Biography on rosie odonnell

American comedian and actress (born 1962)

This article is about the entertainer. For Air Force General Emmett "Rosie" O'Donnell Jr., see Emmett O'Donnell Jr.

Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series Star Search in 1984. After a series of television and film roles that introduced her to a larger national audience, O'Donnell hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, between 1996 and 2002, which won several Daytime Emmy Awards. During this period, she developed the nickname "Queen of Nice", as well as a reputation for philanthropic efforts.

From 2006 to 2007, O'Donnell endured a controversial run as the moderator on the daytime talk show The View, which included a public feud with Donald Trump and on-air disputes regarding the Bush administration's policies with the Iraq War. She hosted Rosie Radio on Sirius XM Radio between 2009 and 2011, and from 2011 to 2012 hosted a second, short-lived talk show on OWN, The Rosie Show. O'Donnell returned to The View in 2014, leaving after a brief five-month run due to personal issues. From 2017 to 2019, she starred on the Showtime comedy series SMILF.

In addition to com

James Robert Parish. Carroll & Graf Publishers, $23 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-7867-0410-1

Unlike most teen performers whose ambitious parents shepherded their careers, Rosie O'Donnell suffered her mother's death when she was only 11. She used to sneak into comedy clubs with a fake ID; the first evening she took the stage on an amateur night, she won $50. In this unauthorized bio, seasoned Hollywood journalist and author Parish (The Liza Minnelli Story, etc.) has researched O'Donnell's climb to fame mostly through secondary sources, drawing on print and TV interviews, critical reviews and press releases, as well as interviews with her colleagues. O'Donnell's comic career, feature films and Broadway show are well detailed here nonetheless, and her story is an inspiring one. Her fans will buy and enjoy this book, particularly as it's the first full-length bio of the talk-show star, but even they may be disappointed with the author's thin rendering of his subject's private life. Parish hints that, as an executive producer, O'Donnell has been known to be tyrannical and bad-tempered. Yet she has become known as the ""Queen of Nice,"" as a star-struck hostess with a heart of gold, and he provides too little information about the mature, successful woman behind the persona. But until O'Donnell writes her autobiography, as she's under contract to Warner to do, this bio may be the most thorough we'll get. (Apr.)

Details

Reviewed on: 12/01/1970

Genre: Nonfiction

Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an Americantelevision personality, actress, comedienne and writer. She gained exposure by appearing on Star Search, a talent show.

Her daytime talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, began in 1996 and ran until 2002. She briefly hosted a primetime talk show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called The Rosie Show from 2011 until 2012.

O'Donnell won an Emmy Award in 1999. She is openlylesbian and has been married twice. She has adopted five children.

O'Donnell was the host of the panel talk show The View on ABC from 2006 until 2007, when she was replaced by Whoopi Goldberg. She returned to The View in 2014 for a few months.

In August 2012, O'Donnell suffered a heart attack. She hosted a stand-up comedy event that aired on HBO for Valentine's Day in 2015, called Rosie O'Donnell: A Heartfelt Standup. In the documentary, she detailed her life since her heart attack.

She has appeared on the Showtime series Smilf as the character Tutu since 2017.

In October 2018, she became engaged to Boston police officer Elizabeth Rooney. They dated for a year beforehand.

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(1962-)

Who Is Rosie O'Donnell?

Rosie O'Donnell began her career as a stand-up comedian before moving to television. After her role in the 1992 film A League of Their Own, O'Donnell went on to further success on the small screen, notably with her own daytime talk show and later as co-host of The View. An outspoken LGBT activist, O'Donnell has found herself in tabloid headlines for her multiple marriages and personal issues.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Roseann O'Donnell
BORN: March 21, 1962
BIRTHPLACE: Commack, NY
SPOUSE: Michelle Rounds (m. 2012-2015), Kelli Carpenter (m. 2004-2004)
CHILDREN: Chelsea Belle O'Donnell, Parker Jaren O'Donnell, Vivienne Rose O'Donnell, Blake Christopher O'Donnell
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Early Life

O'Donnell was born Roseann O'Donnell on March 21, 1962, in Commack, New York. The third of five children, she is the daughter of Roseann and Edward O'Donnell, a homemaker and an electrical engineer, respectively.

Being part of a large family had its challenges. "We weren't poor—my father was an electrical engineer—but there were five children," O'Donnell later said. "The kids who went to school with us in Dix Hills [New York] would all get Camaros on their 16th birthdays. And at our house, we had a Plymouth Volare with an AM radio. All five of us kids had to use that car. We went to the flea market to buy clothes, not Macy's."

Life got harder when Rosie was 10 years old; her mother died of cancer, and her father took the loss particularly hard. Becoming emotionally distanced from the rest of the family, O'Donnell's father coped by removing most of his wife's belongings from the family home. One of the few reminders of their mother that escaped their father's touch was an old record collection. O'Donnell and her siblings often sought comfort by listening to their mother's albums—particularly the Barbra Streisand records.

"When we came home from school, [my mother] would put on Barbra St