I Went On-a Her House

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One of the things I’m really good at is crowing about how much great talent Kentucky has given the world. I came up to northern Kentucky a day before the golf tournament to go visit the hometown of one of our greatest talents, Rosemary Clooney. Yes, as in George. George (who, the tour guide told us, has a house in the area to be near his 92-year-old father, Nick) is Rosemary’s nephew. He has been instrumental in helping the museum at the Rosemary Clooney House in Augusta, Kentucky get artifacts of his aunt’s career, as have the proprietors, former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry and his wife, former Miss America Heather French Henry (who’s also from Maysville, the town Rosemary hailed from). He’s also insistent that the museum NOT overload the display with things from his career, because, as she quoted him, “It’s Aunt Rosie’s house.” Yes it is! Nick Clooney (who was a news reporter for a number of places in nearby Cincinnati during his career [you can see him in coverage of the Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire from 1977]) bought the house right on the riverfront for his sister. She moved “home” and stayed here most of the rest of the last 25 years of her life. Clooney started in radio in the 1940s, joined a big band as a singer, and was signed to Columbia Records in the early 1950s. Her first hit was a song she loathed, “Come On-a My House.” She thought it stood no chance because it was silly. Much to her surprise, it was a #1 smash and started her career in records, television, and film. Among the items at the museum are costumes and set props from Clooney’s most famous film, 1954’s White Christmas. (This is not where the song originated: it was originally in another Bing Crosby movie, 1942’s Holiday Inn.) There are also items belonging to her first husband, Oscar-winning actor/director José Ferrer. On the second floor, the tour guide said, the bedroom “is like Rosemary just walked out of it.” It’s pretty 1970s (lower right), but hey, it was Rosemary’s! And yes, there are a few things of George’s there, such as the overalls he wore in O Brother, Where Art Thou. But this place that was home to the great Rosemary Clooney for the last 25 years of her life is her celebration. The far more famous (these days) actor is part of it, but she came first. PHOTO COLLAGE: (Upper left) Newspaper celebrating Rosemary’s return to the Maysville area after her stardom (Upper right) Lovely painting of an older Rosemary in the living room (Lower left) The exterior of the house, on Riverside Drive, just across from the banks of the Ohio River (Lower right) Clooney’s bedroom in the house, with added memorabilia. Here’s Rosemary singing her hit (that she hated) “Come On-a My House”: