Adding Yule to the Fire

Somebody cue “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”--Rosemary Clooney is ready to board the plane.

She’s talking from the Regency Hotel in New York, just hours before going onstage to sing her seasonal favorites. Manhattan is cold and crowded, and despite its holiday charms, Clooney is dreaming of a warm Christmas in Southern California.

“I’m a little chilly,” Clooney replied when asked recently how’s she doing. “The city is beautiful this time of year, with the big trees and decorations and everything, but the traffic can get a little hectic. It’ll be wonderful to be home.”

Clooney has been on a mini-tour, first in Salt Lake City and now at Feinstein’s, the Regency’s supper club run by Michael Feinstein, her friend and frequent collaborator. But soon Clooney will be back in her Beverly Hills home, resting before heading to the Orange County Performing Arts Center tonight for “Rosemary Clooney’s White Christmas Party.” She’ll be joined by daughter-in-law Debby Boone (who’s married to son Gabriel) and the Pacific Symphony.

The Christmas shows have become a tradition for Clooney, who, whether she likes it or not, has come to symbolize the holidays. In 1954, she starred with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen in “White Christmas,” which soon became a seasonal staple through TV reruns.

Clooney has fond memories of the film, mainly because she was able to start a lasting friendship with Crosby, just one of the many big steps in her life.

“Neither Bing nor Danny really thought it would be around as long as it has, and I guess that surprised me too,” she said.

The film popularized “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and the signature “White Christmas,” songs Clooney will most likely sing at the center, along with “Christmas Love Song,” the tune now at the top of her holiday list.

Written by Johnny Mandel and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, “Christmas Love Song” is showcased on her holiday CD, “Rosemary Clooney: White Christmas.” Of course, “White Christmas” is also featured, but Clooney concedes she has always had mixed feelings when performing the Irving Berlin song.

“I love to sing and hear it, but it was such a part of Bing’s life,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just borrowing it from him. I like to see it as a tribute.”

Crosby, she says, stuck with her through her good and bad years--and Clooney had plenty of both. As she has detailed in several interviews and her 1999 autobiography, “Girl Singer,” Clooney went from fame to failure (including depression and prescription drug addiction), only to revitalize her life and career in later years.

“It’s pretty great now,” she said. “I’m glad I can say that.”

Times were difficult when Clooney was born in Maysville, Ky., 72 years ago. Her father, a heavy drinker, had left the family before Clooney was born, and she and her siblings (including Nick, the father of actor George Clooney) were raised by relatives for much of their early years.

Clooney and her younger sister, Betty, had fine singing voices and teamed for local gigs and appearances on radio stations while in high school. Soon they were touring with Tony Pastor’s big band. It wasn’t much longer before Clooney was striking out on her own. Hollywood eventually came to call.

She was cast in the forgettable 1953 musical “The Stars Are Singing,” but began filming “White Christmas” shortly after. Along the way, Clooney had some chart-climbers, including the novelty hit “Come On-a My House,” which was produced by Mitch Miller and written by novelist William Saroyan, of all people.

Clooney married actor Jose Ferrer, despite friends’ warnings that he was a womanizer. According to her memoirs, Ferrer had several affairs and was even unfaithful on their honeymoon. Clooney had five children with Ferrer before filing for divorce in 1961.

That, she says, is when the slide gained momentum. By the late ‘60s, Clooney had become clinically depressed and dependent on pills. Her performing was erratic. She was eventually placed in a psychiatric ward.

Clooney pulled herself together, but the gigs were few and far between. She remembers singing at suburban Holiday Inns, some in Southern California, just to earn a little money. Then, Crosby stepped in, inviting her to appear in a 1974 Los Angeles show celebrating his 50 years of performing.

They toured together and she began to turn it around, finally releasing music through Concord Records and even acting again. Clooney, at the request of nephew George, starred in an “ER” episode in 1995 as an Alzheimer’s patient and was nominated for an Emmy.

But it’s her live shows that have impressed fans and critics the most. In his review of Clooney’s Hollywood Bowl gig in July, Times jazz writer Don Heckman wrote: “Clooney’s voice has been one of the natural wonders--too often underappreciated--since her pop star days in the ‘50s. And her turn toward jazz in recent decades has simply been a matter of bringing to the surface rhythmic qualities that were always a subtext in her singing.”

She finds comments like that “terribly gratifying,” especially at this stage.

“All this new attention I’m getting is amazing,” Clooney said. “You really don’t think it’s going to happen to you at this time of your life. You think you peaked earlier, but here you are with another chance to grab the golden ring.”

As for tonight, Clooney said it should be relaxed, even homey. Of course, she knows the playlist as well as anybody, and having Boone around makes it comfortable. Her famously wholesome daughter-in-law has often performed with Clooney, usually during the holidays.

And for those who can’t come, Clooney has just recorded a pair of songs for NBC’s “Today” show, scheduled to air on Christmas.

Which tunes?

“ ‘White Christmas,’ of course,” she said, “and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.’ They sounded like pretty good choices to me.”

* “Rosemary Clooney’s White Christmas Party,” with Debby Boone and the Pacific Symphony, tonight at 8 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $36 to $76. (714) 740-7878.