American actress, comedienne and talk show host, immensely popular. Rosie earned two Emmy awards in 1998 for “Outstanding Talk Show” and “Outstanding Talk Show Host” (the latter for which she illustriously tied with established talk show great, Oprah Winfrey).
Rosie’s dad designed cameras for spy satellites and her mom was a homemaker. When she was ten years old, her mom died of cancer, leaving Rosie and her four brothers and sisters to fend for themselves emotionally. The girl often escaped into the imaginary world of film and TV. She caught the acting bug while doing a high school skit and studied comedy by imitation. Soon using her own material, she honed her presentation. Already outgoing by high school, Rosie was elected prom queen, homecoming queen, most school-spirited student, and class president. After graduation, she took it upon herself to make a grand tour of the U.S., appearing in 49 states over a five-year period. She learned about applause – and also about the underbelly of working nights, eating junk food, drugs and drinking, and the sexist climate.
In 1984, she landed in Los Angeles where she began TV gigs on cable. She hosted “Stand-Up Spotlight” for comedy acts for four years. In 1992, after appearing in several TV specials, Rosie made a much-desired and anticipated move to film when Penny Marshall cast her as Madonna’s loveable sidekick in “A League of Their Own.” She began a trend of making praiseworthy performances in a variety of films.
In 1995, she accepted a post as host of a variety talk show for NBC, “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” featuring such attractions as celebrity guests and Broadway performances. The show quickly became one of the most popular in daytime television, and O’Donnell was hailed as the “Queen of Nice” due to her down-to-earth frankness and eye-to-eye sense of humor. The producers of her show built a deluxe nursery right in the Rockefeller Center studio so she was able to have her two adopted kids nearby, Parker and Chelsea Belle. After living in Los Angeles for ten years, O’Donnell returned to New York, where she felt more at home with the matter-of-fact attitude toward celebrity. In late 1999, she adopted a third child, Blake Christopher.
In the November 2000 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, O’Donnell admitted that she is planning to leave her talk show after her contract expires in 2002 in order to spend more time on her nonprofit organization, Rosie Adoptions. The organization helps facilitate the process of adoption between birth mothers and adoptive families.
Rosie’s memoir, “Find Me,” was released on 23 April 2002, in which she comes out as a lesbian, talking about her relationship with women and having a steady companion, Kelli Carpenter. In May 2002, comedian Caroline Rhea is taking over Rosie’s revamped show
The comedienne and former talk-show host is having a difficult time in 2003. On 30 October 2003, her trial began over the demise of her magazine named “Rosie.” She left the publication in September 2002 during a power struggle with its publisher. The company sued O’Donnell for $100 million claiming that she abandoned the magazine and her contract without legal grounds. She countersued for $125 million claiming that the publishers removed her editorial control and engaged in releasing exaggerated earnings statements in order to prevent her from walking out on her contract at an earlier time. Both sides have waived their rights to a jury. The trial was scheduled to end on 12 November, the day before the Broadway opening of “Taboo,” a musical that O’Donnell is bankrolling for $10 million; the play is, based on the life of Boy George, who wrote the music and lyrics and who co-stars. However, the judge ended the show when he ruled that neither side had any rights to damages.
On 26 February 2004, Rosie O’Donnell married her longtime partner Kelli Carpenter in San Francisco, proclaiming that she was taking a proud stand for gay civil rights.
In September 2004 the comedienne was sued by two courtroom artists for copyright infringement for allegedly trying to sell photos of their sketches as her own. The mother-and daughter apparently made the sketches of her during the 2003 trial for breech of contract.
On 5 September 2006, she made her debut as a co-host of the popular daytime TV talk show, “The View.” The assignment didn’t last long. In May 2007, Rosie called it quits after ongoing bickering with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, a co-host who is politically conservative, was televised.
O’Donnell’s first child is Parker Jaren O’Donnell, whom she adopted as an infant in 1995.
Together with Carpenter, she adopted two more children: Carpenter and O’Donnell have three children together: Chelsea Belle O’Donnell and Blake Christopher O’Donnell. Carpenter gave birth to Vivienne Rose O’Donnell, who was conveived by artificial insemination.
Link to Wikipedia biography