All language subtitles for Wait.For.Your.Laugh.2017.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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[projector humming]

[Reiner] Everybody who'’s
in show business

is somebody who wants
to be there.

In her case,
she had to be there.

I mean, she didn'’t even have
the urge to.

She just did it, and everybody
said "Look at that."

♪

She was a star at four

and one of the biggest stars
in the country.

[Conway] The minute she was born
the doctor slapped her,

and she started singing.

[Shapiro] Believe me
when I tell you

she'’s a history
of show business.

[Reiner] Every phase of
entertainment

for literally 87 years.

[Marshall] The longest career
I'’ve ever heard of

in show business.

[Shapiro] Vaudeville, radio.

[Van Dyke] Broadway.

[Conway] The history
of television.

[Marshall] She used to entertain
Al Capone. He loved her.

[Van Dyke] She was tough.

[Harmon]
She was clearly a woman.

[Shapiro] One of the boys.

[Van Dyke]
She had colorful language

and didn'’t mind using it.

[Reiner] She was outspoken.
There'’s no question about it.

She had a loud voice.

[Shapiro] I think people resent
the fact that she knows so much.

[Marshall] You can'’t be
in the business

all your life
without being tough.

[man] She cut
through barriers.

[man 2] Paved her on way.

[Harmon] There was a woman
that was a heroic,

bigger than life character.

[Marshall] She'’ll cut
your head off

and rightfully so, by the way.

I'’m with her.
[laughs]

-[Peterson] Rose Marie.
-[Marshall] Rose Marie.

-[Shapiro] Rose Marie.
-[Reiner] Rose Marie.

[Shapiro] But she'’s
the only one left.

Can I tell you this story?

Are you rolling?

God love you.
God love you.

♪

First memory I can recall...
I guess was in New York.

[crowd murmurs]

Fourteenth Street in New York
at that time

was the 42nd Street
of New York today.

All the theatre,
all the stage shows, everything.

My mother loved show business.

And so she used to take me.
I was three, four years old.

So, the minute I came home
from seeing the show

I would sing
for my mother'’s friends,

as I called them lovingly
the Pollocks,

because my mother was Polish
and they were Polish.

One day, the Polish people said,

"We entered her
in an amateur contest

"at the Mecca Theatre
on 14th Street."

They bought my dress,
which I still have.

They bought the brocaded shoes,
Mary Jane shoes,

which are at the Smithsonian,

and a four year old kid'’s
singing like Sophie Tucker.

♪ I looked around
for the longest time ♪

♪ For someone to love

And moving like Sophie Tucker.

And sounding like Sophie Tucker.

She didn'’t sound like
a little girl even then.

She sounded like
a mature woman.

[Reiner] She never
had a child'’s voice.

She had an adult voice.

Somebody put
the wrong box in there.

♪ Hey ah I do

Who the hell do you think
won the contest?

♪

After that, my mother and father
took us to Atlantic City.

At that time, nightclubs
were not like today.

Nightclubs had family people.
You could bring your children.

They had a line of chorus girls,
fully dressed,

a comic, a singer, a dancer.

And so we went
to the Little Club

in Atlantic City.

Evelyn Nesbit was starring.

Evelyn Nesbit was a big star
at that time

because of the scandal
that she was in.

Her husband shot her boyfriend,

and I think he went to jail
or the guy was dead.

I don'’t remember.
I wasn'’t there.

So we went to see her
because she was a big star.

Naturally,
I'’m watching her sing,

and what do I do?

I start to sing with her.

She, being smart,
instead of stopping

and making a whole big deal,

took me by the arm
and brought me onstage,

and I sang with her.

And I heard the crowd saying,
"Get the kid back!

"We want the kid!
Get the kid back!

"We want '’em to sing!"

Evelyn Nesbit said to my father,
"What is her name?"

And he said,
"Dainty Rose Marie."

And she said, "She'’s a baby.
Call her Baby Rose Marie."

So that'’s how Baby Rose Marie
came about.

We went back home,

and NBC had heard about
this child wonder.

My father signed the contract
with NBC.

NBC arranged for a radio program
at five years old

going into six years old
coast to coast,

and I sang three or four songs
every Sunday morning at 12:15.

♪

[narrator] In 1920,
there was just one radio station

attempting a local broadcast,

and that was in Pittsburgh.

By the time Rose Marie
signed with NBC,

60% of American homes
had a radio,

and NBC was the only network

broadcasting
to the entire nation.

[Rose Marie singing]

Rose Marie'’s fame took off.

She became known
as the darling of the airwaves,

and this happened before
Shirley Temple was even born.

[fast drumming]

[Reiner] And she sang
these songs,

and we didn'’t realize

what she looked like until
we saw her picture in Variety.

She had a cover of Variety.

And at four or five
everybody knew her.

[Rose Marie]
I was doing this radio show,

and the mail came in,
said "That'’s not a child.

"That'’s a 45 year old midget.

"No child sings like that."

♪ You'’ve got bo bo button ♪

♪ I like your bo bo button

♪ Ah boop boop be doo
Oh gee, don'’t be like that ♪

NBC was affiliated
with RKO Theaters

all across the country.

So, they booked me
in the latter part of Vaudeville

in the RKO houses
to prove I was a child.

♪

[narrator] Pre-dating the cinema
and radio,

Vaudeville was a massive network
of theaters

throughout North America.

Any given night was
a mash-up of singers,

dancers, magicians, jugglers,
trained animals,

acrobats and really
anything else that sold tickets

all sharing the same stage.

[Rose Marie]I played every
theater across the country

back and forth.

Now the Gary Society,

which is the children'’s society
of New York,

called my mother in

and said "She'’s not allowed
to sing in New York"

because of the child labor law.

And they said, "There'’s got to
be something we can work out."

So, the plan was
I would go out and do my show,

and they would arrest my father
for five minutes.

He would come back home,
I would do my second show,

they would arrest him again.

I come back and do
the third show,

they would arrest him again.

He was arrested 128 times.

When I was about 10 years old,

I'’m working
at the Palace Theatre

in Chicago
with Milton Berle.

The doorman says to my father,

"There'’s a man wants
to see you outside."

He went outside,
it was Al Capone.

He said to my father,
he said, "Hello, Happy."

I thought that was strange.

Nobody ever called him "Happy."
He knew those kind of people.

He lived in that kind
of a world.

I found out later that
his nickname was "Happy Hank."

My father used to go
into these places

and--and burn up the place
if you didn'’t join the union,

you know, those kind of guys.

He wasn'’t very important.

He was one of the "Do this
and do that guys."

But they knew him
as "Happy Hank."

He also ran the Diana Ballroom,

which is where my mother
met him.

She loved to dance.
She was a wild little girl.

She was crazy.

And that'’s where she met
my father.

But anyway I looked
at Al Capone.

He was very strange looking.
He was heavy.

He wore a dark suit,
well-dressed,

very well-dressed.

Hat on the side.

"The boys want to meet the kid."

The doorman is white.

And he says, "You know
who that is?"

And we got in the car
and went to Cicero,

which is out of Chicago
a little bit.

[opera singer singing
in Italian]

And we walked
into this mansion,

which was--didn'’t belong there,
this mansion.

It really didn'’t belong there.

It was out of place.

And the dining room was
as long as you could see.

And so all the guys
were there,

all the big guys were there.

And they all came over to me
and gave me a hug

and said "We think you'’re
wonderful, we love you,

"and we'’re glad to meet you."

And I said, "Thank you."

They went back to the table,

and Al gave me a dinner ring
with three diamonds in it,

which I still have,

and picked me up in his arms
and said,

"You call me Uncle Al
from now on. You understand?"

And I said, "Yeah, Uncle Al."

Okay, and he says,
"Anything you need,

"anything you want
you call me."

Turned to my father, he says,

"We'’ll take care of her
from here on in."

And out we went
back to the theater.

I think she should'’ve
been managed better

when she was young.

[Rose Marie] My mother
was the force

of me liking it and doing it.

My father would run the show.

My father was boss,
and he was a mean man.

I disliked my father intensely

because my father had
another family.

I was born illegitimately.

My father had another family
going with two kids,

same names as my brother and I.

He was a rough, gruff man

who was going to take advantage
of his property.

And his property was
Baby Rose Marie.

[Rose Marie] The minute I won
the contest

and we went to Atlantic City

and I started working
the different places,

he knew there was
a buck there.

