Roseanne Barr

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This article is about the actress. For the television sitcom, see Roseanne (TV series).
Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr Press Photo
Born Roseanne Cherie Barr
November 3, 1952 (1952-11-03) (age 56)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Occupation actress, comedienne, writer
Years active 1985 – present
Spouse(s) Bill Pentland (1974-1990)
Tom Arnold (1990-1994)
Ben Thomas (1995-2002)

Roseanne Cherie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is a Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning American actress, comedienne, and writer.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

The eldest of 4 children, she was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a working-class Jewish family, Her mother, Helen (née Davis), was a bookkeeper and cashier, and is famous for teaching young Roseanne her signature "Fat-Lady Laugh". Her father, Jerome Hershel “Jerry” Barr, worked in sales as a door-to-door salesman of household goods.[1][2] Barr's grandparents and great-grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Austria-Hungary, and her paternal grandfather changed his surname from "Borisofsky" to "Barr" upon entering the United States.[2][3] Barr's parents kept their Jewish heritage secret from their neighbors and, thus, were partially involved in The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints. Barr has stated that "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons;"[4] her Jewish upbringing was influenced by her devoutly Orthodox Jewish maternal grandmother.[3]

Barr married Bill Pentland, on February 4, 1974. They had three children, Jessica, Jennifer, and Jacob. In 1971, prior to marriage and while residing in Denver, Roseanne had a daughter named Brandi for whom she arranged an adoption.

[edit] Career

Roseanne became famous in the early 1980s with her overweight stand-up comedy routine, receiving critical acclaim for her unglamorized portrayal of the typical American working-class housewife. In her routine she popularized the now well-known phrase, "domestic goddess," to refer to a homemaker or housewife. The success of her act led to her own series on ABC, called Roseanne. The show ran from 1988 to 1997, and co-starred Emmy winners Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman. Roseanne won an Emmy for her part in the show. For the final season Roseanne earned $650,000 an episode.[5] During the show's final season, Roseanne was in negotiations between Carsey-Werner Productions and ABC executives on continuing to play Roseanne Conner in a new spin-off of Roseanne.[6] However, ABC had withdrawn from negotiations with Carsey-Werner and Roseanne and after failed discussions with CBS and FOX, Carsey-Werner and Roseanne agreed to not go on with the negotiations.[7] After the end of her sitcom's run, she portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in a production of The Wizard of Oz at Madison Square Garden.

She went on to host her own talk show, The Roseanne Show, which ran for two years before it was canceled in 2000. In the summer of 2003, she took on the dual role of hosting a cooking show (called Domestic Goddess) and starring in a reality show (called The Real Roseanne Show) about hosting a cooking show, although food poisoning and an emergency appendectomy brought a premature end to both projects. In 2005, she returned to stand-up comedy, touring the world. In February 2006, Roseanne performed her first-ever live dates in Europe as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival in Leicester, England. The shows took place at De Montfort Hall. She released her first kids' DVD, Rockin' with Roseanne: Calling All Kids, that month.

On July 25, 1990, Barr sang the Star Spangled Banner at a San Diego Padres baseball game at Jack Murphy Stadium (now called Qualcomm Stadium). Her performance is considered to be one of the worst performances of the American National Anthem ever. Roseanne's return to the stage culminated in an HBO Comedy Special Roseanne Barr: Blonde N Bitchin', which aired November 4, 2006, on HBO. Two nights earlier, Roseanne returned to prime-time network TV with a guest spot on NBC's My Name Is Earl, playing a crazy trailer park manager.

Roseanne has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6767 Hollywood Blvd.

On January 11, 2007, TV Land announced that Roseanne would be the host of season three of The Search for the Funniest Mom in America on Nick at Nite.[8] The show aired in spring 2007. She has signed on to host a daily radio talk show on KCAA in the Los Angeles area.

She just completed a stint, headlining at the Sahara Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.[when?]

