Rose Marie Of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" Dead At 94

Rose Marie with her Dick Van Dyke Show co-stars

Oh, man. The year 2017 just took one more beloved TV star from us.

Rose Marie, 3-time Emmy Award nominee for her role as "Sally Rogers" on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s, has passed away at the age on 94.

I've been following her on Twitter the last few months as she began tweeting in part to promote the new documentary, Wait For Your Kaugh, which chronicles her 9-decades long career. The joy she expressed in the positive reception of the film was charming and infectious.

From Variety:

She began her career at 3, starring in her own show on NBC radio by the age of 5, cutting records and appearing in vaudeville, in shorts including 1929’s “Baby Rose Marie the Child Wonder” and in Paramount’s 1933 feature “International House” with W.C. Fields.

Variety founder Sime Silverman himself mentioned Rose Marie in its pages for “The Child Wonder,” writing, “Though but a kidlet, she seemed to have an idea of her own.”

Later, as a teenager, she became a nightclub singer before returning to radio as a comedienne.

In the early 1950s Rose Marie appeared on television variety shows as a singer and dancer, and she returned to the bigscreen in 1954, starring opposite Phil Silvers in “Top Banana,” an adaptation of Silvers’ Broadway show about a TV comedian.

The actress recurred on “The Bob Cummings Show” as Martha in 1958-59, and she was a series regular on a brief TV adaptation of “My Sister Eileen.” After “The Dick Van Dyke Show” she guested on a variety of TV shows, including “The Monkees” and “My Three Sons,” and she recurred on “The Doris Day Show.”

During the 1960s she also appeared onstage in “Bye Bye Birdie” and in a pair of features, starring opposite her “Van Dyke” co-star Morey Amsterdam in “Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title,” and appearing in “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” starring James Coburn.

Rose Marie made a steady stream of TV appearances from the early 1970s until the early 2000s, appearing, for example, on “Adam-12” and “Kojak”; recurring as Hilda the sandwich delivery lady on “S.W.A.T.”; appearing repeatedly in different roles on “The Love Boat”; guesting on “Cagney and Lacey” and “Murphy Brown”; appearing as a series regular on the brief 1994 sports comedy “Hardball”; and guesting on “Caroline in the City” (with Amsterdam), “Wings” and “Suddenly, Susan.” She was also a semi-regular on “Hollywood Squares” in the 1980s and ’90s.

Onstage, she starred with Rosemary Clooney, Helen O’Connell and Margaret Whiting in the musical revue “4 Girls 4,” which toured the U.S. and made television appearances for several years beginning in 1977.

I had one small brush with Rose Marie - in 1984, I got my Equity card performing in West Side Story at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. While we rehearsed during the day, Rose Marie was starring as the Queen in Once Upon A Mattress at night with her Dick Van Dyke Show co-star Morey Amsterdam.

I watched a rehearsal one day (she was hysterical) and got to say 'hello' a few times. Having grown up on The Dick Van Dyke Show, I was thrilled to meet the TV icon. I was amazed when she recently tweeted about the production.

Rose Marie with her DVDS co-star Morey Amsterdam in
"Once Upon A Mattress at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera

Her final tweet from yesterday brings another small coincidental connection as I live in Las Vegas and was literally at The Flamingo last night.

Rest in peace, Rose Marie. You had a great run.

After opening the @FlamingoVegas 71 years ago this week, I always considered myself a Flamingo Girl, and worked there many times. I worked other casino showrooms, but only after I made sure it was okay with "the boys" at the Flamingo. pic.twitter.com/x9NFOCElo2

— Rose Marie-Official (@RoseMarie4Real) December 28, 2017