And he took charge,
he ran everything.

He was my manager, my agent,
everything.

And I was making thousands,
and my father took it all.

[narrator] At the height
of success,

Baby Rose Marie was making

over a thousand dollars
a performance.

Her voice landed her big jobs

not just on radio
but theatrical cartoons

like Betty Boop.

There'’s no way to know
how much money her father made,

but it'’s millions of dollars
in today'’s currency.

And Ro, she never saw a penny.

[Rose Marie] I had no idea
that my career was building.

I just loved what I did.
I did it without question.

I never said, "No, I don'’t want
to do that."

I loved every bit of it.

In fact, I still love it today.
I really love it today.

[Shapiro] Work meant everything.
Work meant everything.

And to do your best
meant everything.

To always be at your best.

And she never went onstage
without this.

And she had great respect
for an audience,

which is something that
you don'’t see anymore.

[Rose Marie] Because I loved
to work for an audience,

and I loved to hold '’em

in the palm of my hand,
which I do.

That'’s the secret.

[clacks]

I was now about 14.

♪ So far above me...

An awkward age,
very awkward.

Not a lady, not a grown-up,
not a child.

I was an in-between

till I got to be about 15,

and a very wonderful thing
happened.

[static]

Now ladies and gentlemen,
it'’s time for a song

from Baby Rose Marie.

But first, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to tell you
that she no longer is a baby.

For today she'’s a grown-up
lovely young lady,

and we call her Miss Rose Marie.

♪

[Rose Marie] I was only 16,
17 years old.

And I started playing theaters
in and around New York.

And I played the Roxy Theater.

I played the Capitol Theater
on Broadway.

Till I started doing
nightclub work.

[narrator] With Prohibition
now over,

when the sun went down
Americans flocked

to the nightclubs.

And onstage, the biggest names
of the era.

Behind the curtain,

the biggest mobsters
of the time.

[Rose Marie] When I played
the Copacabana in New York,

I was sitting with some friends,

and the maitre d'’ came over,
Lopez, and he said,

"Mr. Fisher wants
to see you."

I said, "I don'’t know
a Mr. Fisher.

"I'’m with my friends,
leave me alone."

"Mr. Fisher wants to see you."

"Oh," I said. "Oh, okay."

And I said, "Excuse me,"
and I went up to the lounge,

and there was Joe Fischetti.

[narrator] Joe Fischetti,
Chicago gangster,

cousin of Al Capone,

the man who would later
get Frank Sinatra

investigated by the FBI.

And I said, "Why didn'’t you
tell me you changed your name?"

He says, "Never mind,
at least you came up.

"I came to see you.
How you doing, honey?

"Everything all right?
You need anything?"

"No." "Want something to drink?"

"No." "Want something to eat?"
"No."

"Everybody treating you
all right?"

"Okay."
"Where you working next?"

"I really don'’t have
anything booked after this."

"Well, you'’re gonna
play Tahoe."

"Oh, okay."

And that'’s the way it went.

I was going from one place
to another

all because of the boys.

They were absolutely
wonderful to me.

[bell clanging]

[Van Dyke] That era
was the best era.

You had to work. You just didn'’t
go in and do a TV show.

You went from Buffalo
to Cleveland.

You really had to work hard.

[narrator] With World II on,
Americans needed an escape,

which kept performers
like Rose Marie busy as hell.

[brassy horn music]

[Rose Marie] The date is 1944.

I'’m working at the Terrace Room
in Newark, New Jersey.

And there was this soldier
sitting there.

He says, "You were very good."
He says, "I enjoyed it."

I said, "Thank you."

[narrator] That soldier
was a trumpet player

named Bobby Guy.

He started like everybody

playing jobs in bars
in little bands.

And he gradually worked up

till he played with Kay Kyser,

who had a very popular
radio show

called "Kay Kyser'’s College
of Musical Knowledge."

And Bobby played first trumpet.

♪

[narrator]
Bobby was then drafted,

landing him a gig
in the U.S. Army Band

and a transfer
to New York City.

[Rose Marie] And I went home,
I started thinking about him.

I said, "He'’s weird, you know.
He'’s very weird."

The next night I went in,
he was sitting there.

So, now I go home
the second night,

the next morning I get
a telegram saying:

"Caught your act.

"Need new material
and can book you four weeks

"on the Gus Sun Time."

Which broke me up

because that was strictly
a funny telegram.

And I get into the club
that night,

I said, "I got your wire."
"Oh, did you know it was me?"

I said, "Yeah, I knew
it was you."

One of my best girlfriends,
Jerri, came down with me,

and I introduced her to Bobby.

I said, "How do you like him?"
She says, "He'’s all right."

I said, "That'’s the man
I'’m gonna marry."

She says, "Are you kidding?

"You'’re going to marry
that fat sergeant?

"You only knew him three days."

I said, "He'’s not fat."
I said, "He'’s just chubby.

"Yes, that'’s the man
I'’m gonna marry."

"How do you know?" "I don'’t
know, I'’m just telling you.

"That'’s the man
I'’m gonna marry."

Bobby was full-bodied.

He was chunky.

He didn'’t look fat,

but he didn'’t look
like a muscle builder

with a big smile.

She was crazy in love
with him,

and he was crazy in love
with her.

And Frank was
absolutely panicking

that she was going
to get married and go away.

And there was a lot
of problems.

[Rose Marie] We get a little
more friendly,

then he says to me,

"Gene Krupa opens up
after you close here.

"Would you like to come
to the opening?"

I said, "I'’d love to."

And on the way over
to Gene Krupa'’s,

this is a week and a half,
maybe two weeks,

he says "I'’m gonna get out
of the army soon."

He says, "I got to go back
to California.

"That'’s where my clothes are.
That'’s where my horns are.

"I don'’t know what'’s ahead,

"but if you'’re willing
I'’d like you to go with me

"and be with me."

I said, "Is that a proposal?"

He says, "Yes."

"You'’re asking me to marry you?"
"Yes."

"By telling me you'’re going
to California, that'’s it?"

He says, "That'’s it.
Do you want to go?"

"You mean do I want
to marry you?"

I remember this conversation
word for word.

I said, "Fine."

I remember she was working
at the Capitol Theater

doing four or five a day.

And Frank had cops
outside and in the theater

looking for him to come in
and have him arrested.

Arrested for what, I don'’t know.

What are you going
to arrest him for?

But he was that vicious
about Bobby Guy.

[Rose Marie]
Bobby came to pick me up,

and we walked down
Madison Avenue

window shopping and stuff
but just having a great time.

And I got into NBC,

and Bobby used to wait for me
downstairs.

He wouldn'’t come up.

When Bobby was waiting
at the corner of 52nd Street,

he was holding
onto the lamp post like this.

My father came up to him
like this and said,

"You sonofabitch,
you stay out of our life.

"I'’m going to kill you,
you no good--"

And he called him
every name in the book.

By now, a crowd
had gotten around.

And everybody kept saying,
"Hit him, soldier.

"Hit him, soldier."

And he kept saying,
"You no good SB,

"you this and that
and this thing."

And Bobby just kept holding back
like this and saying,

"He'’s her father,
he'’s her father,

"I can'’t do anything,
he'’s her father."

"You stay away
from my daughter

"or so help me God I'’ll kill
the...out of you."

And the only way
she got away

was she and Bobby eloped.

Otherwise, he wouldn'’t
let her go.

I called my girlfriend Jerri,
I said,

"Listen, you got to help me.
I'’m eloping tomorrow."

And she said, "Oh my God.

"Come to the house tonight,

"under my window I will
throw you out my suitcases

"full of clothes."

Sure enough,
she came that night.

I opened my window, I threw
my suitcases out the window.

We got married in City Hall,
and every time the judge says,

"Is any reason this
should not go through?"

I thought my father was
going to bust in

and say "Whoa!" you know.

But he didn'’t.

I got married.
Wedding night--mm-hmm.

[door clicks shut]

And he went to AAA
and got a list of hotels

and how far it was
from this hotel

to that hotel to this hotel
and that hotel,

which was all news to me.

On the way, I would call up
people that I knew.

I remember Scarpelli,

one of the bosses,
one of the big mob bosses,

he'’s a big guy like this.

He and his wife Kay had become
very friendly with me

and my father, you know.

And she said,
"Your father called.

"Stay out of Chicago.

"They'’re looking for you
in Chicago."

She says, "Come here
to St. Louis."

