Hold the Roses (6 page)

The Andrews Sisters with some words of praise for me

Later in life, we'd all see one another here and there. La Verne, the
eldest, died many years ago; Maxene only a few years ago. Patty, who is
now retired, still looks the same. I see her and her husband, Wally Welscher,
all the time. They are both animal lovers, as I am, and we attend a good
many charitable events in connection with our four-legged friends. We
always manage to sit together so we can talk and get caught up on everything that is going on. Patty, Wally, and I have become good friends, and
she and I enjoy talking about the "good old days" of show business and
vaudeville ... especially the difference of talent then and now!

My next stop on this tour was the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, with
Georgie Jessel. We did such great business that the management took pictures and had them made into postcards, which are still selling today.

With George Burns and Gracie Allen

During the tour, someone had a wonderful promotional idea: There
would be a Baby Rose Marie contest on Saturday mornings in each of the
theaters at which I appeared. It didn't take too long for me to decide this
was one of the few things that I didn't like. As a matter of fact, it was just
awful. Every so-called talented child in each town (and I cannot think of
even one parent in any town who doesn't think his or her child has an
overabundance of talent) sang "Springtime in the Rockies." Believe me, if
I never hear that song again, it will be too soon-and I'm being kind. In
addition to the contest, they now had Baby Rose Marie clothes, hair bows,
and dolls. I would go to the leading department store in each town, model
the clothes, sign autographs, and have pictures taken. This part was fun for
me. I enjoyed it.

I think now of all the money that was made and my poor mother who would maybe get one-quarter of it (the "other family" got the rest).
My mother thought she was rich-even the little bit she got, she thought
it was a fortune. Between gambling on everything and taking care of two
families, I'm sure my father manipulated several hundred thousand dollars. Remember that there was no income tax at that time! This was only
the beginning-I was only six and a half years old.

With Milton Berle, Palace Theatre, Chicago

Next stop, Chicago. The Palace Theater with Milton Berle! We would
work together quite a lot during my career. Milton was a genius. He taught
me so much. He just didn't know how to express himself in a calm, normal
way. He ranted and raved, but damn it, he was always right. When I was
younger, I played the Steel Pier with Milton, and again we broke all records.
Milton always kidded me. He used to say that he was the only man who
saw me on the beach, in Atlantic City, in a bathing suit with no top! (Hey,
I was six and a half years old!) Milton wrote some special material for my
act from time to time. He was a great songwriter and wrote many hit
songs. There's a lot of Milton throughout this book-and throughout my
career. And no-I never slept with him!

Eabq Meets "Uncle AV" aKd tke Eogs

We arrived in Chicago for my engagement at the Palace Theater on a Saturday evening. Our first show was at 10:00 A.M. Sunday morning. Immediately after my first show, we had to go to the radio station for my NBC
Sunday radio show at noon. My regular piano player, Jack Carrol, had not
yet arrived from New York. We went up to the radio station office to tell
them about Jack, and they told us not to worry. We could use the NBC
Orchestra piano player who was there in Chicago. Great! His name? David
Rose. Not too bad, huh? Little did I know then that he and his wife Betty
would become good friends with my husband and me many years later in
Hollywood. I would also work with David again when I did The Red Skelton
Show and he was the musical conductor. Talk about a small world!

After we finished the radio show, my father and I went back to the
Palace for my second show. When we got to the backstage door, there was
a big black car in the alley. A man was leaning against the car. He came over
and said very softly to my father, "Al's in the car-wants to talk to you."

My father went over to the car and I heard someone say from the
back seat, "Hiya, Happy." (My father had the nickname "Happy Hank"
with the boys in those days.)

My father said, "She's doing five shows a day and we only have about
two and a half hours between shows."

The voice said, "We'll send a car to pick you up after the show, say
four or five o'clock, have dinner, and we'll drive you back in time for the
next show."

My father said, "Okay, Al, how about tomorrow?"

The voice said, "See you tomorrow, Happy."

