Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is
an American
stand-up comedian,
actress,
singer,
author and
media
personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues
to be a celebrity
blogger,
LGBT rights activist,
television
producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation
company
R Family Vacations.
Raised
Roman Catholic, O'Donnell lost
her mother to cancer as a pre-teen and has consistently stressed
values of protecting children and supporting families throughout
her career. O'Donnell started her comedy career while still a
teenager and her big break was on the talent show
Star Search when she was twenty years old.
A TV
sitcom and a series of movies introduced
her to a larger national audience and in 1996 she started hosting
The Rosie O'Donnell
Show which won multiple Emmy awards.
During her years on
The Rosie O'Donnell Show she wrote her
first book, a
memoir called
Find Me and developed a reputation for being
"the queen of nice" as well as a reputation for charitable
philanthropy. She used the book's $3 million advance to establish
her own
For All Kids foundation and
promoted numerous other charity schemes and projects encouraging
other celebrities on her show to also take part. O'Donnell
came out stating "I'm a
dyke!" two months before finishing her talk
show run, saying that her primary reason was to bring attention to
gay adoption issues. O'Donnell is a
foster—and
adoptive—mother. She has since continued to support
many
LGBT causes and issues.
In 2006 O'Donnell became the new moderator on
The View boosting ratings and attracting
controversies with her
liberal views, and
strong personality, dominating many of the conversations. She
became a polarizing figure to many and her strong opinions resulted
in several notable controversies including an on-air dispute
regarding
The Bush
administration's policies with the
war
in Iraq resulting in a mutual agreement to cancel her contract.
In 2007 O'Donnell also released her second memoir,
Celebrity Detox, which focuses on her
struggles with fame and her time at
The View. She
continues to do charity work and remains involved with LGBT and
family-related issues.
In 2008 O'Donnell starred in and executive produced a
Lifetime original movie called
America, in which she plays the therapist of the title
character, a 16-year-old boy
aging out of
the
foster care system. The film is
based on the
E.R. Frank book of the same name.
In November 2009 "Rosie Radio", a daily two-hour show with
O'Donnell discussing news and events on
Sirius XM Radio, premiered. O'Donnell said
she was approached by the company after she appeared on
The Howard Stern
Show.
Early life
O'Donnell,
the third of five children, was born in Bayside, Queens
, New
York
and raised in Commack, Long Island, New York
. She is the daughter of Roseann Teresa
(
née Murtha), a homemaker,
and Edward Joseph O'Donnell, an electrical engineer who worked in
the defense industry.
O'Donnell's father had immigrated from
County
Donegal
, Ireland
during his
childhood, and her mother was Irish
American; O'Donnell was raised Catholic. Four days before her 11th
birthday, on March 17, 1973, O'Donnell's mother died of
breast cancer.
While she attended
Commack High
School, O'Donnell was voted homecoming queen, prom queen,
senior class president and class clown. It was during high school
that she began exploring her interest in comedy, beginning with a
skit performed in front of the school in which she imitated
Gilda Radner's character
Roseanne Rosannadanna.
After graduating in
1980, O'Donnell briefly attended Dickinson College
, later transferring to Boston University
, before ultimately dropping out of
college.
Early career
Stand-up/club comedian
O'Donnell toured stand-up clubs from 1979 to 1984. She got her
first big break on
Star Search,
explaining on
Larry King
Live:
TV career begins
After this success, she moved on to television sitcom comedy,
making her series debut as
Nell Carter's
neighbor on
Gimme a Break!
in 1986.
In 1988, she transferred to
VH1, where she
hosted
Stand-up
Spotlight, a showcase for up-and-coming comedians. In 1992
she starred in
Stand
By Your Man, a
Fox Network
sitcom co-starring
Melissa Gilbert.
The show bombed, just as O'Donnell's movie career took off.
Movie career
O'Donnell made her feature film debut in
A League Of Their Own alongside
Tom Hanks and
Madonna. Throughout her career, she
has taken on an eclectic range of roles: she appeared in
Sleepless in Seattle
as
Meg Ryan's best friend; as
Betty Rubble in the live-action film adaptation
of
The Flintstones with
John Goodman; as one of
Timothy Hutton's co-stars in
Beautiful Girls; as a federal
agent comedically paired with
Dan
Aykroyd in
Exit to
Eden; as the voice of female gorilla in
Disney's
Tarzan; and
as a baseball-loving nun in
M.