[horse hoofs clomping]

Because I had worked
the Chase Hotel there.

Now I get ready to go
to the bathroom with Kay,

and my husband is left alone
with Jim.

Jim says, "You know
her father called."

He says, "You hurt one hair
on her head,"

and he banged the table,
the whole table shook.

Bobby was scared, so scared.

We come out of the ladies room,
you know,

and I'’m looking at him,
and he'’s looking at me,

and he'’s going "Ohhhh..."

And when we got out of there
and they said goodnight,

we went up to the room
and he says,

"I'’ve never been through
anything like that in my life."

He said, "Thought for sure
I was gonna get shot."

And we started
on our honeymoon.

[man] ♪ If I didn'’t care ♪

♪ More than words can say

♪ If I didn'’t care
Would I feel this way? ♪

[Rose Marie]
He said, "This is a motel.

"We'’re going to find these
all the way to the coast."

Now, I had never been
to a motel.

I didn'’t even know
what they were.

[man] ♪ Then maybe I'’m wrong ♪

♪ But why do I lie awake
all night ♪

♪ And dream all day...

[Rose Marie]
It'’s hard to explain.

We didn'’t know what
we were gonna do,

how we were going to do,
why we were gonna do.

[man] ♪ Would it be the same?

♪ Would my every breath...

We just were very happy

and stopped whenever we wanted
to stop,

stay overnight whenever
we wanted to stay overnight.

[man] ♪ And would I be sure

♪ That this is love
beyond compare ♪

♪ Would all this be true

[Rose Marie] We had no idea
what was in store for us.

We just had
a fantastic honeymoon.

My father swore up and down

that I was going
to support my husband,

which I never did.

Never in a million years.

He wasn'’t that kind of man.

He had his own right,
his own position

and his own name.

He was Bing Crosby'’s
first trumpet player.

[Peterson] Bing Crosby'’s show
was incredibly popular.

Next to Jack Benny,
it was probably

the most popular radio show
on the air.

And the way they opened
that radio show

was Bob--was the trumpet,
solo trumpet.

And if you could imagine
yourself being

sitting with a cold piece
of brass like this,

and you'’re called upon
when somebody goes "Now"

coast to coast, nationwide

you played the theme,
you started the theme

all by yourself
sort of like this.

[brassy trumpet plays]

[Crosby]
♪ Someone waits for me

[applause]

And then the show was on.

[Crosby] Ladies and gentlemen,

our first guest
for this evening

is a very charming young lady.

Very talented too,
a smash dynamite vocalist.

Started out in show business,
this girl,

when she was just a baby.

[trumpet blares]

See apparently Bobby Guy,
our trumpet player,

is doing his best to give you

some sort of a big send-off,
Rose Marie.

He must be a fan of yours
or something.

[Rose Marie] Well, I don'’t know
how much of a fan he is,

but he is my husband.

[laughter]

I think anybody that ever
put my father on a job

knew that he had
a special sound.

And I can still hear it
to this day.

I know what records he'’s on.

I know what movies he'’s on.

It was unlike any other
trumpet player in this town.

Boy, he was something else.

Jerry Lewis was a very good
friend of my father'’s.

Jerry had heard this one song
called "Too Late Blues."

My father does a solo on it,

and it is the most exquisite
piece of music

you will ever hear
a trumpet player play.

Whenever my father
was available,

he was on a Jerry Lewis film.

[Peterson] He was liked,
and he was respected

for who he was, what he was,
and how he played.

And he was...the best.

Just the opposite
of Rose Marie.

He was a rock,
an awfully sweet, sweet guy.

He never strove to be
like a star.

He was quite happy
showing up, playing the job,

going home.

[record crackling]

I was out here in California,

and I had done
the Rudy Vallée show.

And somebody said, "You'’ve got
to work at Slapsy Maxie'’s."

That wastheclub
at that time.

My husband says, "You know
you'’re going to have to do

"about an hour"

because I used to do
about 30 minutes,

35 minutes, three or four songs,
that was it.

I said, "Why?"

"Because you'’re gonna be
on all alone.

"There'’s gonna be no comic,
gonna be no nothing, just you."

No female was doing comedy
at that time. Nobody.

And little by little
I was doing comedy in my act,

singing and getting
more and more into comedy.

My reviews opened up

with "She'’s someone
to be reckoned with.

"This young lady
with the beautiful gowns

"and the gorgeous hair
and all this and that."

"She'’s a hell of a performer."

I couldn'’t write
a better review.

I couldn'’t write one.

And now everybody was calling
to work and this and that.

One night a guy came in

who owned
"The Hollywood Reporter."

He said, "Saw your show,
we want you to open in Vegas."

I said, "What'’s Vegas?"

He says, "We want you to open
with Xavier Cugat

"and Jimmy Durante."

I said, "Jimmy!
To work with Jimmy?!

"Oh my God, that would
be wonderful!"

♪

Jimmy Durante was a comedian

who was a big star
on television

and made an awful lot
of MGM movies.

♪ Now you point your toe up

♪ And then you fix
your bow up ♪

I used to do a little piece
of Durante in my act.

♪ Then you turn her...

[Peterson]
She did the best Durante of all.

♪ You got to go round
with a smile ♪

♪ And you'’ll be well-dressed
all of the while ♪

♪ The real happy guy
is in style ♪

♪ So go round and round
and round and round ♪

And wait a minute,
wait a minute.

Stop the music.
Stop the music!

[whistles]

And now I get ready for Vegas.

Las Vegas as a city
was nothing.

It was desert, all desert.

We had one cab driver
on the whole strip.

His name was Louie.

And if you drank
you didn'’t want to drive.

So you hired Louie.

The strip was just
The El Rancho,

The Last Frontier,
The Desert Inn,

and The Flamingo,
that was it.

[narrator] And Vegas,
as it exists today,

is all because of The Flamingo.

Gangster Bugsy Siegel
and his partner Billy Wilkerson

set out to build
the highest class casino resort

in the U.S.

[Rose Marie] The Flamingo was

an unbelievable thing
to everybody.

They were afraid of it.

Neon lights and bright lights
and this.

It was like Monte Carlo.

The rest was all sand.

[Marshall]
Ro opened The Flamingo.

She opened it with--
for Bugsy Siegel.

Bugsy Siegel was
very good to me.

He was very sweet to me.

His girlfriend, Virginia Hill,
he called her "The Flamingo."

That'’s why that club
was called The Flamingo.

Nobody knew that.

A little secret.

Bugsy thought of The Flamingo
as a place in Vegas,

and the mob loaned him
two million dollars.

And he kept saying
"I need more money"

because the locals took him
for every dime he could get.

They did everything wrong

so they could fix it
over again

and do this and do that.

So, the mob got mad and said,
"No more money."

[narrator]
The building costs soared

to over six million dollars,

all borrowed
from the East Coast mob.

Now his life literally depended
on the success of this building.

And everything depended
on opening night.

[Rose Marie]
I was supposed to open tomorrow.

It rains.

One plane to Vegas
does not take off.

There'’s only one plane
to Vegas then.

In the morning, everybody
was on that plane.

Xavier Cugat, Abbe Lane,
Tommy Wonder, Jimmy Durante.

[narrator]
Despite the bad weather,

the Hollywood elite showed up.

[Rose Marie] Opening night,
the place is jammed.

[narrator] Lana Turner,
Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck.

We had a hell of a crowd.

The show was wonderful.
It was brilliant.

The next night they were
all there again.

The third night,
they were gone.

Everybody went back
to California,

and we worked to nine people.

And, if you want to see
something sad,

you watch Jimmy Durante
work to nine people.

First week, I'’m sitting
in the coffee shop

with the dancer, Tommy Wonder.

We'’re having a cup of tea,

and this man comes in,

and "Here'’s your check."

I look at my check,
and there'’s $11 missing.

I said, "Wait a minute, psst!
Come here, please. Sir!

"You took $11 out of my check.
Tell me what'’s that for?"

Tommy Wonder, he'’s exhausted.

He goes: "Do you know
who that was?"

And I said, "No." He says,
"That'’s Bugsy Siegel."

I said, "Oh my God,

"they'’re gonna pick me up
in an envelope."

"How dare you talk to him
like that."

I didn'’t know who he was.

A few minutes later,
he came back.

He says, "Here'’s your $11.
I'’m sorry about the mistake."

Sweetest man in the world.

[narrator] $11.

