Late vaudville, radio and early talkies – Rose Marie

Cafe Society
1

Wow, what a career! Rose Marie’s career has spanned late Vaudville, radio, early talkies and television.

Remember the early Betty Boop cartoons? She was Sally Swing.

What is most impressive is the people with whom she worked – a seemingly endless list of talents that are only distant memories for people today: Al Jolson, W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee, Dick Powell, Jimmy Durante, and on and on and on.

Here are a couple of links that make for tremendously enjoyable reading: a 2011 interview with her, and her website.

Anyone know what she has been up to recently? (And has anyone tried her Spaghetti Sauce?)

2

Nothing to add except that she really does seem to have had an amazing life. And that to me she’ll always be Sally Rogers from “The Dick van Dyke Show”!

3

I really admire her from an acting and career standpoint . . . but I was disappointed to find out first-hand *what *a *bitch *she is.

4

Do tell!

5

Oy. She is a friend of a friend (and even the friend admits, “Yeah, she is . . . difficult.”). About ten years ago, Rose Marie was writing her memoirs, and could not find a publisher. I offered to edit the manuscript for free and connect her with my publisher, simply because I have always enjoyed her work.

The book wasn’t terrible, did not need more than the usual amount of first-draft editing, and my publisher did indeed take it on.

Did I get an acknowledgement in the book? A thank-you (by letter, phone or even e-mail–or through our friend) from Rose Marie? Nope.

Bitch.

6

That sucks.

7

I still like her as an actress–Sally Rogers was one of my early role models, for better or worse.

8

Eh, chalk it up to old age. Bitterness serves no one.

9

That’s a great story and congrats to you, even though she was very unprofessional and downright rude. I guess I didn’t want to call her a bitch.

Have you written an autobiography? And if you haven’t, when are you going to?

That’s a book I’d buy.

10

Oh, heavens, no, no one wants to read about me–I would rather blab other peoples’ secrets than my own.

As for Rose Marie, I still love her in Top Banana and Dick Van Dyke and belting out “My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now” in a creepily adult Sophie Tucker voice, even if she *is *a bitch.

11

My nomination for post title of the year.
:smiley:

12

With all due respect, bull feathers! You are the most fascinating celebrity I have ever encountered, and I speak as someone who has either known casually or been one degree of separation from Abbie Hoffman, Jack Spong, Richard Grieco, Frank Gorshin, Tom Callen, and the Secretary of the Army.

13

Jesus, I could have sworn I heard that Rose Marie had died a few years back. So glad I was wrong.

Anyway . . . my gaydar always went off when I saw Sally Rogers on *Dick Van Dyke. *Oh sure, there was the constant shtick about the men in her life, but it was never quite convincing to me.

14

Well, I am certainly more fascinating than Richard Grieco, but that’s a pretty low bar.

15

I just caught a “Gunsmoke” parody episode of the Dick Van Dyke series this morning - Sally was playing the Miss Kitty role, of course.

16

Rose Marie was great on The Dick Van Dyke Show. I liked the fact that she truly was a peer of Rob and Buddy, rather than being the “girl writer”. In fact, they showed on numerous occasions that Buddy and Sally can write a good script on their own, while Rob and Buddy struggle without her. Why wasn’t she the head writer?

17

She was a chick and it was 1962.

18

Because it was the Dick Van Dyke show, not the Rose Marie Show.

19

In the continuity, Alan Brady wanted to bring in a new head writer to get some fresh blood. I think there was even an episode dealing with Rob being uncomfortable with being hired over them.

20

Well then, it must have been a pain in the ass to go to work at the Dick Van Dyke Show in those days. In college I met a guy whose uncle was Morey Amsterdam (Buddy on the show) and he said his Uncle Morey was a royal prick and a right-wing fanatic as well.