Night Shyamalan's
Wide Awake.
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
In 1996, she began hosting a
daytime talk
show,
The Rosie O'Donnell
Show. The show proved very successful, winning multiple
Emmy awards, and earning O'Donnell the title of
"The Queen of Nice" for her style of light-hearted banter with her
guests and interactions with the audience. As part of her playful
banter with her studio audience, O'Donnell often launched
koosh balls at the crowd and camera. She also
professed an infatuation with
Tom
Cruise.
With
New York
City
as the show's homebase, O'Donnell displayed her
love of Broadway
musicals and plays by
having cast members as guests, encouraging the audience to see
shows, premiering production numbers as well as promoting shows
with ticket give-aways. After the
September 11, 2001 attacks
Broadway and tourism in New York City was down and many shows were
in danger of closing. O'Donnell was among many in the entertainment
field who helped the city rebound by encouraging viewers to visit
and support the
performing arts. She
announced that she would donate $1 million dollars for aid in the
rescue efforts and encouraged other celebrities and citizens alike
to "give till it hurts".
In 2002, she left her talk show. The show was then replaced by
The Caroline Rhea
Show, with comedian
Caroline
Rhea and ran for one additional season.
Gun control issues
After the
Columbine
shootings
, O'Donnell became an outspoken supporter of
gun control and a major figure in the
Million Mom March. During
the April 19, 1999, broadcast of her talk show, she stated, "You
are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun, I think you
should go to prison." O'Donnell previously had remarked, "I don't
personally own a gun, but if you are qualified, licensed and
registered, I have no problem."
In May 1999, a month after the Columbine shootings, O'Donnell
interviewed
Tom Selleck, who was
promoting
The Love
Letter.
O'Donnell confronted him about his recent
commercial for the National Rifle Association
(NRA) and challenged him about the NRA's position
on the use of assault rifles.
She said at the end of the segment the conversation had "not gone
the way I had hoped" and added "if you feel insulted by my
questions, I apologize, because it was not a personal attack. It
was meant to bring up the subject as it is in the consciousness of
so many today." Around the same time, the cast from
Annie Get Your Gun was to
appear on the show but refused O'Donnell's request to remove the
line "I can shoot a partridge with a single cartridge" from the
song "
Anything You Can
Do" and agreed to perform "My Defenses Are Down" instead. Later
in 1999, O'Donnell discontinued her contract with
Kmart as their spokeswoman, as
gun enthusiasts complained that she shouldn't be the spokesperson
for the largest gun retailer. O'Donnell countered that Kmart sells
hunting rifles, not handguns or assault weapons and does so legally
which she supports. Both Kmart and O'Donnell denied publicly that
Kmart had terminated the contract.
In May 2000, O'Donnell's bodyguard applied for a
concealed firearm permit.
O'Donnell stated that the security firm contracted by
Warner Brothers requested the gun. O'Donnell
stated that because of threats, she and her family need protection,
which she attributes to her "tough gun-control rhetoric".
Charitable works
Charitable book deal
In May 1996,
Warner Books advanced
O'Donnell $3 million to write a
memoir. She
used the money to seed her
For All Kids
foundation to help institute national standards for day care across
the country. Her memoir,
Find Me,
was released in April 2002 and became the second highest on the
New York Times
Bestseller List.
Listerine charity kissing
San Francisco
public relations firm
Fineman Associates awarded top prize to
Procter & Gamble Co.'s designation
of O'Donnell as "unkissable" in a promotion for
Scope mouthwash on the 1997 annual list of
the nation's worst public relations blunders. In response to the
promotion, the "unkissable" O'Donnell partnered with
Warner Lambert's competitor
Listerine who donated bottles of mouthwash to the
studio audience and donated $1,000 to charity every time a hosted
guest would kiss her in exchange for O'Donnell promoting their
product. On occasion, the guests would offer multiple kisses and
People reported O'Donnell
"smooched her way to more than $350,000."
