Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American actress, singer, doll designer, and a member of the show business family, The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s. Her best known song is a cover of the country pop ballad "Paper Roses." In 1976, she and her singer brother Donny Osmond began hosting the TV variety show Donny & Marie.
Biography
Early life
Born Olive Marie Osmond in Ogden, Utah to Olive and George Osmond, Marie Osmond was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with her brothers Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, and Jimmy Osmond. Since an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business, singing and performing on national television. Osmond debuted as part of her brothers' act The Osmond Brothers on the The Andy Williams Show when she was three, but generally did not perform with her brothers in the group's television performances through the 1960s.
1970s music career
Aside from her two eldest brothers (who are deaf), Marie was soon the only family member not involved in the music business. After the initial success of The Osmonds in 1970, Marie's older brother Donny Osmond was gaining success as a solo artist on the Pop Music charts and was becoming a teen idol. The Osmonds' management convinced Marie to try her hand as well. She signed with the family's record label, MGM Records and began making concert appearances with The Osmonds. Her style was more directed towards country music, in contrast with her brothers' pop music.
In 1973, Osmond cut her first single as a solo artist, "Paper Roses". The recording became a #1 country hit, reached the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart, and achieved crossover success. The song earned a gold record as did the album of the same name. Osmond released another single, "In My Little Corner of the World", and a same-name album in 1974, with both entering the Billboard Top 40 in 1974. The title song on her next album Who's Sorry Now, released in 1975, went to #20 the month after its release. The title song from Osmond's final solo album of the seventies, This Is The Way That I Feel, reached #39 within two months of its 1977 release.
In 1974, Osmond had two pop music duet hits with her brother Donny Osmond: "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" and "Morning Side of the Mountain." The former song was a Top 20 country hit.
1980s music career
Marie went into brief retirement from the music business and pursued a career in acting in the early 1980s. She turned down the lead role as Sandy in Grease because she didn't approve of the script's moral content [1], [2], and the role went to Olivia Newton-John. She appeared in some TV movies and did voice-over work for children's cartoons. Prior to the comeback success of her brother Donny in the late 1980s, Marie made a comeback in country music as a solo artist by signing a deal with Curb Records in Nashville. In 1985, Marie and Dan Seals sang a duet called "Meet Me in Montana" which became a #1 country hit that year.
Her follow-up to "Meet Me in Montana" was a solo hit called "There's No Stopping Your Heart," which reached #1 in early 1986 for Marie. Her singles mainly focused on the more-popular Countrypolitan style. In late 1985, she released the "There's No Stopping Your Heart" album of the same name. In 1986, the single "Read My Lips" became a Top-20 country hit. She hit #1 again with a duet with Paul Davis with the song "You're Still New to Me." The Top-20 hit "I Only Wanted You," became her last major hit on the Country charts, to date. Osmond continued to release singles throughout much of the '80s, including "I'm In Love And He's In Dallas"
1990s music career
The last charting single came in 1995 with "What Kind of Man (Walks On a Woman)".
Acting career
In 1976, Marie and brother Donny began to host their variety show Donny & Marie, which ran on ABC until 1979
Marie's first "made for TV" movie was The Gift of Love which originally aired on ABC December 5, 1978. The movie was loosely based on the O. Henry story "The Gift of the Magi." Her co-star in the movie was Timothy Bottoms and she received her first on-screen kiss in this movie.
Marie Osmond had a recurring role on Ripley's Believe It or Not for two seasons (1985-86), replacing Holly Palance. Where she introduced segments based on the travels and discoveries of oddity-hunter Robert Leroy Ripley.
In 1978, Marie and Donny released their film Goin' Coconuts,, which was not a financial success. The following year, Marie starred in a sitcom pilot titled "Marie." which did not make the new season schedule and in 1980 she had her own variety show on NBC, also titled Marie, which only ran for half a season.
The singer played her mother, Olive, in the TV movie Side By Side: The True Story Of The Osmond Family. She also starred in the TV movie I Married Wyatt Earp.
She returned to television first in the short-lived 1995 ABC sitcom Maybe This Time and then with brother Donny in 1998 to co-host Donny And Marie, a talk/entertainment show that lasted two seasons.
She appeared as herself in the 2001 TV movie Inside The Osmonds, which showed how the brothers' egos, their father's fiscal mismanagement, and the family's quest to build a multimedia empire led to their downfall. The film was produced by her younger brother, Jimmy Osmond.
In 2006, she was a judge on the short-lived FOX celeb reality show competition Celebrity Duets.
Marie Osmond had a radio show syndicated to adult contemporary radio stations, Marie And Friends that was canceled after 10 months.
Broadway
She garnered rave reviews in the Broadway musicals The King and I (as Anna) and The Sound of Music (as Maria) in the mid-1990s.
Donny & Marie in Las Vegas
The 750-seat showroom at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada is currently home to "Donny & Marie," a 90-minute variety show. The singing siblings are backed by eight dancers and a nine piece band. Donny and Marie sing together at the beginning and end of the show, and have solo segments in between. Patrons who purchase VIP tickets get to meet Donny and Marie after the show. "Donny & Marie" will appear Tuesday through Saturday (except for hiatus) through October of 2010.
