Rosemary DeCamp

Acting

Personal Info

gender

Female

birthday

November 14, 1910

died

February 20, 2001

place of birth

Prescott, Arizona, USA

also known as

Rosemary Shirley DeCamp

total credits

42 movies

Biography

Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film, and television actress. DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary/nurse of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She also played in The Career of Alice Blair, a transcribed syndicated soap opera that ran in 1939–1940.

She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in many Warner Bros. films, including Eyes in the Night, Yankee Doodle Dandy playing Nellie Cohan opposite James Cagney, This Is The Army playing the wife of George Murphy and the mother of Ronald Reagan, Rhapsody in Blue, and Nora Prentiss. She played the mother of the character played by Sabu Dastagir in Jungle Book. In 1951 and 1953, respectively, she starred in the nostalgic musical films On Moonlight Bay and its sequel, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, as Alice Winfield, Doris Day's mother, opposite Leon Ames.

DeCamp played Peg Riley in the first television version of The Life of Riley opposite Jackie Gleason in the 1949–1950 season, then reprised the role on radio with original star William Bendix for an episode of Lux Radio Theater in 1950. From 1955–1959, she was a regular on the popular NBC television comedy The Bob Cummings Show, playing Margaret MacDonald, widowed sister of Cummings's character, the lothario photographer and former World War II pilot Bob Collins. Dwayne Hickman (future star of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) portrayed her son, Chuck.

She appeared in the 1961 Rawhide episode, "Incident Near Gloomy River". In 1962, she played a dishonest Southern belle in the NBC sitcom Ensign O'Toole with Dean Jones. She appeared in the role of Gertrude Komack on ABC's medical drama Breaking Point in the episode entitled "A Little Anger is a Good Thing".

DeCamp had a recurring role as Helen Marie, the mother of Marlo Thomas's character on the ABC sitcom That Girl from 1966–1970. She appeared in several 1968 episodes of the CBS sitcom Petticoat Junction as Kate Bradley's sister, Helen, filling in as a temporary replacement for the ailing Bea Benaderet as the mother figure to Bradley's three daughters.

DeCamp made several appearances as the mother of Shirley Partridge in The Partridge Family from 1970–1973. She also played The Fairy Godmother in the 1980s TV show, The Memoirs of a Fairy Godmother.

DeCamp played Buck Rogers' mother in flashback scenes of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "The Guardians".

On July 7, 1946, her Beverly Hills home was damaged when struck by a wing after the experimental XF-11 piloted by Howard Hughes (re-created in the 2004 movie, The Aviator) crashed nearby. Although a piece of the wing and a part of the neighbor's roof landed in DeCamp's bedroom (where she and her husband were sleeping) they sustained no injuries.

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Known For

Filmography

42 credits · sorted by popularity · swipe or use arrows

Jungle Book
6.4

Jungle Book

1942as Messua
13 Ghosts
5.8

13 Ghosts

1960as Hilda Zorba
Yankee Doodle Dandy
7.1

Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942as Nellie Cohan
Scandal Sheet
7.0

Scandal Sheet

1952as Charlotte Grant
Nora Prentiss
6.2

Nora Prentiss

1947as Lucy Talbot
Hold Back the Dawn
6.7

Hold Back the Dawn

1941as Berta Kurz
Commandos Strike at Dawn
5.5

Commandos Strike at Dawn

1942as Hilma Arnesen
Saturday the 14th
5.1

Saturday the 14th

1981as Aunt Lucille
Strategic Air Command
6.2

Strategic Air Command

1955as Mrs. Thorne
This Is the Army
5.7

This Is the Army

1943as Ethel Jones
Week-End at the Waldorf
6.4

Week-End at the Waldorf

1945as Anna
Main Street to Broadway
7.3

Main Street to Broadway

1953as Mrs. Harry Craig
On Moonlight Bay
6.5

On Moonlight Bay

1951as Alice Winfield
Cheers for Miss Bishop
5.8

Cheers for Miss Bishop

1941as Minna Fields
Many Rivers to Cross
6.5

Many Rivers to Cross

1955as Lucy Hamilton
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
6.0

The Treasure of Lost Canyon

1952as Samuella
Pride of the Marines
6.8

Pride of the Marines

1945as Virginia Pfeiffer
Night Unto Night
5.4

Night Unto Night

1949as Thalia Shawn
The Story of Seabiscuit
6.0

The Story of Seabiscuit

1949as Mrs. Charles S. Howard
The Time Machine
5.1

The Time Machine

1978as Agnes
Eyes in the Night
6.1

Eyes in the Night

1942as Vera Hoffman
The Big Hangover
6.4

The Big Hangover

1950as Claire Bellcap
Danger Signal
6.0

Danger Signal

1945as Dr. Jane Silla
From This Day Forward
5.4

From This Day Forward

1946as Martha Beesley
So This Is Love
4.3

So This Is Love

1953as Aunt Laura Stokley
Night Into Morning
6.0

Night Into Morning

1951as Mrs. Annie Ainley
Blood on the Sun
5.9

Blood on the Sun

1945as Edith Miller
Rhapsody in Blue
6.6

Rhapsody in Blue

1945as Rose Gershwin
The Voice That Thrilled the World
5.8

The Voice That Thrilled the World

1943as Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage)
Too Young to Know
7.0

Too Young to Know

1945as Mrs. Enright
The Merry Monahans
5.3

The Merry Monahans

1944as Lillian DeRoyce
Look for the Silver Lining
6.1

Look for the Silver Lining

1949as Mom Miller
City Without Men
5.7

City Without Men

1943as Mrs. Slade
Bowery to Broadway
10.0

Bowery to Broadway

1944as Bessie Kirby
Two Guys from Milwaukee
4.9

Two Guys from Milwaukee

1946as Nan
The Life of Riley
8.0

The Life of Riley

1949as Peg Riley
Practically Yours
7.0

Practically Yours

1944as Ellen Macy
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
6.1

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

1953as Alice Winfield
Man on a Bus
5.5

Man on a Bus

1955as Miriam
Smith of Minnesota
9.0

Smith of Minnesota

1942as Mrs. Smith (uncredited)
Tom, Dick and Harriet

Tom, Dick and Harriet

1960as Mother
The Memoirs of a Fairy Godmother

The Memoirs of a Fairy Godmother

1980