Little did she know that Bugsy
lost $3,000 that first week.

[splash]

But he didn'’t give up.

He bet it all on The Flamingo

and was determined
to see it succeed

with Rose Marie as his star.

[Rose Marie] One night,

Bugsy Siegel
came over to me and said,

"Here'’s $10,000.
Go play some baccarat."

I said, "I'’m not a shill.
I'’m a performer."

"Yeah, but if you get up there
and start playing,

"maybe people will come
to the table

"and start playing with you."

"I don'’t do this."
He says, "Do it for me."

I said, "Okay."

I go over there,
and sure enough

playing with somebody else'’s
money I won $25,000.

And now the second show
is gonna go,

and I'’ve got to go on.

What do I do
with this $25,000?

I can'’t find him.
Where the hell is he?

I finally put the $25,000
down here,

I do my second show.

[applause]

I come back, and he'’s sitting
in the coffee shop there.

I said, "Where have you been?"

"Mr. Siegel," I said,
"I am not a shill.

"Here'’s your damn money.
Don'’t ever do this to me again."

And he laughed, he says,

"You'’ll be playing here
quite a bit, you'’re all right."

I'’ll never forget that.
He says, "You'’re all right."

He says, "And we'’ll be seeing
you again."

I said, "Thank you, Mr. Siegel,
it'’s been a pleasure."

Got my check, and I left.

And five days later
he was killed.

And then Bugsy had
the last laugh

because it was--he'’s still
turning in his grave

because it turned out
to be quite--

look at Vegas today.

Vegas today is unbelievable.

So little by little
they were building hotels,

and every time they built
a hotel

one of the boys was behind it.

[Marshall]
All the guys from Cleveland,

Moe Dalitz and Tucker Brothers
and all those guys

came in and took over.

Thank goodness because
they were

the most wonderful guys
in the world to work for.

I can'’t tell you
how terrific they were.

You'’re working for the mob,
the so-called mob.

If you were a good kid

and you didn'’t get out of line
or drink

or go after their women
or gamble,

the world was anything
you wanted.

You never paid for anything.
Thank God for Vegas.

Without Vegas, I don'’t know how
I'’d have raised my family.

[Rose Marie]
Each mob had their own area.

And I played them all,
and we became very good friends.

They looked after me and thought
I was the cat'’s meow.

Once in a while,
she would mention

some of the tough guys
she knew back then.

[Rose Marie] Moe Sedgway,
Doc Mangini,

Jerry Maloney, Blackjack,
Willie the Icepick.

That'’s a good one.

Killed with the ice pick
like that.

They treated her
like a daughter.

They didn'’t treat her
like a girlfriend

or somebody they'’re gonna
have sex with.

They treated her like somebody
they were trying to protect

and take care of
and be good to.

[Rose Marie]
And I knew all of them

and used to hang out
with all of them.

And but I always said
I'’m a Flamingo girl.

Bugsy--his girlfriend
Virginia Hill

said to me "Your show
is wonderful,

your gowns are beautiful."

I said, "I have this
very famous designer

"in New York that makes--
he'’s a Frenchman.

"He'’s fantastic."
She said, "They'’re gorgeous."

But she says, "I think you
should lose a little weight."

I said, "Don'’t tell anybody,
but I'’m five months pregnant."

She says, "You'’re kidding."
I said, "No."

The gowns still fit,
but I'’m a little overweight.

I say, "As soon as I have
the baby, I'’ll lose the weight."

[narrator] In 1947, Rose Marie
and Bobby welcomed a daughter,

Georgiana Marie Guy,

affectionately nicknamed Noopy.

For a decade, Rose Marie
traveled the United States

headlining various nightclubs
and theaters.

I think my mother was
on the road most of the time

in my early years.

[narrator] Not typical behavior
for a '’50s housewife.

So, when they could,
her family came along.

[Rodrigues] When I was about
four years old,

Sam Levinson called up
my mother and said

he would like to have me
on the show.

What'’s your mommy'’s name,
darling?

Rose Marie.

Ladies and gentlemen,
from the movies,

from TV and from "Top Banana,"
we bring you Rose Marie.

[Rodrigues] So I got
on national television,

and I sang "Top Banana."

I had a father that
was a musician

and a mother that was a singer,
so I better have a good voice.

♪ If you want to be
a top banana ♪

♪ You got to start
from the bottom of the bunch ♪

♪ You got to know the joke
about the farmer'’s daughter ♪

♪ Take it in the kisser
with the soda water ♪

♪ If you want to be...

I wasn'’t Baby Rose Marie.

I'’ll talk
about "Top Banana" now.

♪

I got a call from Phil Silvers.

[narrator] In the late '’50s,
the army sitcom

"The Phil Silvers Show"would
make him a household name.

But at this time he was

just a character actor
working for MGM.

[Rose Marie] He says, "I want
you to do a Broadway show."

"Phil, I live in California.

"I can'’t come here
and live in New York

"with my husband and baby
in California."

He says, "They can come in
and visit you.

"But you need a Broadway show.
I want you to do this show.

"I want you to do this show,
please."

I said, "All right, send me
a script."

I had wonderful numbers.

The duet with Phil and myself,
"A Word A Day,"

stopped the show every night.

We did the show.
The show was a smash.

The reviews came out,
it was all about Phil.

Not one of us got mentioned.

Not one of us.

I'’m sitting at Sardi'’s
very depressed.

Marlon Brando comes
over to me

and says, "What'’s the matter?"

I said, "It didn'’t even
mention me."

He says,
"I saw the show tonight.

"You were great.

"You stopped
the show four times."

I said, "I know, but they
didn'’t even mention me."

He says, "F '’em." He says,
"You were great.

"I was there, remember that."

And he walked away.

[narrator] All that "Top Banana"
hype earned Phil Silvers

a Tony award for his performance

and solidified the show
as a hit.

[Rodrigues]
They made it into a movie

when the show was
very successful.

[Rose Marie]
Phil Silvers kept calling me.

He says, "I want you
to do the movie."

What can I say?
It was not good, period.

That'’s just about
the size of it.

I had a producer that wanted
to make fun

and give me an offer,
which I tried to refuse.

It was a dirty offer.
Want me to tell you?

The producer comes
over to me and says,

"I'’ll show you a few positions
if you'’re interested."

And I said, "Oh, that'’s funny.

"Oh yeah, you'’re wonderful,
that'’s funny."

"I'’m serious, this could be
your picture."

And in front
of everybody I go,

"You couldn'’t get it up
if a flag went by."

Which didn'’t sit too well
with him.

All my numbers were cut
in the picture.

There isn'’t one number of me
in the picture.

[Rodrigues] I think my mother'’s
experience of doing the film

of "Top Banana" pushed her
away from wanting to do movies.

Finally I decided
I got to get into television.

I got to do some television.
That'’s the thing to do today.

[narrator] In 1950, only 9%
of American households

owned television sets.

But by 1957 that number grew
to 78%.

What was first thought of
as a novelty

quickly became one of the most
influential inventions

in the history of entertainment.

[Rose Marie] And they said,
"You'’ve got to get an agent."

Jim Maloney, I go and see him

with my reviews
from Slapsy Maxie'’s.

I'’m a good actress,
I do comedy.

He says, "Rose Marie Guy?"

And I said, "No, no,
just Rose Marie."

He says, "Don'’t you want
a last name?"

I said, "Just Rose Marie.

"That'’s what everybody
knows me by."

He says, "Nobody knows you
out here by that."

I said, "They will.
It'’s just Rose Marie."

I was the first one to have
a one name thing.

Now there'’s Cher, there'’s Liza,
there'’s everything.

I was the first one.

So now he calls me one day,

and he says, "I'’ve got
a script for you."

[announcer]"Gunsmoke"starring
James Arness as Matt Dillon.

I said,
"That'’s a very big show."

"Yeah," he says, "the part
is Mrs. Monger."

Okay, I get the script,
I read it.

Monger--Mrs. Monger
is 60 years old.

I'’m an adorable,
white gloved cutie,

and I'’m going to play
a 60 year old woman?

Know damn well I'’m not
gonna get it.

I know in my heart
I'’m not gonna get it.

I figured, "Well, my voice
is low, I'’ll make it lower."

And the line in the script
was "Poorly, thank you."

I say...
Poorly, thank you.

He says, "That'’s enough."
He says, "Thank you."

I said, "Okay."