The Marie Osmond Show
It was announced by Access Hollywood, in January 2008, that Marie has a new talk show in the works that will premiere in Fall 2009. The program will be produced and distributed by Program Partners, and will be filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dancing with the Stars
On August 29, 2007, it was announced that Marie Osmond would appear as a celebrity contestant on the fifth season of the ABC show, paired with Jonathan Roberts, 2004 US Rising Star Latin Champion.
After her samba on week five, she passed out during the judges' critique. The show cut to a commercial break while she recovered. The show moved on to her scores without judges' commentary and she did not appear until the end of the live show.
The morning of the week seven results show, Marie's father, George Osmond, died at age 90. She did not appear on the show and the hosts announced at the beginning of the show that Marie and Jonathan were safe from elimination. After the commercial break, Jonathan told Samantha Harris that he had spoken to Marie and she wanted to continue with the show in her father's memory.
The pair performed a Rumba and Jive in week eight, and was declared safe, despite criticism from the judges.
During week nine, November 20, 2007, of the competition, Marie was again safe, despite having the lowest judges' scores two weeks in a row. This made her the oldest woman that had ever made it to the finals.
On November 26, 2007, Marie disappointed the judges during her freestyle performance when she attempted to imitate a doll as a nod to her fans. Judge Bruno Tonioli described her freestyle as "The loopiest thing I have ever seen. It defies critiquing. It's like Baby Jane and the Bride of Chucky." She received the lowest scores in Dancing With the Stars finals history. On November 27, 2007, Marie came in third place on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars.
Performances
Doll business
In 1991, Marie debuted her doll line on QVC. While QVC continues to be the doll's primary source of distribution, Marie has expanded the line into retail stores, Internet sales, and direct response.
Her first sculpture, a toddler doll she created and named after her mother, "Olive May," set a collectible record on QVC, selling more than USD$3,000,000 worth in its first airing at midnight.[1][2] Since then, Marie has sculpted several dolls, including "Remember Me," "Baby Adora Belle," "Vote For Me," and her hallmark doll, "Adora Belle."
In 2006, Osmond launched an embroidery machine line, a sewing machine line, and embroidery designs through Bernina. She has been featured on the cover of Designs in Machine Embroidery.
Marie's doll collection has garnered numerous award nominations, including "Trendsetter of the Year" and Dolls magazine's "Awards of Excellence."[3]
Children's Miracle Network
Along with actor John Schneider, Marie Osmond co-founded the non-profit organization Children's Miracle Network in 1983. The CMN is dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals across North America.
Nutrisystem spokesperson
As part of the Slimsational Stars, Marie is currently promoting the Nutrisystem brand of weight loss meals.
Personal life
Osmond has been married and divorced twice and has eight children in total from the two marriages. She married her first husband Stephen Craig, a Brigham Young University basketball player, in 1982. They were married in an LDS temple wedding ceremony. They had one child, Stephen James Craig, who was born on April 20, 1983. Osmond and Craig divorced in the mid 1980s after Craig admitted that he was not ready to be either married or a father.
On October 28, 1986 Osmond married Brian Blosil, also in an LDS temple. While married to Blosil, Osmond had two more children, Rachael Lauren in 1989 and Matthew Richard in 1999. They also adopted five children: Jessica Marie in 1987, Michael Brian in 1991, Brandon Warren in 1997, Brianna Patricia in 1998, and Abigail Michelle in 2002. Brian Blosil also adopted Marie's son from her previous marriage as his own, Stephen James Craig Blosil.
In 1999, Osmond revealed that she had suffered from severe postpartum depression [4]. She co-authored a book called Behind the Smile with Marcia Wilkie and Dr. Judith Moore which chronicles her experiences with postpartum depression. In August 2006, it was suggested by several U.S. tabloids that she had attempted suicide. These reports were denied by her publicity team, which claimed she had suffered an adverse reaction to a medication she was taking.[5]
On March 30, 2007, Osmond and Blosil announced they were divorcing.[4]
On November 14, 2007, MSNBC reported [6] that Osmond's 16-year-old son, Michael, had entered rehab. The news was confirmed the same night by Osmond to Larry King during a taping of his show Larry King Live.
As of April 29, 2009, Marie revealed that her second oldest daughter, Jessica, is a lesbian and had been living with her girlfriend for the past three years in Los Angeles. This goes against her Mormon faith, but she has claimed she will do whatever it takes to make her children happy.[7]
Discography
Filmography
- Hugo the Hippo (1975) - Vocalist
- "Donny and Marie" (1976) - Herself
- Goin' Coconuts (1978) - Marie
- The Gift of Love (1978) - Beth Atherton
- "The Big Show" (1980) - Host
- "Marie" (1980) TV Series - Herself
- The Osmond Family Christmas Special (1980) - Herself
- Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family (1982) - Olive Osmond
- Rooster (1982) - Sister Mae Davis
- "The Love Boat" (1982) - Maria Rosselli (2 episodes)
- I Married Wyatt Earp (1983) - Josephine 'Josie' Marcus
- Rose Petal Place (1984) - Rose Petal
- The Velveteen Rabbit (1984) - Fairy Princess and Velveteen Rabbit
- Rose Petal Place: Real Friends (1985) - Rose Petal
- Marie Osmond's Merry Christmas (1986) - Herself
- "Maybe This Time" (1995) - Julia Wallace
- Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night (1998) - Queen (voice)
- "Donny & Marie" (1998) - Host
- "Dancing With The Stars" (2007) - Third Place
- "Dr.Phil" (2007) - Guest
References
External links
