the group under his wing and recorded hit after hit landing the girls a spot on Little Richard’s tour.
Years later James split from her group and released her first solo debut album At Last! In 1960. The album was a huge hit and launched Etta James into stardom.
After a decade of gospel and R&B, James took a gamble in rock and funk with her 1973 self-titled album. She would go on to produce more R&B albums with a rock twist getting her many Grammy nominations and awards. Her family life with her husband Artis Mills remained fairly normal with her two sons also getting involved with music careers.
Etta James is considered one of the most overlooked R&B singers in music history. Despite her ability to possess the vocal range of a contralto, she wasn’t credited until the 1990s.
Her musical style changed during the course of her career and so did her personal life. James struggled with heroin addiction throughout her career and at times it got her in trouble with the law. It wasn’t until she was 50 years old she finally got help. After rehab, James was able to keep her career alive by making guest performances of her most successful songs.
Etta James lived to be 73 years old. She died on January 20, 2012, of leukemia.
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