And John Rich the director
comes over to me,

he says "Would you mind
cutting your nails?"

I say, "What?"

He says, "Would you mind
cutting your nails?"

I said, "Why?"

He said, "I don'’t think a woman,
a 60 year old woman

"sawing wood would have
nails like that."

I said, "You want me
for this part?"

He says, "I think you'’ll
be great."

I said, "Thank you,"
and I got the part.

That was my first
television show in California

was"Gunsmoke."

[narrator] After"Gunsmoke,"

Rose Marie found herself
with a huge break.

She landed the lead role
in"Just Off Broadway,"

a pilot produced to replace
"I LoveLucy'’s"summer timeslot.

[snoring]

All right, rise and shine,
up and at '’em, let'’s go.

There you go, up and at '’em,
there you go.

[laughter]

[narrator] But it didn'’t
get picked up.

Then she guest starred
on"The Jackie Gleason Show,"

"My Sister Eileen"
and"The Bob Cummings Show."

♪

[clacking]

[Rose Marie] One day,
I get a call

from the casting office

saying "They want you
down at Desilu'’s

"to see Danny Thomas."

I say, "Ah, finally got it.

"Finally got the guest shot."

She says, "No, this is
for a new show

"called
'’The Dick Van Dyke Show.'’"

I say, "What'’s a Dick Van Dyke?"

Nobody ever heard of me.
[laughs]

So I went down there,

and that'’s when I met
Carl Reiner.

So we'’re looking
for a woman writer,

and somebody said there'’s
only one person

to play this role, Rose Marie.

[Rose Marie] And Carl said,
"I hear you'’re terrific."

I said, "Yeah," I said,
"I'’m pretty good, you know."

I said, "May I ask what this
is all about?"

Dick Van Dyke is a head writer
on a comedy show.

He goes and slaves away on that

while Mary Tyler Moore
stays at home

and deals with that creepy kid.

[Rose Marie] And Carl says
it'’s about three comedy writers

so forth and so on
and so forth and so on.

And I said, "Who plays
the third comedy writer?"

And I was thinking of
a young guy like Mel Brooks.

And I was thinking we'’ve got
to find a Mel Brooks.

And Rosie said, "There'’s only
one guy who can play

"this other part,"

and she mentioned
Morey Amsterdam.

She cast him like that.

[Rose Marie]
I said, "We'’re very friendly."

Morey wrote all the material
for my act.

We'’ve been friends
since I'’ve been 11 years old.

And I came home,
and I called him,

and I said, "They'’re going
to call you about a new show,

"new television show called
'’The Dick Van Dyke Show.'’"

He says,
"What'’s a Dick Van Dyke?"

I said, "Your guess is as good
as mine, but get out here."

Well, here comes two people

I know you'’re gonna be
crazy about.

But don'’t go by me.
I voted for Tom Dewey.

[laughter]

Well, you know them
as the co-stars

of"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Morey Amsterdam
and Rose Marie, I love you.

[applause]

Look at this sanitarium.
Hey, how about that!

Well, is this gorgeous?

I think it was built
by Frank Lloyd Wrong.

I went along with her

because Morey Amsterdam
was the human joke machine.

We knew about that.

And through the years
anytime we needed a one-liner

he gave you 12 possibilities.

This man can make a joke
out of any word

in the English language.

Any word at all, come on.
Any word, any word.

Horse.
I have a lady, she has a word.

Horse.
A joke about a horse?

Horse, horse, let me see.

If everybody owned a horse,

the country would be
more stabilized.

[laughter]

[Rose Marie]
He didn'’t even have to read.

Neither one of us read.

I was amazed
at her comedy timing,

she and Morey Amsterdam.

I learned comedy
from those two.

When I saw what was happening
in the first couple,

I said, "You know something,
we'’ve got a classic."

I knew it. It was a classic.

[Van Dyke] Carl'’s writing
and the direction,

we just knew we had something
that was better than most.

You turned on purposely
to see it every week.

[Harmon] You believed those
characters were real

in spite of all the blocking
and the beautiful lighting

and how hot they were
and how funny and charming.

You truly believed that these
people were your neighbors.

You suspended that disbelief
quite successfully.

And that we'’re still trying
to do.

"Big Bang Theory"
aspires to that immersion.

When asked what am I
most proud of

in the history of my career
as a performer, writer,

I said"The Dick Van Dyke Show"
hands down.

No question about it.

[Rose Marie] People went crazy
that worked with us

because Carl'’s mind,
Morey'’s mind, my mind,

we kept finding changes
that were better.

[Van Dyke] Our rehearsals
all week were really rewrites.

We'’d get on our feet
and, of course, Rosie and Morey

brilliant stuff
came out of them.

So the show was very different
by the time we shot it

than it was on the printed page.

That'’s why people say,

"Was your show
that much ad-lib?"

No, it wasn'’t ad-lib,
it was scripted.

But we would come up
with things in the middle of it

that they would shove
in the script.

[Reiner] We knew that as soon as
Rosie put her foot down

that we knew that scene
was going to work.

She was the flag pole.
She was...

She was so steady.

[Van Dyke] She always had a way
of saying, "Wait for your laugh,

"wait for your laugh."

She always insisted

that I would jump in too soon.

Had to wait for my laugh.

In all the years,

and there was 158 shows,

everybody blew a line.

Everybody blew a thing,
got in the wrong place,

stood in the wrong place,
said the wrong--

Not Rose Marie.
She never, ever blew a line.

And nobody got mad
at anybody.

Nobody yelled at anybody.

She got mad at me
a couple of times.

When there was something--
somebody had a beef,

and I was supposed
to go up

as the star and talk
to the producers about it,

which I never did.

And her nickname for me was
the "6 Foot Tower of Jell-O."

Whenever somebody had to,
she would say,

"Send the 6 Foot Tower
of Jell-O up there,

"he'’ll take care of..."
[laughs]

[Rose Marie] I mean, you can sit
over there.

How long do you want
me to sit there?

"Go over there."
I'’m not going over there.

Never heard him say
a bad word about anybody.

He was a jellyfish.
He could do anything.

And he wouldn'’t say
anything about it.

I don'’t think he questioned
anything we did.

Even the script,
I really don'’t think so.

[Van Dyke] She kind of thought
I was a spineless wimp

when it came to that,
which is true.

[laughs]

Old blood and guts,
there he goes.

Hasn'’t got the guts
to tell you.

[Conway] You had a certain
amount of sympathy with her,

you know, because she was in
with all these guys,

and it was a man'’s show
in a sense.

I think it'’s time
we appreciated

having a bright, attractive gal
around the office.

Yeah, when is she gonna
start work here?

[Harmon] How hard do you think
it must have been

on a day to day basis

to be that singular performer
in that singular role?

It'’s like still hard
to be a woman

in a writer'’s room
in real life,

let alone playing
that character.

[Conway] Here was this woman
fighting for her position

in the show and in real life.

And she did it.

She just mowed '’em down,

and said, "Sit over there
and shut up."

It was really tough
for women back then,

especially for the character
that Rosie did,

because she was very masculine.

When you look back on it,

if that character
weren'’t in it

would we remember the show,
would we study it?

[Shapiro] She didn'’t play
the pretty girl, the sexy girl.

Like a non-sex person.

It had nothing to do with sex.

Rose Marie is not sexualized.

On the other hand, she hasn'’t
been de-sexualized.

She'’s constantly talking
about dating and dating men,

but she'’s not co-dependent.

She'’s constantly talking
about how ugly they are

and what losers they are
and these dates she'’s going on.

Wait a minute!
Wait a minute!

[Van Dyke]
We made jokes about the fact

that nobody took into account
the fact that she was a lady.

Hey, Mel, how about a little
poker game Thursday night?

Oh fine, who are the players
gonna be? No women I hope.

Nah!

No, just buddies,
me and Sally.

Count on me.
[laughter]

Morey Amsterdam won'’t help her
lift a heavy typewriter.

She'’s--chivalry is dead

because she'’s one of the guys.

Hey, buddy, give me a hand.

[claps]

[laughter]

Very funny, now will you
help me, please?

Come on, you'’re stronger
than I am.

Do it yourself, Mack.
[laughter]

[Harmon] Rose Marie is the high
status character in the room.

You could admire her.
You could want to be her.

I would argue probably
a lot of dudes

maybe back then
watched that show

and were like "I'’m not really
the Morey Amsterdam archetype,

"I'’m really kind of
the Rose Marie archetype."