Personal contribution
In December 2006, at a one-night
charity event on the
Norwegian Pearl cruiseship,
Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director for the
Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, confirmed that $50 million from
O'Donnell's five-year contract were donated in an irrevocable
trust to charity. She is also
reported to have contributed several hundred thousand dollars to
for rehabilitation therapies for war veterans who have lost limbs
in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. On
The Tyra Banks Show [7273], Tyra brought up to O'Donnell that people don't
realize that Rosie has given more than $100 million to
charity.
"For All Kids" foundation
Since 1997, Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, overseen by
Elizabeth Birch, has awarded more than $22
million in Early Childhood Care and Education program grants to
over 900 nonprofit organizations. On October 30, 2006, she was
honored by the
New
York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. "It's
our privilege to be honoring and hosting Rosie," said NYSPCC
president David Stack in a statement. "Her Rosie's for All Kids
Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in grants to over
1,400 child-related organizations, and that's just one of her many
impressive activities on behalf of children."
In
November 2006 Nightline aired a video
report about the opening of The Children's Plaza and Family Center
in Renaissance Village, a FEMA trailer
park in Louisiana
. This was an emergency response initiative
of Rosie's For All Kids Foundation with the help of many local
nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, all efforts were
to assist the families displaced by
Hurricane Katrina.
In May 2007 O'Donnell and
Pogo Games
announced a joint-effort to raise money for Rosie's All Kids
Foundation. EA, which owns Pogo, committed $30,000 and more money
can be raised based on the amount of playing time people spend on
certain games. They also held a sweepstakes in which winners get to
fly to New York and meet Rosie and attend a charity function as her
guest.
"Rosie's Broadway Kids" foundation
In 2003, Rosie and Kelli O'Donnell collaborated with Artistic
Director Lori Klinger to create "
Rosie's Broadway Kids", dedicated to
providing free instruction in music and dance to New York City
public schools or students. Rosie's Broadway Kids serves more than
4,500 teachers, students, and their family members at 21 schools.
Currently
programs are in Harlem
, Midtown West, Chelsea
, Lower East
Side
, East Village
, and Chinatown
. All net profits from O'Donnell's 2007 book
Celebrity Detox are also being donated to Rosie's Broadway
Kids.
True Colors tour
During the summer of 2007 Rosie was a guest on the multi-artist
True Colors Tour, which
traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The
tour, sponsored by the gay cable channel
Logo, began on June 8, 2007. Hosted by
comedian
Margaret Cho and headlined by
Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included
Debbie Harry,
Erasure,
The Gossip,
Rufus Wainwright,
The Dresden Dolls,
The MisShapes,
Indigo
Girls,
The Cliks and other special
guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the
Human Rights Campaign as well as
P-FLAG and The
Matthew Shepard Foundation.
Rosie appeared again on
True
Colors Tour 2008.
Rosie magazine
In 2000, O'Donnell partnered with the publishers of
McCall's to revamp the magazine as
Rosie's
McCall's (or, more commonly,
Rosie). The magazine was
launched as a competitor to fellow talk show hostess
Oprah Winfrey's monthly magazine.
Rosie covered issues including
breast cancer,
foster
care and other matters of concern to O'Donnell. In the
September 2000 issue she shared that "she has struggled with
depression her entire life" and
decided to start medications when she realized her fears were
affecting her family.
With a strong start and a circulation close to 3.5 million things
looked promising but the magazine stumbled as conflicts emerged
between O'Donnell and the editors. The contract gave O'Donnell
control over editorial process and editorial staff but veto power
remained with
publisher Gruner+Jahr USA.
O'Donnell quit the magazine in September 2002 following a dispute
over
editorial control. "If I'm going to
have my name and my brand on the corner of a magazine, it has to be
my vision" she told People. Rosie magazine folded in 2003.
In late 2003, O'Donnell and the publishers each sued the other for
breach of contract. The
publishers claimed that, by removing herself from the magazine's
publication, she was in breach of contract. The
trial received considerable press coverage. O'Donnell
would often give brief press interviews outside of the courtroom
responding to various allegations. Of note was a former magazine
colleague and breast cancer survivor who testified that O'Donnell
said to her on the phone that people who lie "get sick and they get
cancer. If they keep lying, they get it
again". O'Donnell apologized the next day and stated "I'm sorry I
hurt her the way I did, that was not my intention." The judge ruled
against both sides and dismissed the case.
