The life of Rose Marie, the former child actress who starred on the "Dick Van Dyke Show," will be celebrated with a new documentary film followed by a Q&A with producer Kathy Brown March 11-12 here.
"Wait For Your Laugh" is an 84-minute film with movie and TV clips, home movies, and interviews with Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Tim Conway. Peter Marshall, who worked with Rose Marie on "Hollywood Squares," narrates the film.
Brown, administrator of the Rosemary Clooney website, will answer questions after screenings at the Mariemont and Esquire Theatres. Rosemarie's daughter, Georgiana Marie "Noopy" Rodrigues, and director Jason Wise will participate by Skype in the question session after the 5 p.m. Sunday March 11 screening at the Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton. Tickets are $10.
Rose Marie, who died in December at age 94, started singing professionally at age 4. "Baby Rose Marie" was a child singing star before Shirley Temple was born. She made her film debut in a short that played in theaters in 1927 with Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer."
As an adult, she performed on Broadway and in nightclubs. She was a friend of mobster Bugsy Siegel, and was the opening act at his Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
In addition to playing TV writer "Sally Rogers" on the "Dick Van Dyke Show," her credits include the "Doris Day Show," "Hollywood Squares," the original "S.W.A.T.," "The Love Boat," "The Monkees," "Cagney & Lacey," "My Three Sons," "Gunsmoke" and a role inspired by Marge Schott, the baseball team owner on Fox's short-lived "Hardball" sitcom in 1994.
Rose Marie performed at the White House at the request of three presidents: Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Brown met Rose Marie through her work with Rosemary Clooney. Rose Marie, Clooney, Margaret Whiting and Helen O'Connell performed as the "4 Girls 4" quartet in the 1980s. Rose Marie donated gowns, dresses and one of her trademark hair bows to the Rosemary Clooney House in Augusta, KY.
"The Smithsonian has a Rose Marie bow, and the Rosemary Clooney House has a bow too," Brown said.
"Wait For Your Laugh" also screens twice – at 1 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday -- at the Mariemont Theatre, 6906 Wooster Pike. Tickets are $10.