I want to be a comedy writer,

and it had nothing
to do with gender,

let alone all the women
out there,

the little girls
watching that show

that were like, "Wait,
that'’s a job?

"You can have that?
You can be creative?"

After Lucille Ball,

you didn'’t really come up
with any women

who were that strong.

And the next niche
was Rose Marie.

When I got the show,

I thought it was going
to be Dick and me.

I thought Mary was
going to be a sideline.

[Van Dyke] She thought the show
was about comedy writers

and that the whole show
would take place there

in the comedy writing office.

And she didn'’t realize
it was going to be

also some home
with Mary Tyler Moore and me.

I do remember my mother
coming home

from doing the series
and being upset

because the show was shifting
to Mary Tyler Moore.

She would say, "I have to fight
for the office scenes."

When Rose Marie was
offered the job,

they said it'’s about writers
in a writers'’ room.

That'’s what they told her.

They didn'’t tell her
it'’s about a husband and wife

who was also a writer.

And my life, I wrote
about my life.

My life was really
about my family.

And Carl kept saying,
"No, no, it'’s Mary and Dick.

"You'’re the sideline."

I couldn'’t get over that.
I didn'’t understand that.

Because I was supposed
to be co-starring.

And, if you see the credits,

it says"The Dick Van Dyke Show"

with Rose Marie,
I'’m the next one lined up.

It'’s important to note
that Mary Tyler Moore,

the reason we all know
that name

is because of how incredible
she looks,

specifically on that film stock
and that lighting.

[Reiner] As soon as people
started taking pictures

and covers and cover
of "Look" magazine, "Life,"

it was Mary.

Just the way it was
in the office and home,

Mary and Rosie hardly
ever talked, I don'’t think.

That was a little scary,
you know.

But it worked for the show.

[Rodrigues] They weren'’t best
buddies, so to speak.

It was professional,
how about that?

It was professional.

Rosie was always upset
from the first year.

She was always upset
that she and Morey

didn'’t have enough to do.

I could hear both her sigh:
"Oh gee..."

You know, the mumbling,
and wanting more to do.

Only thing I said,
"I want more."

[Reiner] It finally got so bad

that I had a talk with Rosie,

and I said, "Rosie," I said,

"you'’re the best one that
could ever be doing this job,

"but if you can'’t stand the fact

"that the people,
the audiences

"care more about Mary and Dick
as I do

"I care more about my family
than I do about my workers,

"and I write about that."

I write more deeply more that.

I said, "That'’s what the show
is about.

"Unless you can accept that,
don'’t come back.

"Please don'’t come back."

And I used real strong language.

I said, "You both have
beautiful legs.

"They want to look at her legs."

Anyway, from then on
we were fine.

[clacking]

Dick came over to me
and said,

"Does Bobby feel all right?"

I say, "Why?" He says, "Because
he'’s leaning up against a chair,

"and that'’s not like Bob."

I said, "He'’s got a cold.
He can'’t get rid of it."

We go home, it'’s getting worse.

[Reiner]
They were very, very close.

He came to every show
and watched every show.

They were deeply in love.
There was no question about it.

They needed each other,
they had each other,

and they gave to each other.

[Rose Marie]
We went to this doctor.

So he examines him,
and he says,

"I'’d like to examine it
a little further,"

and Bobby says, "I got to work."

He says, "You can'’t.

"Call up Bing Crosby,
and tell him you can'’t make it."

So I left him there.
I went to work.

The doctor called me
and said,

"Your husband has hepatitis."

That was the going thing
that year.

Everybody got hepatitis.

And Morey came over.
Morey says, "What'’s wrong?"

I said, "He'’s sick.
They don'’t know what'’s wrong.

"This guy, I don'’t like
this doctor."

"Wait a minute, just a minute.
I'’ll call Jerry.

"He'’s got to have
the best doctor."

He calls Jerry Lewis
on the phone.

Jerry says, "Look,
in five minutes

"a Dr. Levy is going
to call you.

"You tell him what you
just told me."

I said, "Okay, thanks, Jerry."

He examined him, he says,
"He doesn'’t have hepatitis.

"I don'’t know what he'’s got,"

but he says "It'’s some sort
of blood infection."

Jerry called, and he told
the doctors

"Do everything you can
to help this man.

"He'’s a friend of mine,
a very dear friend of mine."

I heard that, and they sent
his blood all over the world,

all over the world
to find out what was wrong.

[Rodrigues]
And he was so thin.

My father was always big.

[Van Dyke]
He was a stocky guy.

And he got ill and slowly
began to lose weight.

And Bobby just wasted away.

♪

She was going through
the worst experience

anyone can go through,

just slowly losing
a loved one.

But I was trying to do
the show at the same time.

And Rosie being a pro,
because she is,

managed to do that show.

And you would never
have known the difference.

The minute that camera
went on,

she was the old Rosie.

I had to. That was my job.

That was my job.

I couldn'’t let all those
other people down.

They would'’ve folded up.

Or would'’ve kicked me
off the show, which is worse.

[laughs]

[Van Dyke] But we could see
it was just killing her,

especially the frustration,

not even to know
what'’s wrong with him.

[Rose Marie] I was supposed
to do the Carson show.

I said, "I can'’t do it.

"I'’m in no mood
to do another show.

"I'’m lucky I'’m doing this one."

So, word comes back to Carson,

he says, "I can'’t get
a replacement.

"She'’s got to do the show."

You can get a replacement
for Johnny Carson.

Everybody in the world
wanted to do that show.

He says, "I can'’t get
a replacement.

"She'’s got to do the show."

Okay, I said, "I'’ll try."

All of you if you watch
television at all

know our next guest.

She'’s been on with me
several times,

and very big on the--
I can mention the show.

It'’s silly not to mention it,
"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

She has a major role,
and she is delightful.

Rose Marie.
[applause]

♪

I go down there,
and we do the show.

Rosie is a fine performer.
You break me up every time.

We'’ve done a lot of shows
together.

And we'’re a good audience
for each other.

Not--you know, we enjoy it
when we work together.

-Very much.
-It was Pagliacci.

She had to come and make
people laugh,

and she was crying all the time,

you know, in the dressing room.

Pagliacci...
[sings in Italian]

All about laughing
while people

while your insides
are crying.

It'’s easier to grin
when your ship comes in

and life is a happy lot,

but the man that'’s worthwhile
is the man who can smile

when his shorts creep up
in a knot.

[laughter]

[applause]

Get through, I kiss Johnny
on the cheek.

And he says, "Do you feel
any better?"

He says, "I tried to get
your mind off of it

"for a little while."

These are angels, these guys.

Jerry Lewis, Dr. Levy,
Johnny Carson

they'’re angels to me.

Dr. Levy brought Bobby home
at one point,

and Bobby was home
for a little while,

and he had to go back
into the hospital.

And he died in the hospital
in 1964.

He was 48 years old.

The diagnosis
was a blood infection.

They don'’t know
where it came from or why.

And I miss him.

We were both at our peaks
in our careers.

It just fell apart
after he left.

I'’m sorry. I didn'’t mean
to do this.

Get me on the subject
of my husband,

I can'’t help it, sorry.

Oh yeah, that was
a great marriage.

It was a great love affair.

Yeah, they really adored
each other.

When he passed, she started
wearing the bow for Bobby.

[narrator] Two things never
happened after Bobby died.

She never married again.

And she never wore a bow
in her hair that wasn'’t black.

Two years after Bobby died,

Rose Marie had to say
another goodbye.

With 158 shows in the can,

"The Dick Van Dyke Show"
came to an end.

I said at the very beginning,

I said, "We'’ll go as far
as we go while we

"while it'’s still fresh."

And in the fifth year
I kept seeing repetition

in story ideas

and everybody itching
to go places.

Dick Van Dyke had already
done"Mary Poppins,"

and the movies were
running after him.

Mary went off
to go to Broadway.

And I said, "We all have
some place--"

I was starting to do
feature movies.

And I said,
"Let'’s go out strong.

"We'’ll just go out
with strong shows."

We were all heartbroken.
I was just sick.

That combination
and the chemistry.

Mary and I almost became
mind readers.

And it was such--
it was an improv.

We were an improv group.

And I just hated to see
a team like that break up.

It just made me so sad

because I'’ve never had
that experience since,

that kind of wonderful
tight involvement that we had.