In 2006, O'Donnell responded to a question on the "Ask Ro" section
of her website in which she stated that she would love to do
another magazine. In addition, O'Donnell has written a new book,
Celebrity Detox, which was released on October 9,
2007.
Books
In 2002, O'Donnell wrote
Find Me, a
combination of memoir, mystery and detective story with an
underlying interest in re-uniting birth mothers with their
children. In addition to cataloging her childhood and early
adulthood, the book delved into O'Donnell's relationship with a
woman with
multiple
personality disorder who posed as an under-aged teen who had
become
pregnant by
rape. The book reached number two on the
New York
Times bestseller list.
On October 9, 2007, O'Donnell released
Celebrity Detox, her second memoir
which focuses on the struggles with leaving fame behind, noting her
exits from
The Rosie O'Donnell Show and
The View.
Coming out
In her January 31, 2002, appearance on the
sitcom Will &
Grace, she played a
lesbian mom. A
month later as part of her act at the Ovarian Cancer Research
benefit at
Caroline's Comedy
Club O'Donnell
came out as a
lesbian, announcing "I'm a
dyke!" "I don't know why people make such a
big deal about the
gay thing. ... People are
confused, they're shocked, like this is a big revelation to
somebody." The announcement came two months before the end of the
hosting of her talk show.
Although she also cited the need to put a face to gays and lesbians
her primary reason was to bring attention to the
gay adoption issue. O'Donnell is a foster and
adoptive mother.
She protested against adoption agencies,
particularly in Florida
, that
refused adoptive rights to gay and lesbian parents.
Diane Sawyer interviewed O'Donnell in a
March 14, 2002, episode of
PrimeTime Thursday, telling
USA Today she chose to talk to
Sawyer because she wanted an investigative piece on Florida's ban
on gay adoption. She told Sawyer if that was done, "I would like to
talk about my life and how (the case) pertains to me." She spoke
about the two gay men in Florida who face having a foster child
they raised removed from their home. State law won't let them adopt
because Florida bans
gay or
bisexual people from adopting.
O'Donnell's coming out drew criticism from some LGBT activists who
cited her repeated references to being enamored of
Tom Cruise on
The Rosie O'Donnell Show as
deceptive. She responded in her act stating, "I said I wanted him
to mow my lawn and bring me a lemonade. I never said I wanted to
blow him."
Taboo
After leaving her show and coming out, O'Donnell returned to
stand-up comedy, and cut her hair. O'Donnell told the press that
her haircut was meant to mimic the haircut of former
Culture Club backup singer
Helen Terry. She subsequently attributed the
haircut as a way to emulate
Boy George,
in hopes that he would allow her to produce his stage show
Taboo.
O'Donnell did invest
in and produce the show, but it was an expensive failure on
Broadway.
Family life
Marriage
On
February 26, 2004, O'Donnell married Kelli Carpenter, a former Nickelodeon marketing executive, in
San
Francisco
two weeks after SF's Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the granting of
marriage licenses to same-sex
couples. Her decision to go to San Francisco to marry
Carpenter was seen as a show of defiance against then-
President George
W. Bush over his support for the
Federal Marriage
Amendment. The couple were married by San Francisco Treasurer
Susan Leal, one of the city's highest
ranking
lesbian officials and they were
serenaded by the
San
Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. On
ABC's "
Good Morning America," O'Donnell said
during the trial over
Rosie magazine she had decided to
marry Carpenter, in part because even though they acted as spouses
they legally were no closer than friends.
Family
The couple are parents to adopted children Parker Jaren (born
1995), Chelsea Belle (born 1997), and Blake Christopher (born
1999). Their fourth child, Vivienne Rose (who was conceived through
artificial insemination),
was born in 2002 to Carpenter. In 2000 the family took in a foster
child Mia (born in 1997), and announced intentions to adopt her.
In 2001
the state of Florida removed Mia from their home, and Rosie has
since worked extensively to bring an end to the Florida law prohibiting same-sex family
adoption.
