Rose Marie’s name had a special meaning.

Since she was born on a holy day, the Feast of the Assumption, her mother named her “Marie”. She was also named after her grandmother, Rose.

Rose Marie was a great who worked with greats.

Rose Marie rubbed shoulders with President Roosevelt, Jerry Lewis, Johnny Carson, Lucy and Desi, Phil Silvers, Bing Crosby, the Andrew Sisters, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Milton Berle, and many, many more. In fact, Frank Sinatra was one of the first to hear she was pregnant.

Image: Wikipedia

Evelyn Nesbit gave Rose Marie her first stage name.

During Evelyn Nesbit’s performance, a very young Rose Marie decided to make it a duet and sang along. After the show, Nesbit suggested the young star-to-be use the name “Baby Rose Marie”, and that was her stage name until the age of fifteen.

Some didn’t believe “Baby Rose Marie” was a child.

Rose Marie began her radio career around the age of three, but her voice always sounded older. Some listeners wrote in with their suspicions that she was actually a short adult pretending to be a child. So NBC sent her on a cross-country tour to prove them wrong.

Image: Wikipedia

She wrote an autobiography.

The title, Hold the Roses, actually comes from an experience after her first performance at the age of three. After wowing the audience with her rendition of “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry”, she told those backstage, “Hold the roses—I can’t take my bow!”

Image: Paul Brownstein Productions

Her bow has a special meaning.

…only it’s a secret. She started wearing the bow while on The Dick Van Dyke Show and has never told anyone what it symbolizes. When asked why she wore the bow, Hollywood Squares pal Vincent Price joked that it was nailed to her head.

Image: Paul Brownstein Productions 

Rose Marie was approached about a Sally and Buddy spin-off.

After The Dick Van Dyke Show ended, Rose Marie was pitched two different spin-off concepts. One involved Sally and Buddy reteaming with Dick after he’d fallen off the wagon, and the other was about them helping Dick’s son become a TV writer. Also, in the first concept, Buddy and Sally would now have been married!

Image: Paul Brownstein Productions

Rose Marie did a spot-on Jimmy Durante.

In fact, Jimmy Durante himself taught her how to do the impression. After one such performance of hers, Durante joked, “I don’t know which one of us is me!” Rose Marie also did her impression when on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Doris Day Show.