Family History #2. 1930s & 1940s. The Great Depression. Peoria. Move To LA. Frank & Rose. Marinellos. Radio City. Sunset and Vine. KNX. CBS. Architecture. Tom Breneman. Jane Harker #2 Warner Brothers. Samuel Lanier. Updated 1/6/2026

Frank LaRocca was a violinist and music director in Decatur, Illinois, during the 1920s, married to Rose. He later moved to Los Angeles with his family, where his brother Ned, also a musician, found work in the radio industry. Frank passed away in 1937 from complications of a perforated ulcer. His widow, Rose, returned to LA and worked various jobs. The LaRocca family members were deeply embedded in the entertainment scene as vaudeville performers and radio musicians throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Family History #1:Teens, 1920s. Vaudeville. Joseph And Roxy LaRocca. Peoria. Virginia & Josephine Young. SLC. The Great Depression. Oakland.

Roxy LaRocca, known as “the Wizard of the Harp,” was a celebrated vaudeville performer and the great uncle of Diana Cotterell. Originating from a musically inclined family, Joseph Ned LaRocca was Roxy’s younger brother, and both toured the vaudeville circuits. Their father, Salvatore, was also a harpist. The LaRocca family faced challenges during the transition from vaudeville to emerging mass-media forms like radio, ultimately leading Roxy to retirement and local political involvement in Peoria.