Rosie and
her family currently reside in Nyack, New York, a suburb of New York City that is located in Rockland County and in Miami
's Star
Island
. O'Donnell's brother Daniel, who is also gay,
represents the Upper
West Side
of Manhattan
as a member of the New York State Assembly.
O'Donnell and fellow actress
Bridget
Moynahan are 3rd cousins.
R Family Vacations
In 2003 O'Donnell and Carpenter partnered with travel entrepreneur
Gregg Kaminsky to launch R Family Vacations catering to gays and
lesbians, "the very first all gay and lesbian family vacation
packages" where "gays and lesbians can bring their kids, their
friends, and their parents." Although O'Donnell is not involved on
a day-to-day basis, she does contribute to the creative aspects of
"advertising and marketing materials" and initiated the idea for
the company when she filled in as a last-minute replacement
headliner on one of Kaminsky's
Atlantis
Events gay cruises and also came up with the name "R Family
Vacations."
On July 11, 2004, the first cruise was held with 1600 passengers
including 600 children.
In addition to traditional entertainment and
recreational activities, the company partnered with Provincetown
's Family Pride, a
25-year-old Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for
GLBT families to host discussions on
"adoption, insemination, surrogacy, and everything else that would be
helpful to gay parenting."
All
Aboard! Rosie's Family
Cruise, a
documentary film
about the trip debuted on
HBO on April 6, 2006,
and was nominated for three
Emmy Awards.
Of the experience O'Donnell stated "we didn't really realize the
magic that was going to take place. People who had never met
another gay family met other families and it was powerful."
The View
In September 2006, O'Donnell replaced
Meredith Vieira as a co-host and moderator
of the daytime women-oriented daytime talkshow
The View.
Star
Jones, a co-host on the show, quit with some speculating
Jones's
conservative views would be in
constant tension with O'Donnell's more liberal counterpoint.
O'Donnell had also disputed Jones's route of rapid weight loss,
alluding that it must have been
gastric bypass surgery rather than
dieting and exercise alone as Star had insisted which also fed
speculation about certain tension between the two. As a big-name
talent O'Donnell drew criticism for her opinions while keeping the
show's "
buzz factor up". O'Donnell is
credited with helping the show be more news-focused while still
embracing the "fluff" of daytime TV talkshows (celebrities, fashion
and food). Despite the overall downward trend for most daytime
broadcast shows, ratings rose by 27%. The show was the fourth most
watched in all of daytime in the key demographic of women ages
18-49, and scored record ratings in the total viewer category with
an average of 3.4 million viewers -- up 15% versus the same time in
2005. O'Donnell adapted to the multi-personality forum in contrast
to her anchoring her own talkshows in the past and moderated the
opening "Hot Topics" portion of the show where newsworthy items
were discussed. Unlike previous years, politics and
taboo subjects were readily explored with O'Donnell
and fellow-comic
Joy Behar often giving
strong opinions against former President Bush's
domestic
and
foreign
policies including the
Iraq war which was
losing support amongst Americans. As a conservative counterpoint,
Elisabeth Hasselbeck would
support the
Bush
Administration's issues and the two would get into an
adversarial give-and-take. Always outspoken, O'Donnell sometimes
provoked debate, one time stating "radical
Christianity is just as threatening as radical
Islam" or criticizing fellow TV personalities.
In January 2007, she questioned
American Idol for airing auditions that
humiliated contestants. O'Donnell's
outspokeness and spontaneousness sometimes led to her views being
recirculated by other media outlets, often surprising The View
co-hosts including O'Donnell. Frequently portrayed unfavorably by
conservative media outlets and what she deemed as
Republican pundits, O'Donnell lamented that they were
focusing on her comments instead of more important national or
world issues like the ongoing
Iraq War and
more serious national and international issues. Perhaps as a result
of her famous controversies O'Donnell was named "The Most Annoying
Celebrity of 2007" by a
PARADE reader's poll. O'Donnell
responded by stating "Frankly, most celebrities are annoying ...
and I suppose I am the most annoying, but, whatever."
In 2008,
The View won an Emmy for "Outstanding Special
Class Writing" for a specially-themed
Autism
episode broadcast when O'Donnell was co-host.
Janette Barber, O'Donnell's longtime friend
and producer/writer of the
Rosie O'Donnell Show, accepted the
award on behalf of herself and the other two winners,
Christian McKiernan and
Andrew Smith.