I hated to see it end.

[Rose Marie]
We were devastated.

But we finished because
Carl was afraid

that we were dried up.

I said, "We haven'’t done
one in color."

We could go another two years
in color.

And that'’s how the show ended.

We were very sad, all of us.

I always wondered.

She was as good as Lucille Ball
or Carol Burnett.

She should'’ve had her own show
at one time I think.

My husband had passed away.
I didn'’t want to do anything.

I didn'’t want to sing,
I didn'’t want to talk.

I wanted to be left alone.

[narrator] Starring
in a big television show

is very different today.

Each main cast member generally
gets a share of the profits.

[Rodrigues]
"The Dick Van Dyke Show"

had a residual schedule then

of after six showings
there are no more residuals.

[narrator] Meaning Rose Marie
hasn'’t made money

off"The Dick Van Dyke Show"
in over 50 years.

She had always worked
because she loved it.

But now, as a single mother,
Rose Marie needed to work.

Mary Markham who was booking
"Hollywood Squares"

called me up and said,
"I want you to do this show.

"All you got to do
is sit up there and talk."

Well, that didn'’t seem
too hard.

[narrator] Rose Marie was
no stranger

to the game show genre.

In the late '’50s, she was
the first female game show host

in history.

The program was called
"Scoop The Writers."

♪

Before have Wendell

to explain how
our little game plays,

I should like to introduce you
three boys.

Boys!
[laughs]

[laughter]

These guys were boys
when Madame Butterfly

was a worm.

[narrator] But at the same time
the popular quiz"Twenty One"

was discovered to be rigged

and put under
Congressional investigation.

Most networks cancelled
their game shows.

Our celebrity and comedy-driven
"Hollywood Squares"

brought the game show back into
the American living room.

[Rose Marie]
They got Peter Marshall

who was the best
that ever happened.

And he'’s still the best.

He knew when to coach you on,
he knew when to stop you.

He knew when to lead you.
He was wonderful.

-Listen, Ro.
-All right, Peter.

Please, we must move along here.

People have to win
cash and prizes.

According to "Dear Abby,"
is there a law

that can force a man
to marry a woman?

Yes, and I think it'’s called
a mother-in-law.

[laughter]

I thought it was going
to be a 13 week show,

to be frank with you.

Then of course I ran
16 years.

So, you never know
what'’s gonna happen

in this business.

[Rose Marie]
I was with the show 14 years.

And, for some reason or other,
I was just there.

Nobody ever said "Go home."

I was just there.

I never knew
any of the jokes.

All I had was the questions.

Important: We were never told

what the questions
were going to be.

And nobody was told anything
except be funny, do your best.

And we couldn'’t even pass

the people in the hallway
of NBC.

We didn'’t--they didn'’t want us
to talk to any contestants

because of the scandal
that they had.

So they were very careful.

It'’s the easiest thing
I ever did.

Oh God, it was fun.

It was just fun.
It was like a party.

And you got paid
wonderfully well for this.

And it left you open
to be able to work Vegas

or whatever you wanted to do.

[clap]

Then I was lucky enough

to go to"The Doris Day Show."

Now Doris had just lost
her husband.

And I had just lost mine.

And I thought, "God, we have
something in common

"to begin with."

It'’s going to be cry
on whose shoulder, you know?

And I went into rehearsal,
and she was just unbelievable.

She was--she'’s the greatest
lady I'’ve ever known

or worked with.

For some reason or other,

I have never stopped
in this business.

After I got through
doing a play,

and there were no plays to do

I'’d get into something else.

I would do my concert act,
you know, in concert.

If there wasn'’t enough places
around to do that,

I would get
into television again.

And if there wasn'’t enough
television going on

I would make
personal appearances.

I always went from one thing
to the next.

[narrator] Rose Marie'’s role
on"The Doris Day Show"

only lasted three seasons.

[Rodrigues] My mother'’s at home.
She'’s not working.

She'’s calling her manager
every day

going "Why aren'’t I working?

"I'’m not doing anything.
Get me a damn job."

Out of this persistence,

her manager says, "Well,
I'’m working on something."

4 Girls 4take one.
[slap]

4 Girls 4was
a strange combination of people.

Rose Marie, Rosemary Clooney,

Helen O'’Connor,
Margaret Whiting.

Four big egos.

They were each stars
in their own right,

in their time,

but it had been
15 or 20 years

since anyone had been
performing onstage

making that kind of noise again.

I thought, "Who the hell
is gonna pay money

"to go see four old broads
up there on a stage

"singing with a band?"

Yeah, at their age, but they
didn'’t move like their age.

[Sviridoff] Miraculously,
it caught on right away.

[Rodrigues] They started to play
these theaters

and these venues
that were huge.

And they'’re sold out.

They'’re sold out!

[Sviridoff] It was selling out
week after week after week.

They were selling
to 15,000 people a show.

You know, they were--
they were rock stars.

You'’ve got to be kidding me.

The audiences loved them.

I mean, it was
standing ovation time.

And what was going on backstage?
Chaos.

Oh, the egos were at it,
fighting, fighting, fighting.

Frankie Ortega, my conductor,
he goes with the show,

or I don'’t go.

My mother took charge
of the show.

I was the one that put
the finale together.

She had to have
a closing number.

Learn this, we'’re going
to do this for the finale.

You do this,
you come out here,

you do this, you do that.

♪

Oh, come on, Frank.
Hold it, Frank.

Hold it, Frank!
[whistles]

Frank! Frank. Hold it.

Hold it, you don'’t seem
to understand.

See that part I go,
"Smiley face..."

You'’re not supposed
to play in there,

see, because I'’m going
to the next phrase,

and if you'’re playing that while
I'’m singing the next phrase

it'’s not going to sound good,

and they'’re gonna think
I can'’t sing, see.

So you don'’t play anything.
That'’s all me.

Was she stubborn?
Was she sweet all the time?

Was she a pain in the ass?
She was all of those things.

She was no pushover,
that'’s for sure.

She could be the sweetest,
most loving person,

but you don'’t want to cross
Rose Marie.

She'’ll cut your head off.

I was the production manager,

and I had to do the lights
and the sound

and the touring things.

But I also had to act
as the, you know,

as the peacemaker.

[Shapiro] They carried piles
of luggage,

and everybody had piles of music
and piles of costumes.

-Hold Rose Marie'’s bag.
-Sure. Oh, geez!

[laughs]

Rose Marie, is this your bag?

What do you have rocks
in here?

That'’s just my hair brushes.

And piles of ego.

Helen wasn'’t that nice.

She was a troublemaker.

I love show business.
You love it before?

-Or you go out you love it?
-I adore it.

Helen, when you get out there,
do you love it?

-No.
-When do you love it?

-Never!
-[laughs]

I love music.
I don'’t like to perform.

[Rose Marie] She thought
she owned4 Girls 4.

And she hated me because
I was the one

that made all the suggestions,

and they were taken.

I think it'’s safe for me
now to say this.

I haven'’t said it
to anybody before.

But walking across the street
in New York City one day

with Margaret Whiting,
Margaret said to me

and this was a woman that
always spoke well of people.

I mean, she was a gentle,
gentle soul,

a loving soul.

And she said to me,

"I just want to pull
all of Helen'’s nails out

"and hold her hands over fire."

There were times we wouldn'’t
talk to one another for days.

And one time she got in with me
for some reason or another.

And Clooney says,
"Well, you know how she is."

Clooney and I got along great.

Rose Marie and Rosemary
had a camaraderie

like nobody else.

They spoke the same language.

They both slept till the middle
of the afternoon.

They both stayed out
late at night.

I mean, they were party girls.
They were a lot of fun.

[Rose Marie]
We knew what we had.

We knew that something
was good happening to us.

And we were very proud of it

because every one of us
was good, you know.

Even Helen.

For Rose Marie, it was
a wonderful thing

because she hadn'’t been
doing that much.

And she needed something
like that.

She--there was no place
to perform anymore.

Where you gonna perform?

You have understand
that on the business end

these women before4 Girls 4

were probably, you know,
a thousand dollar act

on their own.

When they did4 Girls 4,

their numbers grew
to such a point

where they were making
tens of thousands of dollars.

And then tens of thousands
of dollars each week

and then times 38 weeks.

So, the income level
for women in that situation

was quite extraordinary.

I kept saying to them
"You know how lucky we are

"at this stage of our life?"

