Shortly after working on WLW, the Clooney Sisters went on the road with Tony PastorвЂ™s Band, which included a major date at Steel Pier in Atlantic City. They sent for me to come and confront them. вЂњI remember living in Evanston, on Fairfax Avenue, and IвЂ™d won a fight with a little boy that made his parents furious. She absolutely just was our guardian,вЂќ he said. Betty was a warrior, a little feisty kid. вЂњIsnвЂ™t that something? As Rosemary always pointed out, the nerve came from Betty. They were just teenagers, and an instant sensation. He is still in awe of how Rosemary and their sister Betty (who died at age 45 of a brain aneurysm) had the nerve to jump on a streetcar andВ audition for WLW radio in 1945. At one point, Frank ad libs to her, вЂHow come the sweetest girl from Georgia comes from Maysville, Kentucky?вЂ™ вЂќ вЂњThey recorded an absolutely terrible song called вЂPeachtree Street,вЂ™ but they had so much fun with it. вЂњInterestingly enough, she recorded with Frank before she ever recorded with Bing,вЂќ he said. Although they didnвЂ™t work together much, Nick recalled one recording for SinatraвЂ™s label, Columbia Records. Any opportunity they had to get together, they did it.вЂќД«esides pals Doris Day and Hope, there was also Frank Sinatra.

He just fell in love with the way she sang. вЂњShe had that special relationship with Bing from the very beginning. вЂњThe great thing is how the greatest artists of the era felt about her,вЂќ Nick said. The movie, now a holiday classic, is an annual reminder of her immense talent, as well as her camaraderieВ with those other great singers of the American Songbook. After a slump in the 1960s, she came back in the '70s more popular than ever, and continued to turn out fine albums on Concord Jazz. Her longtime home in Augusta, where she loved to escape from Hollywood, is now a museum, with the worldвЂ™s largest collection of memorabilia from вЂњWhite Christmas,вЂќ in which she co-starred with Bing Crosby.В Her career spanned more than five decades, millions of records sold and classic films made with Bob Hope and Crosby. The Maysville, KentuckyВ native spent years in the Cincinnati area, attending four different high schools in four years after her parents divorced.

Rosemary clooney jazz singer