Rosemary Lane (born Rosemary Mullican;
April 4, 1913 – November 25, 1974) was an American actress and one of the
Lane Sisters
The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963), Lola Lane (May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981), Rosemary Lane (April 4, 1913 – November 25, 1974) and Priscilla ...
with her sisters Leota,
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola (fo ...
, and
Priscilla Lane
Priscilla Lane (born Priscilla Mullican, June 12, 1915 – April 4, 1995) was an American actress, and the youngest sibling in the Lane Sisters of singers and actresses. She is best remembered for her roles in the films ''The Roaring Twenties'' ...
.
She appeared in films from the 1930s to 1940s.
Early years
Rosemary and one of her sisters, Priscilla, traveled to Des Moines every weekend to study dancing with Rose Lorenz, a renowned dance teacher
at the time. The girls made their first professional appearance September 30, 1930, at Des Moines' Paramount Theater. Rosemary, then 17, performed on stage as part of the entertainment accompanying the release of her sister
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola (fo ...
's Hollywood movie ''
Good News'' (1930). Rosemary, a member of the National Honor Society, graduated from Indianola High in 1931 and attended Simpson College for a while, playing on the freshman basketball team.
In the meantime, Cora had left her husband and in 1932, accompanied by Rosemary, arrived in New York. Cora immediately went to work pushing her two young daughters into attending auditions for various prospective Broadway productions, without success. It was while the girls were trying out numbers at a music publishing office that
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...
, an orchestra leader, heard them harmonizing. He found them attractive and individually talented. In early 1933 with Cora's approval they were signed to a contract with Waring. Cora acted as chaperone to Rosemary and Priscilla who at this time adopted the name Lane.
Fred Waring not only toured with his band, known as "The Pennsylvanians", but had a weekly radio show. Priscilla quickly became known as the comedienne of the group. Rosemary sang the ballads while Priscilla performed the swing numbers and wisecracked with Waring and various guests. Dr. Mullican instituted divorce proceedings against his wife on the grounds of desertion, and the divorce was granted in 1933.
Film career
Rosemary and Priscilla remained with Fred Waring for almost five years. In 1937, Waring was engaged by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
in Hollywood to appear with his entire band in ''
Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Colu ...
'', a musical starring
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...
. Both Rosemary and Priscilla were tested and awarded feature roles in the film. Rosemary shared the romantic passages with Powell, while Priscilla played a high-spirited college girl.
Warner Bros. purchased Priscilla and Rosemary's contract from Fred Waring and signed them to seven-year pacts.
Rosemary's first film after ''Varsity Show'' was the musical ''Hollywood Hotel'', in which she co-starred with sister Lola and former co-star Dick Powell, before starring in ''
Gold Diggers in Paris
''Gold Diggers in Paris'' is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, and Allen Jenkins.
Plot
Maurice Giraud (He ...
'', opposite
Rudy Vallee
Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...
.
![Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane in Four Wives trailer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Priscilla%2C_Rosemary_and_Lola_Lane_in_Four_Wives_trailer.jpg)
Also in 1938, Priscilla, Rosemary and third sister Lola Lane appeared as three of four sisters (the fourth being
Gale Page
Gale Page (born Sally Perkins Rutter July 29, 1910 – January 8, 1983) was an American singer and actress.
Early life
Page was the daughter of R.L. and Isabel (Gale) Rutter of Spokane. Her aunt and uncle were Elizabeth Gale Page and Mil ...
) in ''
Four Daughters
''Four Daughters'' is a 1938 American romance film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a charming young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. His cynic ...
'', the similarly themed ''
Daughters Courageous
''Daughters Courageous'' is a 1939 American drama film starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn and featuring the Lane Sisters: Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane and Priscilla Lane. Based on the play ''Fly Away Home'' by Dorothy Bennett and I ...
'' the following year, and two sequels to ''Four Daughters'' a few years later, ''
Four Wives
''Four Wives'' is a 1939 American drama (film and television), drama film starring the Lane Sisters (Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane (actress), Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane (actress/singer), Lola Lane) and Gale Page. The film was directed by Michael C ...
'' and ''
Four Mothers
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
''.
Upon completion of this film Warners sent Priscilla, Rosemary,
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
, and
Ann Sheridan
Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagne ...
among others on a personal appearance tour in conjunction with the release of Flynn's first
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
''
Dodge City
Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...
''.
![Rosemary Lane Argentinean Magazine AD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Rosemary_Lane_Argentinean_Magazine_AD.jpg)
Rosemary earned good reviews for 1940's ''The Boys from Syracuse'', based on
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart ...
's Broadway hit of 1938. The next year she made an unusual move for a film actress of her era by becoming a Broadway star in the musical ''
Best Foot Forward'', as Gale Joy, which opened on Broadway at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
on October 1, 1941. It closed after 326 performances on the fourth of July 1942. However she lost the subsequent movie role to
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
. Good movie roles dwindled and Rosemary closed out her film career in 1945 with ''Sing Me a Song of Texas'', as
nightclub singer
A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...
Laurie Lang, the niece of a wealthy Texas rancher. She began a career selling real estate from an office in
Pacific Palisades.
Personal life
Rosemary married Hollywood makeup artist
George H. "Bud" Westmore on December 28, 1941. The marriage lasted 13 years and produced a daughter. She sued Westmore for separate maintenance in November 1952, saying he walked out on her four months earlier. Frank Westmore, in his book ''The Westmores of Hollywood'', said Lane and Westmore "had been very happy, or so everyone thought, including Rosemary." The couple went through a messy divorce in 1954.
Death
Rosemary died on November 25, 1974 in
Woodland Hills, California
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...
at the aged of 61. She was buried in an unmarked grave at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
with a grave marker finally placed on 2012.
[Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.]
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Rosemary (actress)
1914 births
1974 deaths
Actresses from Iowa
Actresses from Indiana
American film actresses
Deaths from diabetes
Warner Bros. contract players