Rose Marie was born Rose Marie Mazzetta in Manhattan, New York, on August 15, 1923, to Italian-American vaudeville actor Frank Mazzetta, who went by the name of Frank Curley, and Polish-American Stella Gluszcak. She was regularly taken by her mother to see local vaudeville shows and afterwards would sing what she had heard for their neighbors, who eventually entered her in a talent contest. At the age of three, she started performing under the name "Baby Rose Marie." At five, she became a radio star on NBC and made a series of films.