Donald Trump incident
In December 2006, O'Donnell criticized billionaire
Donald Trump for holding a press conference to
reinstate Miss USA
Tara Conner, accusing
him of using her
scandal to "generate
publicity for the
Miss USA Pageant"
(to which he owns the rights) by announcing he was giving her a
second chance. Conner had violated pageant guidelines by
clubbing and drinking
underage, as well as having "wild nights" and
alleged sexual liaisons (including kissing and "dirty dancing")
with
Katie Blair,
Miss Teen USA, in public, yet was allowed to
keep her crown on condition that she enter
drug rehabilitation. O'Donnell commented
that due to Trump's multiple marital affairs and questionable
business
bankruptcies, he was not a
moral authority for young people in America.
She stated, "Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second
wife, had an affair -- but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds
in America!" In response, Trump began a
mass
media blitz in which he appeared on various television shows,
either in person or by phone, threatening to sue O'Donnell. He
called names, threatened to take away her partner Kelli, and
claimed that Barbara Walters regretted hiring her. Walters
responded that both Trump and O'Donnell are highly opinionated
people and that Trump has never filed for bankruptcy, but several
of his
casino companies did but are now out
of bankruptcy. She also denied that she was unhappy with O'Donnell,
saying, "I have never regretted, nor do I now, the hiring of Rosie
O'Donnell."
Accusations of anti-Catholicism
O'Donnell has been accused of serial
anti-Catholicism and labeled a
bigot by
Bill
Donohue, president of the
Catholic League, for what he claimed
"relentless and profoundly ignorant attacks on the
Catholic Church and its teachings." On
the 24 February 2003 episode of
Phil Donahue's talk show
O'Donnell referred to the "
pedophile
scandal"
* in the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of Boston resulting in $157 million awarded to 983 claimants,
stating "I hope the Catholic Church gets sued until the end of
time.
Maybe, you know, we can melt down some of
the gold toilets in the Pope's Vatican
and pay off some of the lawsuits because, the whole
tenet of living a Christ-like life, has been
lost in Catholicism."
(
*Pedophile, as in this
instance, is commonly misused to describe all
sexual offenders of children.)
On
The View O'Donnell joked about
communion rituals alongside co-host Behar's drunk
priest comments. On 2 October 2006 she compared the
Republican Party cover-up
of the
Mark Foley scandal to the
cover-up of
child sexual abuse
by Catholic Church officials who actively concealed
perpetrators by moving them from
parish to
parish as detailed in Amy Berg's award-winning film about the abuse
within the Catholic Church. O'Donnell said "the most interesting
thing about
Deliver
Us from Evil (is) that the person who was in charge of
investigating all the allegations of pedophilia in the Catholic
Church from the 1980s until just recently was guess who?
The current Pope." Although
Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)
was the
Prefect of the
Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith from November 1981 to April 2005,
responsibility to investigate sexual abuse of minors by priests
only started in 2001 and he has denounced the abuse.
On April
19, 2007 the all-woman panel on The View discussed the
Supreme Court of the United
States
ruling on Gonzales
v. Carhart decision
upholding the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Act.
O'Donnell cited a Florynce Kennedy quote, "If men could get
pregnant abortion would be a sacrament" and asked rhetorically "How many Supreme
Court judges are Catholic?" and "[H]ow about separation of church and
state?" Some
conservatives
called her statements "anti-Catholic bigotry" and suggested that
such statements against other religions would not be
tolerated.
O'Donnell/Hasselbeck argument
O'Donnell has condemned many of the
Bush administration's policies,
especially the
war in Iraq and the
resulting
occupation. She
consistently brought up recent military deaths and news about the
war, and has criticized the US media for its lack of attention to
these issues. On May 17, 2007, O'Donnell rhetorically asked,
Conservative commentators responded by
claiming O'Donnell was comparing American soldiers to terrorists.
