Donny Osmond
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The cover to Donny Osmond's 2005 album What I Meant to Say. |
Donald Clark 'Donny' Osmond (born
December 9 1957 in
Ogden,
Utah) is an
American and International entertainment personality. He is a
singer, musician, and former
teen idol and has worked as a
talk show and
game show host,
actor,
record producer, race car driver, and author.
Born to parents
Olive and George Osmond, he is best known for being half of the brother-sister singing act
Donny & Marie. He is the brother of
Alan,
Jay,
Jimmy,
Merrill,
Wayne,
Marie, Tom, and Virl Osmond. Alan, Jay, Merrill, Wayne, and Donny were members of the popular singing group
The Osmonds (also known as The Osmond Brothers).
Donny became a teen idol in the early
1970s as a solo singer, in addition to performing with his older brothers.
In the mid '70s, he teamed up with his younger sister, Marie. The duo recorded several albums together, before and during they starred in their own television variety series,
Donny & Marie, which aired on
ABC between 1976 and 1979.
Donny married
Debbie Glenn on
May 8 1978. Together, they have five sons, with the oldest being 26-year-old Don Jr., and the youngest being 8-year-old Joshua.
When
Donny & Marie came to an end, Osmond worked to reinvent himself as a solo artist. He spent several years as a performer, before collaborating with
Peter Gabriel and returning to the
US charts in
1989 with the song "Soldier Of Love" and its follow- up "Sacred Emotion". The campaign to market "Soldier Of Love" received a lot of airplay with the singer being displayed as a 'mystery artist', before his identity was later revealed.
Although his first foray into Broadway musical theatre, playing the title role in
Little Johnny Jones in a Broadway revival, ended in dismal failure with the production opening and closing on the same night in March 1982, Osmond found success on the
musical theater stage through much of the
1990s when he starred in
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. During this period, he suffered from
Social Anxiety Disorder.
Donny will return to Broadway in September of 2006, in the role of Gaston in Disney's
Beauty And The Beast.
Donny was the co-host of a talk show with his sister, in
1998, also called
Donny And Marie. The show ran for two seasons, and marked the first time the brother and sister had professionally been together in twenty years. He went on to host
Pyramid, a syndicated television game show that ran from
2002 until its cancellation in
2004.
Within the past few years, he has released a
Christmas album, an album of his favorite
Broadway songs, and a compilation of popular love songs; his voice can also be heard in the
Disney animated film
Mulan, in which he sings "I'll Make A Man Out Of You".
In 2004, Donny returned to the
UK Top 10 for the first time as a solo artist since
1973, with the
George Benson-sampling "Breeze On By," co-written with former teen idol
Gary Barlow, from the
1990s UK
boy band Take That.
Donny, like the rest of his family, is a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He received some criticism from members for not serving a
mission as his religion encourages, but most of the furor over this lack of service has died down. In retrospect, he states, 'It would have been nice to be able to have served a regular full time mission, but when I was of that age, my career was such that everyone, including my parents and the leaders of the church, thought that I could do a lot of good in the world by continuing being in the public eye, by living an exemplary life and sharing my beliefs in every way that I could' (www.donny.com). He continues sharing his beliefs in an extensive letters-and-comments portion of his website.[
1]
*
What I Meant To Say (2005)
*
Love Songs (Donny & Marie Osmond) (2004)
*
Osmondmania! The Osmond Family's Greatest Hits (2003)
*
Ultimate Collection (The Osmonds) (2003)
*
Somewhere In Time (2002)
*
The Best Of Donny And Marie: The Millennium Collection (Donny & Marie Osmond, 2002)
*
The Singles (The Osmonds, 2002)
*
The Singles (2002)
*
The Best Of Donny Osmond: The Millennium Collection (2002)
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The Best Of The Osmonds: The Millennium Collection (2002)
*
This Is The Moment (2001)
*
The All-Time Greatest Hits of the Osmond family (2000)
*
Four (1997)
*
Christmas At Home (Donny Osmond, 1997)
*
The Best Of Donny Osmond: Excelsior (1996)
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The Very Best Of The Osmonds (1996)
*
25 Hits (Donny Osmond, 1995)
*
21 Hits (The Osmonds, 1995)
*
Best Of Donny Osmond (1994)
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Greatest Hits (1992)
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Eyes Don't Lie (1990)
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Donny Osmond (1989)
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America Fest (The Osmonds, 1984)
*
Goin' Coconuts (Donny & Marie Osmond, 1978)
*
Greatest Hits (The Osmonds, 1977)
*
A Winning Combination (Donny & Marie Osmond, 1977)
*
New Season (Donny & Marie, 1977)
*
Donald Clark Osmond (1977)
*
The Osmond Christmas Album (1976)
*
Disco Train (1976)
*
Brainstorm (The Osmonds, 1976)
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Just For You (1975)
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Around The World, Live In Concert (The Osmonds, 1975)
*
I'm Still Gonna Need You (The Osmonds, 1975)
*
Make The World Go Away (Donny & Marie Osmond, 1975)
*
Donny & Marie - Featuring Songs From Their Television Show (Donny & Marie Osmond, 1975)
*
Donny (1974)
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Mexico (1974)
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Japan (1974)
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Love Me For A Reason (The Osmonds, 1974)
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I'm Leaving It All Up To You (Donny & Marie Osmond, 1974)
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Collector's Edition (The Osmonds, 1974)
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Superstar (1973)
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A Time For Us (1973)
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Perfect (1973)
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Alone Together (1973)
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The Plan (The Osmonds, 1973)
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My Best To You (1972)
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Live (The Osmonds, 1972)
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Too Young (1972)
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Crazy Horses (The Osmonds, 1972)
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Portrait Of Donny (1972)
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Phase III (The Osmonds, 1971)
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Homemade (The Osmonds, 1971)
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To You With Love (1971)
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The Donny Osmond Album (1971)
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Osmonds (The Osmonds, 1971)
Various Artists
*
Mulan (1998)
*
Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (musical soundtrack, 1994)
* His family nicknamed him 'Corky', as a boy, because he was a show-stopper.
* As a teen heartthrob, Donny's signature color was purple, and he always wore purple socks on the television show
Donny & Marie.
* In the animated television series
Johnny Bravo, Osmond voiced himself as a recurring character.
* Donny suffers from
glossophobia,
agoraphobia, and
obsessive-compulsive disorder.
* Donny and Marie were part of a
Pepsi Twist commercial with the Osbournes (
Ozzy Osbourne and family).
* His favorite author is
John Grisham.
* He sang the lead role of
Joseph in
Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for over 2,000 performances.
* Donny was thrown into a huge pie in an installment of
Donny & Marie; it took 96 gallons of real whipped cream to fill it.
* Donny never took piano lessons; he learned by ear and from watching his brother Alan play.
*
Donny.com, his official website*
Interview on Reel.com*
Donny Osmond on iTunes (requires iTunes)
