No one has had a longer, more glorious career in show business than Rose Marie. She started as a child singing star — so young, some doubted that that great voice could possibly be coming out of a kid of single digit age. She worked with everyone: Al Jolson, W.C. Fields, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, You Name Them. I first became aware of her when she played comedy writer Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the sixties — maybe the first strong woman character on a sitcom who wasn't a servant or spouse, and boy was she great on a great show. And later she was a regular on The Doris Day Show and Hollywood Squares and so many others.
I've been privileged to become friends with Rosie and I'd love her even if she wasn't an endless stream of great anecdotes. (And people say I have a good memory…) So I was going to wish her a happy…wait for it…ninetieth birthday today. But she doesn't want that. She asks that instead, I urge you all to make a donation in her name to the Doris Day Animal Foundation, an effort that does great work for cats, dogs and other creatures who don't have someone to care for them. You can thank Rose for all the wonderful work she's done by giving some bucks over here on her website. You can also learn a lot more about her there, as well.
We celebrated her birthday with a small, lovely dinner last Friday night. Let's do this clockwise: The lovely lady in the lower left is Arlene Silver, AKA Mrs. Dick Van Dyke. The gent next to her is Mr. Dick Van Dyke. Next to Dick is Rose and next to Rose is the charming Jeanine Kasun. Jeanine is the host of Baby Boomer Favorites, a fine radio show you can hear the same place you can hear Stu's Show, which we often plug on this site. Next to Jeanine is the host of Stu's Show, Stu Shostak. Then next to Stu is me and next to me is, at lower right, the splendid Laraine Newman from the original Saturday Night Live and oodles of current cartoon shows.
We all convened at a fine seafood eatery in Santa Monica to toast Rose and tell stories. I can do none of theirs justice and if you read this blog, you've heard most of mine. But I wish you could have heard Dick tell about Maureen Stapleton getting plastered at the wrap party for Bye Bye Birdie or Rose tell about complaining to the hotel owner about her paycheck being $11 short when she played a Vegas hotel in the early days of that town. The hotel was the Flamingo, the owner was Bugsy Siegel…and somehow, she not only survived, she got her eleven dollars.
But that's Rose…truly a survivor. I asked her how it felt to be middle-age because I can't grasp the possibility that she won't be around for another ninety years. Here she is with a little tune about getting older…but before you watch it, go over to her website and send some money in the name of Rose Marie. And don't do it for the cats or dogs, although goodness knows they need it. Do it for this fine lady…