About the Author

When not performing elsewhere, Rosemary Clooney makes her home in Beverly Hills, California, and Augusta, Kentucky. Joan Barthel is the author of several award-winning nonfiction books, including A Death in Canaan. She lives in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Reviews

Early Praise for Girl Singer:

"Hearing Rosemary Clooney sing is like a taste of honey; reading her book is a full and delicious meal."
--Stanley Donen

"A beautiful book. A beautiful American dream of a life, plus a large hunk of nightmare, plus the story of contemporary American popular music."
--Betty Comden

"To know Rosemary Clooney is to love her. After reading this book, you will, too."
--Tony Bennett

"Rosie dear, you've got it all. You've had it all. You must read this book to know it all."
--Dolores Hope

"Rosemary Clooney is one of the great singers of our time, a truly wonderful comedienne on and off the stage, and as good a friend as you could hope for. Girl Singer brings out all these qualities--and many more."
--Margaret Whiting

"Girl Singer is an extraordinary and heartbreaking book. This was my time in Hollywood, as it was Rosie's, and it brought back a lot of memories."
--Joanne Woodward

"A great singer and a great lady, Rosemary Clooney now adds another jewel to her crown, that of great memoirist.  She gives us the best picture we have of an often misunderstood era in popular music, and she lets us see the exactitude of celebrity and the bounty it places on the soul."
--Gary Giddins, author of Visions of Jazz: The First Century

"Rosemary Clooney has been the outstanding girl singer of our century. Her autobiography is the vivid depiction of a fascinating life. I loved it!"
--Kathryn Crosby

"With all due respect, there just aren't any more like her. As I have said before, she is the person I would love to live next door to."
--Maria Cole

"Girl Singer is startlingly honest and beautifully written. At times, this book will break your heart, but throughout, it will open your heart."
--Gavin de Becker, author of The Gift of Fear

"Not only is Rosemary Clooney 'Girl Singer'--she is 'Girl Everywoman.' In other words, she is one hell of a person--and the book tells us all why."
--Janet Leigh

"Just as Rosemary's voice has a unique, unforgettable quality all its own, so does her autobiography. In my book, she stands alone. A true American treasure."
--Ann Rutherford

"Rosemary Clooney's eyes are illuminated by intelligence and mischief. Like her music, she is without guile or self-promotion. Amidst the hubbub of her stories, there are hints of longing, of missing people who nourished her in special intimate ways. These vanished citizens are the motors of the songs. In her autobiography, they are revealed and revered. And of course there's the mischief and the music."
--Jonathan Schwartz

"This book is a must for all who have loved the talent of Rosemary Clooney over the years as I have. The essence of this wonderful lady is captured beautifully within these pages."
--RoseMarie

Early Praise for Girl Singer:

"Hearing Rosemary Clooney sing is like a taste of honey; reading her book is a full and delicious meal."
--Stanley Donen

"A beautiful book. A beautiful American dream of a life, plus a large hunk of nightmare, plus the story of contemporary American popular music."
--Betty Comden

"To know Rosemary Clooney is to love her. After reading this book, you will, too."
--Tony Bennett

"Rosie dear, you've got it all. You've had it all. You must read this book to know it all."
--Dolores Hope

"Rosemary Clooney is one of the great singers of our time, a truly wonderful comedienne on and off the stage, and as good a friend as you could hope for. Girl Singer brings out all these qualities--and many more."
--Margaret Whiting

"Girl Singer is an extraordinary and heartbreaking book. This was my time in Hollywood, as it was Rosie's, and it brought back a lot of memories."
--Joanne Woodward

"A great singer and a great lady, Rosemary Clooney now adds another jewel to her crown, that of great memoirist. She gives us the best picture we have of an often misunderstood era in popular music, and she lets us see the exactitude of celebrity and the bounty it places on the soul."
--Gary Giddins, author of Visions of Jazz: The First Century

"Rosemary Clooney has been the outstanding girl singer of our century. Her autobiography is the vivid depiction of a fascinating life. I loved it!"
--Kathryn Crosby

"With all due respect, there just aren't any more like her. As I have said before, she is the person I would love to live next door to."
--Maria Cole

"Girl Singer is startlingly honest and beautifully written. At times, this book will break your heart, but throughout, it will open your heart."
--Gavin de Becker, author of The Gift of Fear

"Not only is Rosemary Clooney 'Girl Singer'--she is 'Girl Everywoman.' In other words, she is one hell of a person--and the book tells us all why."
--Janet Leigh

"Just as Rosemary's voice has a unique, unforgettable quality all its own, so does her autobiography. In my book, she stands alone. A true American treasure."
--Ann Rutherford

"Rosemary Clooney's eyes are illuminated by intelligence and mischief. Like her music, she is without guile or self-promotion. Amidst the hubbub of her stories, there are hints of longing, of missing people who nourished her in special intimate ways. These vanished citizens are the motors of the songs. In her autobiography, they are revealed and revered. And of course there's the mischief and the music."
--Jonathan Schwartz

"This book is a must for all who have loved the talent of Rosemary Clooney over the years as I have. The essence of this wonderful lady is captured beautifully within these pages."
--RoseMarie

Clooney made her singing debut at age 13 on a Cincinnati radio station in 1941. By 1946, she and her younger sister Betty had both dropped out of high school to tour with the Tony Pastor Band. After three years on the road, she went solo and on the eve of her 21st birthday signed a contract with Columbia Records. Against her better judgment, she recorded "Come On-a My House" ("The lyrics ranged from incoherent to just plain silly. I thought the tune sounded more like a drunken chant than an historic folk art form") for Mitch Miller; it was such a success that she was able to parlay it into a movie contract with Paramount. Her marriage to actor-director Jose Ferrer produced five children (in as many years) and a high-profile, career-smashing nervous breakdown in 1968. But for Clooney, there was a happy ending: she was reunited with the love she had dumped 20 years before and her revived recording career brought her greater critical acclaim. Clooney told her story in 1977's This for Remembrance (with Raymond Strait), and while this retelling offers some new revelations (an affair with Nelson Riddle) and fresh assessments of contemporaries like Sinatra, Crosby and Billie Holiday, many sequences read almost exactly the same. Even with 20 years hindsight, most of the crucial events in her life remain hazy and questions unanswered: why she stayed with philandering Ferrer (let alone remarried him), what caused her breakdown and fueled her antagonistic relationship with her mother. Fans will probably enjoy this surface review of her career, but the woman remains an enigma. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.