We wish a very Happy Birthday today to Rose Marie -- born on August 15, 1923 -- the brilliantly talented former child star who grew up to co-star on one of television's most innovative, smart and hilarious sitcoms ever. As quick-witted comedy writer Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rose Marie showed us that ladies were as funny as gentlemen, and also how much fun working in an office with clever colleagues could be. These two principles have guided many of us on The Flaming Nose, and we salute Rose Marie for being such a tremendous and beautiful role model for independent women!
In case you weren't aware of her early show business triumphs, she was a popular singing star as "Baby Rose Marie" -- and boy, could she belt them out!
And of course we remember how she'd occasionally get to belt out a tune on The Dick Van Dyke Show, too!
In this clip from her interview at the Emmy Legends site, she discusses her role as Sally Rogers and what an important step it was for the portrayal of women on TV. (The whole interview is available on the above link.)
Here's a real piece of TV nostalgia: Rose Marie's The Dick Van Dyke Show co-star Morey Amsterdam and RM appearing on a 1964 episode of the variety show The Hollywood Palace, doing some old-fashioned comedy patter and looking wonderful! (The clip quality isn't great but it's worth it to watch this pair of show-biz pros at work).
Here's a clip from a little later, when she was a spokeswoman for Pledge furniture polish, in addition to all her other work including regular appearances on The Hollywood Squares.
We highly recommend making a visit to Rose Marie's terrific website which contains lots of great info on her prolific career. All fans of this wonderfully talented lady will really enjoy spending some time there!
Happy Birthday, Rose Marie! You're a true TV Treasure!
The third clip, which starts with an image on a pioneering TV, comes from a terrific 1933 film called INTERNATIONAL HOUSE, in which a team of people are chasing after a scientist who's nailed down the formula for TV! A must for TV fans. The cast includes (get this!): George Burns and Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, Bela Lugosi (a rare comedy role, but still as a villain), Cab Calloway (seen, like Baby Rose Marie, on the ursatz TV, sining a song about marijuana--a clip that was cut out of most TV prints), Rudy Vallee, Sterling Holloway, Franklin Pangborn, and a really notable performance from a now forgotten lead, playing herself: Peggy Hopkins Joyce. I recommend all TV fans check out this totally fascinating movie, as it's probably the first to examine the coming onslaught of television. I remember watching the film on a W.C. Fields box set I got from Kim's Video, and swearing that THIS must be the Rose Marie I knew, and being blown away by the prospect! What a talent! Happy birthday, Rose Marie!
ReplyDeleteI thought I would also add a link to a tribute to Rose Marie at the Paley Center site. Lots of good info and a new audio interview!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.paleycenter.org/b-simon-happy-birthday-rose-marie