On March 23, 2009 it was announced that Roseanne would be returning to primetime with a new sitcom, where she would once again play the matriarch. Jim Vallely, of Arrested Development, has been tapped to pen the series.[9]

On April 15, 2009 Barr made a small appearance on Bravo's 2nd Annual A-List Awards in the opening scenes. She played Kathy Griffin's fairy god mother, granting her the wish to be on the A-List for one night only.

Starting on Wednesday, January 7, 2009, Roseanne has co-hosted a one-hour show on KPFK, a Pacifica Radio station, at 5:00 p.m.

[edit] Personal life

While taping Roseanne, she separated from Pentland and later fell in love with fellow comedian Tom Arnold. In January 1990, she divorced Pentland and married Arnold. Four years later she and Arnold divorced. She later married her security guard, Ben Thomas, on Valentine's Day, in 1995. They had one son, Buck Thomas. She and Thomas divorced in 2002.

In a 1991 interview with People, Roseanne claimed to be an incest survivor, accusing both of her parents of physical and sexual abuse, charges which they and her sister Geraldine publicly denied and were legally acquitted of. Geraldine later sold stories to the tabloids calling Roseanne a liar and accusing her of making up the story to boost her show's ratings. Barr has written that she considers herself a kabbalist and a follower of Jesus Christ.[10]

[edit] Self-rediscovery

Barr told James Rampton of The Independent that fame went to her head. Barr, who had worked as a window dresser and waitress in Denver, said she had become famous quickly and lost touch with reality. "I was in a sound studio for almost a decade. At the end of it, like Rip van Winkle, I came back and found that everything had changed. Suddenly there were computers and e-mails, and it took me another 10 years to catch up with regular people. But the TV show is over. What am I going to do? I can't boss people around anymore - sad but true."

Barr returned to stand-up comedy but with a notably different appearance: she has lost some weight, dyed her hair blonde, and had plastic surgery, which she does not recommend - "Now I realize that everyone has to get old and die, but it was still a very bad experience.... No one looks better after plastic surgery. Just pink and shiny. At the end of it, you look like an idiot." Barr claims that some of her surgery was for health reasons; she had a rhinoplasty to correct sleep apnea; while her breast reduction surgery was to reduce back pain.[citation needed]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television work

[edit] Film

[edit] Awards

Emmy Awards:

  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for: "Roseanne" (1993)

Golden Globe Awards:

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical for: "Roseanne" (1993)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Roseanne Biography (1952-)
  2. ^ a b The Family Tree of Roseanne Barr
  3. ^ a b JewishJournal.com
  4. ^ Roseanne: Jewish Latter-day Saint actress and entertainer
  5. ^ WHISTLING WHILE THEY WORK | Seinfeld | Pop Culture News | News | Entertainment Weekly
  6. ^ Roseanne to Continue on TV But Is Expected to Leave ABC
  7. ^ A Rest for Roseanne
  8. ^ Reality TV World. "Roseanne Barr to host Nick at Nite's 'Funniest Mom in America'". http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/roseanne-barr-host-nick-at-night-funniest-mom-in-america-4539.php. Retrieved on 2007-01-11. 
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ Barr, Roseanne (2007-05-02). "FLATTERED, BUT NOT FREE". Roseanne World. http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2007/05/flattered_but_its_not_to_be.php. Retrieved on 2008-08-25. 

[edit] External links

Search Wikiquote Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roseanne Barr
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Roseanne
Episodes
Main cast
Recurring cast
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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series

Mary Tyler Moore (1976) · Beatrice Arthur (1977) · Jean Stapleton (1978) · Ruth Gordon (1979) · Cathryn Damon (1980) · Isabel Sanford (1981) · Carol Kane (1982) · Shelley Long (1983) · Jane Curtin (1984) · Jane Curtin (1985) · Betty White (1986) · Rue McClanahan (1987) · Beatrice Arthur (1988) · Candice Bergen (1989) · Candice Bergen (1990) · Kirstie Alley (1991) · Candice Bergen (1992) · Roseanne Barr (1993) · Candice Bergen (1994) · Candice Bergen (1995) · Helen Hunt (1996) · Helen Hunt (1997) · Helen Hunt (1998) · Helen Hunt (1999) · Patricia Heaton (2000)
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