Olive Osmond
Olive Osmond | |
|---|---|
| Born | Olive May Davis May 4, 1925 |
| Died | May 9, 2004 (aged 79) Provo, Utah, USA |
| Other names | Mother Osmond |
| Spouse(s) | George Osmond (December 1, 1944 – May 9, 2004 by her death; 9 children) |
| Children | Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie and Jimmy. |
Olive May Osmond (née Davis; May 4, 1925 – May 9, 2004) was the matriarch of American the Osmond singing family, and mother of entertainers Donny, Marie, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Jimmy Osmond.
Osmond was born in Samaria, Idaho, the daughter of Vera Ann (née Nichols) and Thomas Martin Davis. She moved to Ogden, Utah, where she worked as a secretary. There, she met George Osmond. They married on December 1, 1944.
Their first two children, Virl and Tom, were born with a degenerative condition which left them nearly deaf. Doctors warned the couple that any other children would be at risk of inheriting the same disorder, but George and Olive wanted a large family. The rest of the children, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie, and Jimmy, were born healthy.
Soon, George had Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay performing as a barbershop quartet. Singer Andy Williams father saw their act at Disneyland, and from 1962-1971, the Osmond Brothers appeared on The Andy Williams Show. Donny made his show-business debut on the program the day after his sixth birthday.
The brothers eventually left The Andy Williams Show and launched a successful recording career. They - including Donny, Marie, and Jimmy as solo artists - scored several hits, their biggest the #1 "One Bad Apple." From 1976-1979, Donny and Marie hosted The Donny and Marie Show. Their popularity coincided with worldwide growth in the family's Mormon faith.
Perhaps the only dents in the their squeaky-clean image have been Tom's and Marie's divorces, and the family's campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment from being passed in Utah.
Marie played Olive in the 1982 TV movie Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family. A less sugar-coated 2001 TV movie, Inside the Osmonds, produced by Jimmy, showed how the brothers' egos, George's fiscal mismanagement, and the family's quest to build a multi-media empire led to their downfall. Because of Tom's and Virl's perceived disabilities, Olive used her family's fame to start The Osmond Foundation, now known as the Children's Miracle Network.
Olive May Osmond (Mother Osmond) died on Mother's Day 2004 (May 9, 2004) at the age of 79, from complications of a stroke she had suffered three years earlier on November 13, 2001, and five days after her final birthday. She was surrounded by her family. She is still remembered by many Osmond fans everywhere as "Mother Osmond". She was survived by husband George (who died on November 6, 2007), their nine children, and 55 grandchildren and 48 great grandchildren..