LOS ANGELES — Rose Marie Thomas, the wife of late entertainer-producer Danny Thomas and the mother of actress Marlo Thomas, has died at age 86, publicists for the family and the hospital her husband founded said on Wednesday.
Thomas, who gave up a professional singing career after marrying but became a key supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., died in her sleep at her home in Beverly Hills, according to a statement issued by the hospital.
Born Rose Marie Cassaniti, Mrs. Thomas had a singing career with her own radio show in Detroit, where she met Danny Thomas, then a struggling young comic.
The couple married in 1936.
Danny Thomas is best remembered as the father and nightclub singer on the popular 1950s-60s TV sitcom "Make Room for Daddy," later titled "The Danny Thomas Show."
The show was loosely based on his own experience as an entertainer frequently away from family on the showbiz circuit, and the original title came from a phrase used in the real-life Thomas household — whenever Thomas returned home from a tour, his children had to shift bedrooms to "make room for Daddy."
He also served behind the camera as an executive producer for a number of TV shows during the 1950s and '60s, including "The Real McCoys," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show" and "The Mod Squad."
After Danny Thomas died of a heart attack in 1991, his wife carried on as president of St. Jude's fund-raising arm and remained active in a number of other charities.
Memorial services for Mrs. Thomas will be held Friday in Los Angeles at the Church of the Good Shepherd, and she will be interred with her husband at the Danny Thomas Memorial Gardens on the St. Jude grounds in Memphis.