♪

[applause]

[Shapiro] Rose Marie'’s always
anxious about work.

Any performer is as good
as their last show.

When you finish one show,
you'’ve got to start again.

You'’ve got to go find
another show

whether it'’s a show,
a recording,

a television thing.

Whatever it is, you have
to go find a new one.

Well, that'’s not easy.

[Rodrigues] I mean,
work supersedes everything,

always has.

I don'’t want to say
it'’s a drug,

but I think in her case
it'’s a drug.

It'’s something that
she has to do all the time.

She'’s never stopped working,
ever, ever.

From the time she was a child,
she has never stopped.

I'’ve literally seen her
get on the phone

and call Aaron Spelling,

and she says "I'’m not
working this week,"

and the following week
she has a"Love Boat."

[clacking]

[Rose Marie] My resume reads
four pages, you know,

of just episodic guest shots.

I'’ve done all the big shows.

[Rodrigues] She did a couple
of"Murphy Browns."

"Caroline in the City,"
"Suddenly Susan,""Wings."

But it was getting to the parts
of playing

pain in the ass mother-in-laws

that were mean or whatever.

She became
a "character actress."

This is your woman, huh?
Hey!

[laughter]
Dainty little miss, ain'’t she?

[laughter]

When Gus van Sant

decided to remake"Psycho,"

he needed somebody
to play the mother.

And who did he get?

Don'’t you touch me!
Don'’t, Norman!

Put me down!

And I'’ll walk on my own!
[laughs]

As her daughter, I thought
it was typecasting.

Huh, boy?
You have the guts, boy?!

Jesus, scared the hell
out of me.

I saw her do some of
the character parts

where she played all the people.

She'’d do it wonderful.
She was great.

But there weren'’t
enough of them.

[Rodrigues] The last thing that
she did was a voice

playing a witch
in a Garfield cartoon.

I'’m free,
free from the prison

of that dusty old book!

And she absolutely
loved doing that, loved it.

And she was "working" again,
she was working.

And she was a different person
when she did that.

Even though she was willing
to play character parts

and play old people,

it was hard for her
to get work.

The frustration
of her not working is--is huge.

Of course, she wants to work.

She really does want to work.

[Rose Marie] I feel strange
that I'’m left.

Why am I left?

I don'’t--I can'’t do anymore.

I can'’t do anything.

What can I do?
Go out and do a show again?

Ro, you know, physically
is not

she can'’t run around the block.

But mentally she'’s as good
as ever.

[Rodrigues] She has told me
that she'’ll lay in bed,

and she will go over her act
in bed just--just doing it.

And that "Is there a way
that I can come out

in a wheelchair
and do my act?"

And it'’s a horrible feeling
when you

when your mind is working

and your body refuses
to be with you.

Now we'’re contemporaries.
I can still play a little golf.

I can still run, I can walk.

So I work, you know.

I'’ve been on the radio
for many, many years.

"Music of Your Life."

I'’ve been doing it
for like 25 years.

And I still do a lot of stuff
with PBS.

So I'’m busy. I'’m one of
the lucky guys.

[Van Dyke]
I'’ve had a 70 year career,

and still I just made a movie
in February.

So it'’s--and I'’m not about
to retire.

[laughs]
Too much fun.

Look, I'’m 92, and I'’m writing
my fourth

my third, maybe my fifth
biography, believe it or not.

I may be the oldest writer
ever to have written

novels and, this way,
biographies.

[Rose Marie]
I miss my career.

I'’d give $1,000
to do my act right now

and show them how it'’s done

because nobody does
a good act anymore.

They smell, all of them.

And I want to go out
on the stage and show '’em.

That'’s being conceited.

But I'’m good,
I know I'’m good.

[Boll] She'’s been overlooked
in a lot of areas.

She'’s had multiple
Emmy nominations.

She'’s always lost out
to someone who passed away

that same year.

Huge joke in the industry.

You don'’t want to be nominated

opposite Rose Marie,
or your life may be in peril.

She'’s an aggressive woman,

but she'’s never been aggressive
in pursuing awards.

And in this industry you have to
because you have to nominate--

you have to put yourself
in for an Emmy.

You have to put yourself
out there.

And she'’s never been aggressive
in pursuing acknowledgement

for her work whereas there are
a lot of performers who do.

[clacking, chatter]

[chatter]

[camera shutters clicking]

The last time I saw Ro

I represented her when she won
the Shirley Temple Award.

And I said if anybody should win
the Shirley Temple Award

it should be Rose Marie

because Ro was to radio
and Vaudeville

what Shirley Temple was
to motion pictures.

[chatter]

She started out when she was
three years of age.

You know, the award tonight
is the Shirley Temple Award,

probably the greatest child star
of all time in motion pictures.

And Rose Marie
was three years old in radio,

probably the greatest
child star radio ever had.

She was the biggest singing star
in America,

and she introduced hit
after hit after hit.

And then she went on
to nightclubs,

and her life is--I mean,
she worked with people

like Joey Lewis
and the Ritz Brothers

and Milton Berle
when she was a kid,

when she was a kid
with all these people.

She used to work
for, seriously, Al Capone.

[laughter]
That'’s not a joke.

And I'’m just so proud to have
her as my buddy and my friend.

And I'’m very proud
to be able to present to her

the Shirley Temple Award.

I have no idea
where the award is.

[laughter]

The Shirley Temple Award
was created

to acknowledge an individual
who was able to make

a transition from child star,
in her case Baby Rose Marie,

to adult star with ease
and with recognition,

constantly working.

She never stopped.

She'’s one of the very few
that continued to work,

didn'’t just stop.

Is this on?

It'’s on, it'’s on.
Yeah, it'’s on, it'’s on.

♪ Gotta dance
[laughs]

Thank you.
Thank you, Peter.

You can sit down now.
Thank you.

[laughter]

What a wonderful group
you people are

to do this
and to give it to me.

I mean, Shirley Temple
was something very special.

I was going to tell you
all about her,

but somebody else did that.

I was going to tell you
about me, but Peter did that.

So I have nothing to say
except I hope the salad'’s good.

[laughter]

[laughs] I think--you know,
I'’m so used to telling a joke

that I'’ve got to tell you
a joke.

[applause]

This guy dies
and goes to heaven,

and he goes and he says
to St. Peter

"I want to see the Lord."

St. Peter says, "I have to talk
to the Lord."

Goes to the Lord, he says,
"There'’s a guy out here

"who wants to see you."

He says, "Go back
and ask him what he did."

Goes back to the guy,
the guy says,

"What did you do out there?"

"Well, I gave an old man
a dollar once."

"That'’s good."

Goes back to the Lord,
he says,

"Man says he gave him
a dollar once."

"Ask him what else he did."

Goes back he says, "Peter,
you'’ve got to find out

"from the Lord
what else did you do."

"I gave an old lady
a dollar once."

Goes back to the Lord,
and he says,

"Gave an old lady a dollar once.
What will I do?"

Lord looked at him, he said,
"Tell you what,

"give him his two bucks back,
and tell him to go to hell."

[laughter]

[applause]

I thought
I'’d leave '’em laughing.

[applause]

♪

[singing in Italian]

Oh, I love those Irish songs,
they'’re so...

[singing in Italian]

You should only know
what that means.

[singing in Italian]

Just play the notes.
Don'’t dilly dally around.

Just play the notes.

♪ Lazy Mary, will you get up

♪ She answered back
that "I'’m not able" ♪

♪ Lazy Mary, you'’ve got
to get up ♪

♪ Because we need the sheets
for the table ♪

♪ Oh la la
♪ Get up, we need the sheets

♪ Oh la la
Get up, we need the sheets ♪

♪ There is a cow
down on our farm ♪

♪ She'’s young young and tricky ♪

[trombone blaring]

That'’s a cow?

Lots of luck.

♪ But last night
she ran away with a bull ♪

♪ And now she'’s
a Bolsheviki ♪

♪ Oh la la

Going to get better
as we go along.

♪ Oh la la
She is a Bolsheviki ♪

♪ Spaniards have
their native wine ♪

♪ And the Germans have
their beer ♪

♪ The Irish drink
their whiskey straight ♪

♪ Because it brings them cheer

♪ The English drink
an awful lot ♪

♪ Because it brings
on dizziness ♪

♪ We Americans have
no choice at all ♪

♪ We drink that whole
darn business ♪

♪ Oh la la
[singing in Italian]

[music ends]