On May 23, 2007, a heated discussion ensued, in part, because of
what O'Donnell perceived as
Elisabeth Hasselbeck's unwillingness to
defend O'Donnell as not against the
troops
with O'Donnell asking her "Do you believe I think our troops are
terrorists?" Hasselbeck answered in the negative but also stated
"Defend your own insinuations." O'Donnell stated that
Republican pundit were mischaracterising her statements
and the
right-wing media would portray
her as a
bully attacking "innocent pure
Christian Elisabeth" whenever they
disagreed. Despite repeated attempts by their co-hosts to change
the topic or cut to a commercial break, O'Donnell and Hasselbeck
continued their debate.
According to
ABC News, O'Donnell said that
she knew her time on the show was over when she saw on the studio
monitor that the director had made a decision to cut to a
split screen effect showing she and
Hasselbeck on either side. O'Donnell and
ABC agreed to cut short her
contract agreement on May 25, 2007, as a result of this issue. ABC
News reported that her arguments with Hasselbeck brought the show
its best ratings ever.
"Ching Chong" comments
On December 5, 2006, O'Donnell used the expression "ching chong" to
describe Chinese people talking about Danny DeVito's drunken
appearance on her show, which offended Asian American leaders. The
Asian American Journalists Association called her remarks as
mockery and accused her of calling Asians as substandard. On
December 8, O'Donnell wrote in her blog that "it was not my intent
to mock." She clarified this statement in December 10, stating that
her purpose of the expression was for racial "comedy."
Departure
On April 25, 2007, O'Donnell announced she would be leaving the
show as a co-host when her contract expired because the network
could not come to terms on the length of a new contract, but that
she planned to return as an occasional correspondent. On the April
30, 2007, show Walters announced that O'Donnell would be listed by
Time magazine as one of
their
100 most influential people. On May
25, 2007, it was announced by ABC and O'Donnell that she would not
stay until the end of her contract (which was supposed to end on
June 21, 2007). On September 4, 2007,
Whoopi Goldberg replaced O'Donnell as
moderator.
2007-present
In March 2007, O'Donnell started a video
blog,
Jahero, on her website Rosie.com
answering fans questions, giving behind the scenes information and
serving as a video diary. Originally featuring only O'Donnell and
her hair and make-up artist
Helene
Macaulay they were soon joined by her writer from
The Rosie O'Donnell Show,
Janette Barber. Called
Jahero, which has each of their first name's letters in
it, they occasionally had short cameo appearances by
View
co-hosts Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbara Walters.
Jenny McCarthy appeared once briefly,
as has Hasselbeck's mother-in-law and O'Donnell's mother-in-law,
her wife Kelli's mother.
Kathy Griffin
also appeared, where she read some of the questions. It became so
popular that O'Donnell and her creative team considered an "on the
road" version of the video blog utilizing fan-submitted
suggestions. O'Donnell was the front runner for the "best celebrity
blogger" category in the 2007 Blogger's Choice Awards which she
won.
O'Donnell expressed interest in replacing long-time host
Bob Barker when he retired from
CBS's
game show The Price Is Right.
Barker was a frequent guest on her talk show and told reporters
that she "would make a fine host." Although it was reported he had
"endorsed" her as a "possible successor", Barker said that he had
no role in choosing his replacement.
In June 2007 she
announced on her blog it was not going to happen and noted she was
reluctant to uproot her family to move to California
.
In November 2009 "Rosie Radio", a daily two-hour show with
O'Donnell discussing news and events on
Sirius XM Radio, premiered. The show is on
Stars channel 102 from 10am to 12noon Eastern time, with replays in
the afternoon, premiered. O'Donnell said she was approached by the
company after she appeared on
Howard
Stern's Sirius XM show.
Works
- Television:
- Award ceremonies:
- Radio:
- Rosie Radio SIRIUS XM (2009)
- Theater:
- Filmography:
- Bibliography:
- Find Me (2002)
- Celebrity Detox
(2007)
- Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects The Whole
Family Can Enjoy All Year Long (2008)
- Discography:
| Year |
Album |
Chart positions |
| US Holiday |
US |
| 1999 |
A Rosie Christmas |
1 |
20 |
| 2000 |
Another Rosie Christmas |
3 |
45 |
- Singles:
Nominations and awards
- Daytime Emmy
Awards:
- 1997 Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell
- 1998 Outstanding Talk Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show
- 1998 Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell (tied
with Oprah Winfrey)
- 1999 Outstanding Talk Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show
- 1999 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell
- 2000 Outstanding Talk Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show
- 2000 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell
- 2001 Outstanding Talk Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show
- 2001 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell (tied with
Regis Philbin)
- 2002 Outstanding Talk Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show
- 2002 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell
- Emmy Awards:
- 1999 Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, 52nd
Annual Tony Awards
- Kids' Choice
Awards:
References
- Rosie O'Donnell Is Coming to America"
TV Guide.
