Fans Mourn Singer Rosemary Clooney

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/01/2002 at 11:20 AM EDT

Hollywood is mourning the loss of singing legend Rosemary Clooney, whose popularity in the 1950s rivaled those of her crooning male counterparts Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Clooney, 74 -- who starred with Crosby in the 1954 holiday classic "White Christmas" and whose Top 10 hits included "Come on-a My House," "This Old House" and "Hey, There" -- died Saturday evening at her Beverly Hills home, with family members at her side, reports the Associated Press. In addition to her husband, former Hollywood dancer Dante DiPaolo (whom she wed in 1996) and her five children (by former husband Jose Ferrer), Clooney is survived by her brother, Nick Clooney; a sister, Gail Clooney Darley; and 10 grandchildren. The cause of death was complications from lung cancer, her spokeswoman told the AP. "For over 50 years she has brightened our lives with the richness of her personality and her voice," Dolores Hope, 93, a fellow singer and wife of Bob Hope, said in a statement. (Clooney and Dolores Hope had a successful 1996 engagement at New York's Rainbow Room.) "Her courage and love have been an inspiration to all who called her friend." Fans on Sunday placed flowers on her star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. Clooney's younger brother, Nick, 67 -- an entertainer and former host of American Movie Classics, as well as the father of actor George Clooney, 41 -- told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he had spoken with his sister Thursday. "She was very feisty," he said, adding that she had talked enthusiastically about returning to her hometown of Maysville, Ky., for the fourth annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival in September. According to the AP, she will be buried at St. Patrick's cemetery in Maysville.