Marie, Rose (1923—)

Singer and actress Rose Marie has entered the canon of popular entertainers as something of a cultural phenomenon. She flourished in two distinct, widely separated bursts of national popularity, but what set her apart was the sheer longevity of a professional career that began in earliest childhood. Born Rose Marie Mazetta in New York City on August 15, 1923, she began performing on radio when she was three years old, billed as "Baby Rose Marie," singer of current popular songs. She sang and danced in a number of film shorts, including Baby Rose Marie, the Child Wonder, in 1929, and continued on her popular radio show into the early 1930s. Later, she appeared occasionally in Broadway revues, which included Top Banana with Phil Silvers in 1951. She did some guest shots on television in the 1940s and 1950s, and was featured in the television program My Sister Eileen in 1960. From 1961 to 1966 she starred on the Dick Van Dyke Show as Sally Rogers; this beloved character was a wisecracking, husband-hunting comedy writer, loosely based on the real-life, caustically witty comedy writer Selma Diamond. The role garnered three Emmy Award nominations for Rose Marie, who went on to play Myrna Gibbons on the Doris Day Show from 1969-1971, and appeared regularly on the Hollywood Squares game show for several years in the 1970s.

—James R. Belpedio

Further Reading:

Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. 6th Ed. New York, Ballantine Books, 1995.