R.I.P.: Before TV, Rose Marie Was Radio Star

Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, Dick Van Dyke

Rose Marie, who became a radio star as a toddler in the 1920s and a television star on the hit sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the 1960s — and who continued performing into the 21st century — died on Thursday in Los Angeles.

She was 94, according to The NYTimes.

Originally known as Baby Rose Marie, she is probably best remembered for her “Dick Van Dyke Show” role as Sally Rogers, one of three comedy writers — the others were Rob Petrie (Mr. Van Dyke) and Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) — who worked for the fictional series-within-a-series, “The Alan Brady Show.”

The action on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” seen on CBS from 1961 to 1966, mostly alternated between the team’s Manhattan office and Rob’s home in New Rochelle, where his wife, Laura, was played by Mary Tyler Moore. Created by Carl Reiner (who based it on his own experience writing for Mr. Caesar and played the part of Alan Brady), it was widely praised for its smart writing and its gifted ensemble, of which Rose Marie was an integral part. It consistently shows up on lists of television’s best comedies ever.

Rose Marie - 1930 - Age 7

Rose Marie was nominated for three Emmy Awards for her work on the show, which itself was nominated for a total of 25 and won 15.

After “The Dick Van Dyke Show” ended, she had a recurring role on the second and third seasons of the sitcom “The Doris Day Show,” playing Ms. Day’s friend and co-worker, and appeared on “The Love Boat,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “Murphy Brown,” “Wings,” “Suddenly Susan” and many other shows.

She was also seen frequently — from the first episode, in 1966, to the last, in 1980 — on the original version of “Hollywood Squares.”

Rose Marie Mazzetta was born on Aug. 15, 1923, in Manhattan, the first of two children of Frank Mazzetta, a vaudeville performer known professionally as Frank Curley, who later appointed himself her manager, and Stella Gluscak. Shortly after winning a talent contest at age 3 at the Mecca Theater in Manhattan, she began her professional career as Baby Rose Marie. By the time she was 4 she was starring on a local radio show, and within a year after that she had her own national show on NBC.

Her initial success was met with some skepticism: Baby Rose Marie belted her songs (some of them with very grown-up lyrics) in a mature, bluesy voice, and many listeners did not believe she was a child. To prove that she was indeed a young girl and not a petite adult, NBC organized a national tour for her.

In 1929 she performed three songs in an early sound film, the eight-minute Vitaphone short “Baby Rose Marie the Child Wonder.”



In this first phase of her career, she performed with Rudy Vallee, Benny Goodman and Milton Berle, among many others. She had at least one famous friend outside show business as well: Through her father she met Al Capone, who took an interest in her career, often driving her to and from shows. She referred to him as “Uncle Al” in her memoir and quoted him saying, “If you ever need me for anything, tell your father to call me.”

In 1946 Rose Marie married Bobby Guy, a trumpeter with Kay Kyser’s big band who went on to work with the NBC orchestra. He died in 1964, and she never remarried. They had one daughter, Georgiana Guy, who survives her.