I was standing by the backstage door listening to all of this. When
the car drove away, I said, "Who was that?"

My father said, "A very good friend. We're gonna have dinner with
him and his wife tomorrow."

I said, "What's his name?"

My father said, "Never mind, I'll tell you tomorrow."

The next day after the third show (which was called the supper show),
it was about 5:00 P.M. I went to my dressing room, changed my clothes,
met my father at the stage door, and we went outside. There it was-the
big black car. I had never seen such a large car in my life. The guy was
standing by the driver's side. He opened the door for us and we got in the
backseat of the car. He drove for about thirty-five minutes to a place called
Cicero, Illinois. The car stopped at a beautiful, big mansion-type house.
We went in and there were about twenty or thirty people milling around
(all Italian, may I add!).

A large, heavyset man with a long scar across the left side of his face
came over, picked me up and said, "Hi, sweetheart, I'm your Uncle Al!"

Then this very nice lady with reddish-blonde hair came over. She was
slight of build and very well dressed. She took me from "Uncle Al" and
gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "Hello, Baby, I'm Mrs. C." (What? Not
Aunt something?) She took me by the hand and started to introduce me to
all the other people: Uncle Al's brother "Mimie," "Dutch," "Blackjack,"
and many other funny names. No one had a regular name like Joe, Sam or
Fred! Oh, wait-there was a Louie.

The house was very large and ornate. Big lamps with fringe, overstuffed
couches, large mirrors with wide, gold fancy frames, religious pictures on
the walls, and figurines all over the place. I was afraid to move for fear of
breaking one of them. We all walked into the dining room where I saw
what must have been the longest dining table in the world! It sat about
twenty-five people. The table was set with the most beautiful china and
crystal I had ever seen. All the chairs matched the hand-carved table. No
bridge chairs! It looked like the Last Supper-with the original cast!

Everyone was talking to me, saying how cute I was. They had all
listened to my radio show and they were planning to see the show at the
Palace Theater.

Uncle Al and Mrs. C. were seated next to me. I was in the middle,
and my father was to the right of Mrs. C.

My father said, "We don't have too much time, Al-we've got two
more shows to do."

With that, we all began eating one of the most elaborate dinners I
can ever remember eating. Antipasto, macaroni, roast chicken, vegetablesGod, what a feast!

As soon as we finished dinner, my father said, "Al, we have to go."

We got up from the table, said our thank-yous and good nights, and
Uncle Al came to the door with us. He called out, "Dom, take them to the
theater."

By now, Mrs. C. had come to the door. She gave me a kiss and a box
of chocolates.

Uncle Al picked me up and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said to
my father, "Happy, we gotta talk. We gotta protect the kid...She's one of
us.

My father smiled and said, "Anytime, Al. Thanks for everything."

We left for the theater. When we got to my dressing room, I said,
"Who is `Uncle Al' and `Mrs. C.'?"

He said, "Al Capone and his wife, and keep your mouth shut!"

That wasn't the only time we saw the Capones and had dinner with
them. Uncle Al came to the theater one day, and he and my father spoke
for about an hour. They came into my dressing room and talked.

Uncle Al said, "Ya gotta change the last name, Happy. It could lead
to a lot of unnecessary trouble. Find an easy name to use. How about your
uncle Dick Curley? That sounds like an easy name and no trouble with the
`other family."' My father gulped a little. I guess he realized that Al and the
boys knew the whole story.

So my father said, "Okay, we'll use Curley." Right then and there, we
changed our last name to Curley.

We stayed in Chicago an extra day at the end of my engagement
because Uncle Al and Mrs. C. wanted to throw a party for me ... like a
going-away party. This time "the boys" and their wives came. It was a
beautiful party and of course I had to sing. Mrs. C. came over to me and
gave me a little package. I opened it. It was a dinner ring, white gold with
three little diamonds. I was absolutely thrilled.

"Uncle Al" came over, picked me up (he always did that, until I became too big to pick up), gave me a kiss and said, "If you ever need me for
anything, tell your father to call me."