Rosie's Bio!
Hey everyone! This is my page on Rosie! It has Rosie info! So here is everything you ever wanted to know about Rosie!
Rosie was born Roseann O'Donnell on March 21, 1962 into a chaotic Irish family in Commack, Long Island, New York, the middle of five children (Eddie, Danny, Maureen and Timmy). Her mother Roseanna died of cancer when she was 10 (1972) leaving her father Edward to raise the family. She says she grew up watching television virtually 24 hours a day.
Rosie excelled in high school, at least socially (she maintained a B average). In the Commack High School class of '80 she was elected Homecoming Queen, Senior Class President, Student Council Member, Class Clown and Personality Plus. She played on all the sports teams and played drums in a rock band.
Inspired by Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand, Rosie wanted to be in show business from a very early age. At 16 she performed her first stand-up date when she memorized a Seinfeld routine she'd seen Jerry perform on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. At 18, she dropped out of college (she attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and Boston University, eeking out a 1.47 GPA) and started working the club circuit, traveling alone on dark roads in cars that seemed to have a death wish and living in seedy, club-provided accommodations.
Having endured this trial by comedy fire (she's performed club dates in 47 of the 50 states), Rosie made her television debut as a Star Search finalist in 1984, then won critical praise for her sitcom role as a Boston-Irish dental hygienist -- Nell Carter's neighbor -- during Gimme A Break's last 11 episodes in 1986.
After Gimme a Break, Rosie was asked to host and produce VH-1's Stand Up Spotlight, which gave her an outlet for her earthy humor. It also helped broaden her appeal and opened the door for her own TV show, Fox's Stand By Your Man (1992), a vehicle that let Rosie improvise and hone her scene-stealing talents, even though it only lasted seven weeks.
She subsequently appeared as Meg Ryan's friend in Sleepless in Seattle and starred with Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez in Another Stakeout (both 1993). In the latter, she essayed a tough-talking district attorney who goes undercover to locate a missing witness. Rosie and Dreyfuss were quite amusing as each tried to outsmart the other.
Rosie next co-starred as Betty Rubble in the popular live-action feature version of The Flintstones and was the only thing worth watching in the misguided comedy Exit to Eden (both 1994). That same year, she made her singing and dancing debut on Broadway as Rizzo in the revival of Grease.
Rosie next played a wisecracking doctor (portrayed as a teenager by Christina Ricci) in the female ensemble comedy Now and Then (1995) and followed with another smart-mouthed character in the ensemble comedy beautiful girls (1996).
A major turning point in Rosie's life occured when she adopted two-day old Parker Jaren, on May 27, 1995. After the arrival of Parker, she continued to make movies, host charity and awards shows, even do occasional stand-up dates. But during the filming of the children's movie Harriet the Spy (1996) in late 1995, she realized that she was missing out on much of her son's childhood. That's when she decided to make a serious career change and become a TV talk-show host.
In January of 1996 she inked a deal with Warner Brothers to host a new daytime television show modeled after the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas variety-talk shows of the 1970's. She wanted to avoid the sleaze of other contemporary daytime talk shows and concentrate on the celebrities and live performances that usually show up only on the late-night shows.
But first she had to complete her prior commitments, such as co-starring in the film Wide Awake (due out in August, with Denis Leary and Robert Loggia).
In March 1996 she immediately began work on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. The show made it's national debut on June 10, 1996, after two weeks of rehearsal shows. It became the hottest new daytime show since The Guiding Light and now is the second-highest-rated daytime talk show on TV, right behind The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Rosie has a $3 million contract with Warner Books to write a book about her life, but has decided to postpone it: "I [have] a deal to write one, but I will put it off for a while 'cause the prospect is a bit daunting for now."
For now Rosie lives in the former Helen Hayes Mansion in Nyack, NY with her son and two long-haired Chihuahuas named Buster and Valentine. She still maintains an Upper-West-Side Manhattan apartment and often visits her pal Madonna in Miami. She prefers to spend her evenings at home taking care of Parker, chatting on America Online, and lounging in front of the TV eating take-out Chinese and Drakes cakes!
We have learned recently that Rosie has adopted another baby, this time a girl named Chelsea Belle! She is two months old! Rosie kept this a secret for two months before telling the public.
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Email: blaskin@netcom.ca
