Wisecracking Rose Marie was star on TV, film, stage
Rose Marie, who broke ground for working women on TV on The Dick
Van Dyke Show, died Thursday at age 94.
The versatile entertainer, a child star in the 1920s whose career spanned 90 years, had been quite active recently, regaling her 125,000 Twitter followers with witty tweets while promoting a documentary about her career, Wait for Your
Laugh, that premiered in November. The tagline for the film, directed by Jason Wise, is “The Longest Career in Showbiz History.”
The actress, who is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, is the second main cast member from the classic
Van Dyke comedy series to die this year. Mary Tyler Moore died in January.
Van Dyke creator Carl Reiner tweeted his condolences.
“I was so sad to learn of the passing of Rosemarie,” he wrote. “There’s never been a more engaging & multi-talented performer. In a span of 90 years, since she was four, dear Rosie performed on radio, in vaudeville, night clubs, films, TV, & Vegas & always had audiences clamoring for ‘more!!’ ” Rose Marie, who also appeared on
The Doris Day Show and Hollywood Squares, was best known for playing Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966. Her Sally was a wisecracking comedy writer who more than held her own with the guys, while also making jokes about her own love life.
According to an obituary provided by her representative Harlan Boll, the entertainer, born Rose Marie Mazetta, began her career at age 3 by winning an amateur contest that took her to Atlantic City, where she became known as Baby Rose Marie. A radio career followed, including her own show and albums, and Rose Marie sang for Presidents Coolidge, Hoover and Roosevelt.
She began acting in films, appearing in shorts and features starting in the 1930s, including International House.
After marrying musician Bobby Guy, she moved to California.
She was hired by Benjamin “Bugsy” Segal to perform at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in the 1940s and also had a brief Broadway career, according to the obituary.
Starting in the late 1970s, Rose Marie toured with singers Rosemary Clooney, Helen O’Connell and Margaret Whiting as 4 Girls 4. She received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and published a memoir, Hold the Roses, the same year.
When asked about retiring, she said: “I’ve been in show business my whole life. Why start something new now?”