Besides being the daughter of Rose Marie and Bobby Guy, Georgiana “Noopy” Guy Rodrigues is a television producer, having decided to have a career “behind the camera.” She was hired by Rudy Tellez (the original producer of “The Tonight Show with 
Johnny Carson” as his Executive Assistant; it was Joel Tator of “Tomorrow Coast to Coast” who gave Noopy her first producing job. When the show moved permanently to New York she moved on to produce shows for Independent Production Companies and other outlets. Some of footage of her work can be seen in her Mother’s documentary Wait for Your Laugh. Noopy is married to Steven Rodrigues, who recently retired after 44 years of working at NBC, directing news programs, both nationally and local. Noopy is also a gifted equestrian having won many national and local titles in the Western Division. She owns and raises Quarter Horses at her ranch in Agua Dulce. She was the first woman President of the Pacific Coast Horse Shows Assn. and continues to be on the Board of Directors as First Vice President.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asks Georgiana “Noopy” Guy Rodrigues (GR) Six Questions:
NLE: Why is it important to remember legacy? And more to the point, to the legacy of Rose Marie?
GR: Because she deserves the legacy. She accomplished what no other entertainer has done—90 years of show business. She performed in every aspect of the business. She is a history of show business.
NLE: How did you get the nickname Noopy?
GR: My father always had nicknames for all of his friends. He loved nicknames. He said that my nose was a little “noop.” Because I was always getting food on my nose as a baby, he always said that I had stuff on my “noop.” It evolved to Nooper, then just Noopy. People want to say Snoopy because of the cartoon character. So I always say, “take Snoopy and take the “S” off.
NLE: Did you have show business aspirations as a child, or a desire to follow in your Mom’s footsteps?
GR: I performed a little in school, played the lead in Wonderful Town in High School; did a Dinah Shore show and sang and danced. It was fun, but it wasn’t a passion. When I started to work behind the camera, I found my nitch, and went into producing. I loved the process and stuck with it. Every time my mother did an interview, which had to be on camera, she asked me to be there so the camera and production would be OK. I would always check the camera shot.
NLE: Is there a downside to being the child of a celebrity? If so, what is it?
GR: The downside of being a child of a celebrity, especially when you’re young, is that you’re not quite sure that people want to be with you because they like you, or just want to be around a celebrity and all that goes with it. It’s a trust thing. I’ve been lucky. I have wonderful friends that have been my friends over 40 years.
NLE: What’s your fondest memory of your Mom and Dad, and of your mother after your Dad passed?
GR: The fondest memory of my Mom and Dad was just seeing how much they loved each other. I never heard them fight. We were a family. The hardest thing was to see my mother in such a deep depression after my father passed. She literally mourned for a full year. She wouldn’t even go into their bedroom. She slept in the guest room. It was very hard to watch and there wasn’t really anything I could do to bring her out of it. “Hollywood Squares” helped because she really didn’t have to perform. She could play the game. No singing or acting.
NLE: What’s your goal for ensuring Rose Marie’s place in cultural history beyond her centennial?
GR: I want to keep her documentary, Wait for Your Laugh, out there. It’s a history of show business, and it is beautifully done. It continues to sell, and people love watching it. They watch it over and over. And of course, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” will continue forever. It’s a classic, and as long as there are cable stations and streaming services it will continue and people will see how talented she was.
Read more about Rose Marie’s centennial celebration here.