October 22, 2008. Retrieved on October 22 2008.
- Outspoken Rosie O'Donnell gets serious about radio
show Ann Oldenburg, USA Today, 26 October 2009.
- Rosie O'Donnell Biography (1962-)
- Stated in interview on Inside
the Actors Studio, 2005
- Rosie O'Donnell Biography,
Biography.com
- Rosie O'Donnell; People.com
- Rosie O'Donnell; People.com
- Rosie O'Donnell profile, E!
Online
- "Highlights of Interviews With Rosie
O'Donnell", CNN Larry King Weekend, March 16,
2002.
- "Balls & Spheres", TV Acres
- New York Daily News, November 19, 1999 "Rosie Sticks to Her
Guns By Unloading Kmart Gig" by Mitchell Fink
- O'Donnell is Godmother of the 'Pearl;' Benefit Held
12/15 BroadwayWorld.com
- The Tyra Banks Show, 2/26/09
- Nightline Online: Rosie O'Donnell
returns to Louisiana to help Katrina victims. ABC News
Video]
- Rosie's Broadway Kids
- (New York section)
- The End of 'Rosie' Mag, Rosie O'Donnell: Biography
2007
- Cancer survivor: Rosie O'Donnell told her liars
'get cancer'
- Michael Musto, 2002-03-05. New York Columns - NY Mirror. Retrieved
2009-03-18.
- Rosie O'Donnell May Leave 'The View' Early, By
Allie @ Gone Hollywood
- Hollywood.com Biography
- CNN.com transcript of Larry King Live
Interview of O'Donnell
- New York State Assembly - Assemblymember Daniel O'Donnell
- 69th Assembly District
- (Fall issue)
- "The Future of The View" TV Guide, June 3, 2006.
Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- The View (Season 10) | TV Review | Entertainment
Weekly
- O'Donnell brings big ratings to 'The View' Daytime
talk show nabs best-ever November sweeps. Variety
website. Accessed on May 29, 2007.
- Rosie's stormy stay on 'The View' will end.
MSNBC website. Accessed on May 29, 2007.
- Rosie Responds to 'Most Annoying' Title - AOL
News
- The Emmy Awards - Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards
- Creative Winners
- YouTube - The View Writers Win 2008 Emmy Award!
- Q-Notes Online
- "Out Of 'View' After A Year Of Fireworks, Rambling Rosie's
Hanging Up Her Coffee Cup" Chicago Tribune, April 26, 2007, p. 40
(paid content)
- [1] Tokyo Rosie] Investor's Business Daily;
April 2, 2007, p. A18 (opinion piece)
- M. Edwards, "Treatment for Paedophiles; Treatment for Sex
Offenders", in: Paedophile Policy and Prevention, Australian
Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series 12
(1997), p. 74-75.
- Jamie Doward, " The Pope, The Letter and the Child Sex Claim,"
The Guardian, April 24, 2005.
- Abortion Ruling Sparks a Backlash for Catholic Justices:
Observers Raise Questions about Justices' Catholic Faith After the
Supreme Court's Upholding of Late-Term Abortion Curbs ABC News
- Zagano, Phyllis "Abortion debate brings anti - Catholicism into
focus" The Kansas City Star April 27, 2007
- Reinhard, David 'How many Supreme Court judges are Catholic?'
The Partial-Birth Ban and Prejudice, The Oregonian p. B06, May 3,
2007 (editorial)
- Brian Orloff, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie O'Donnell Square Off,
People May 23, 2007.
- ABC Eyewitness News; May 28, 2007.
- Rosie O'Donnell Says She Will Say Goodbye to 'The
View' in June. New York Times website. Accessed on
April 25, 2007.
- Rosie O'Donnell - The TIME 100 - TIME
- (Page 13)
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