She's "left them laughing" (and applauding) for nine decades, having traversed through every 20th century entertainment medium that ever was. as a singer and brilliant comedienne. With "The Dick Van Dyke Show," she was part of the cast of one of the most iconic television shows of the 1960s and what's more, she played a lady TV writer who held her own with the boys, thus, planting the SEED in the minds of viewers, that girls could grow up to have interesting and creative jobs too! Having begun her epic career in vaudeville at the age of three, performing is in her muscle memory. She professes to still go over her act in her head, since at age 94, she isn't booking tours anymore... Meet Rose Marie.
Vitagraph Films, opens the new documentary WAIT FOR YOUR LAUGH, on November 3 in New York at The Landmark (657 W. 57th Street) & The Angelika Film Center (18 Houston Street). The San Francisco Bay area follows November 10 with the Landmark Opera Plaza (601 Van Ness Avenue), the Rafel Film Center (1118 Fourth Street) & the Landmark Shattuck (2230 Shattuck Street, Berkeley) and Los Angeles on November 17 at the Laemmle Royal (11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West LA) and The Laemmle Town Center (17200 Ventura Blvd., in Encino). Additional shows will take place at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
WAIT FOR YOUR LAUGH tells the story of the longest active career in entertainment, but it also looks at what it was like to be a female performer in the 20th century (and yes, she has opinions on the casting couch mentality), to work through periods of extreme personal heartbreak and it also casts an eye on how Rose Marie and her fellow nonagenarians Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Peter Marshall, still have the drive to create today.
Shot on 35mm and 16mm film stock, the film will be projected where possible, as a 35mm printed. The film contains amazing behind-the-scenes color footage from Rose Marie's personal collection, chronicling what went on backstage on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and other sets where she worked.
Far more than just sassy Sally Rogers on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and the top center square on "Hollywood Squares," Rose Marie worked in every facet of showbiz. She was "the darling of the airwaves" at the age of four and went on to work in vaudeville, Vegas, Broadway, movies, television, theatre, concert halls and nightclubs. Along the way she was known as "the kid" by the mob. She called Al Capone, Uncle Al, opened the Flamingo at the birth of Las Vegas, for Bugsy Seigel, and had her career protected and nurtured by "the boys" who controlled so many nightclub stages across the country, live performers couldn't help but be in bed with the mob.
Her friends include the best show business has to offer: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Johnny Mercer, Jerry Lewis, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Margaret Whiting and Bing Crosby to name a few!! Unbeknownst to fans, the woman always looking for a man was actually married for almost 20 years to the love of her life, Bobby Guy, one of the best trumpeters in the business. His untimely passing and its impact on "the one who makes you laugh" is recounted by her friends Peter Marshall, Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, and Tim Conway.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Filmmaker Jason Wise graduated from Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and television in 2005. His senior thesis film, "90" about two elderly men settling a score from world war two in present day New York City, won several awards and played widely on the international film festival circuit. Following Hurricane Katrina, Jason was hired by Cisco Systems to document its efforts to rebuild schools in the Gulf Coast. In 2011, Wise directed and was the show runner for two seasons of the
PBS SoCal travel series ESCAPESEEKER. During the filming of
"ESCAPESEEKER," Jason and the show's crew filmed for three years in the world's greatest kitchens and luxury properties. Jason, among other things, was the show's underwater cinematographer, filming underwater in Fiji, French Polynesia, Chile, Easter Island, Europe, and California.
In 2012, Jason directed the acclaimed wine documentary "SOMM" which put the existence of the sommelier into the American consciousness and was one of the most watched documentaries of the year. "SOMM" was turned into a television series by
Esquire Network titled "UNCORKED" in 2015, and Jason served as an executive producer of all six episodes. In 2015, Wine Enthusiast Magazine named Jason one of the "40 Most Influential" people in the world of beverages under the age of forty.
Jason's follow-up film to "SOMM- Into The Bottle" was released worldwide by Samuel Goldwyn Films and spent several weeks as the number one documentary on I-tunes in the United States, Canada,Germany, and the UK.
Wise has several other feature films in pre-production.
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