Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, musician, actor and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk show and game show host, record producer, race car driver, and author. He is known for being half of the brother-sister singing act Donny & Marie and a member of the "Osmond Brothers" singing group.
Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the son of Olive May Osmond (née Davis) and George Virl Osmond. 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). Osmond later traced his family ancestry back to Merthyr Tydfil in Wales; his journey was documented in a BBC Wales program, Donny Osmond Coming Home. On the BBC One Show with Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley (usually Myleene Klass), a plaque was unveiled in the town saying roughly: ' This plaque commemorates the ancestors of Donny Osmond'.
After seeing the Osmond Brothers (Alan, Wayne, Merrill & Jay) perform at Disneyland as a barbershop quartet, Andy Williams asked the boys to audition for The Andy Williams Show. They soon became regulars on the show and gained popularity quickly. Donny made his debut on the show at the age of 4 singing "You Are My Sunshine". The brothers continued to perform on the show throughout the 60's along with their brother Jimmy and sister Marie.
Donny then became a teen idol in the early 1970s as a solo singer, in addition to performing with his older brothers. He and David Cassidy were easily the biggest "Cover Boy" pop stars for Tiger Beat magazine in the early 70's. He had his first solo hit with "Sweet and Innocent," which peaked at #7 in the U.S. in 1971. His solo songs "Go Away Little Girl" (1971) (#1 in the U.S.), "Puppy Love" (U.S. #3), and "Hey Girl/I Knew You When" (U.S. #9) (1972) vaulted him into international fame. The fame was further advanced by his appearance on the "Here's Lucy" show, where he sang "Too Young" to Lucille Ball's niece played by Eve Plumb.
In the mid '70s, he teamed up with his younger sister, Marie. After being seen co-hosting an episode of the "Mike Douglas Show", Donny & Marie were offered a show of their own, "The Donny & Marie Show." The duo recorded several albums together prior to and while starring in their own television variety series which aired on ABC between 1976 and 1979.
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 had to work to re-invent himself as a solo artist and get away from a "goodie two shoes" image created by the T.V. series. He made an unlikely appearance as one of several celebrities and unknowns auditioning to sing for guitarist Jeff Beck in the video for Beck's 1985 single "Ambitious." 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 considerable airplay with the singer being presented as a 'mystery artist', before his identity was later revealed.
Donny was often reluctant to perform his earliest songs, in particular "Go Away Little Girl", but was convinced to sing the song live for KLOS-FM's 'Mark & Brian Christmas Show' on December 21, 1990.
Osmond found success in musical theater through much of the 1990s when he starred in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for over 2,000 performances. During this period, he suffered from Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder is a mental illness that affects how a person interacts with other people. In Donny's case he felt light-headed and extremely nervous during his performances.
Donny was the guest vocalist on Dweezil Zappa's star-studded version of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" which appeared on Dweezil's 1991 album 'Confessions'. The song also included guitar solos from Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Warren DeMartini, Nuno Bettencourt and Tim Pierce.
Donny co-hosted 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. Though ratings were high and they were nominated for an award as best talk show, the series was canceled. One of the 1999 episodes of the show, featuring Jefferson Starship promoting their album Windows Of Heaven, has since become a classic among Starship fans, with Donny and Marie performing Volunteers live with Jefferson Starship.
Donny went on to host Pyramid in two countries -- a syndicated television game show that ran two seasons in the US, from 2002 - 04, and a British version of Pyramid on Challenge in 2007.
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, reaching number 8. In the animated television series Johnny Bravo, Osmond voiced himself as a recurring character. He has also done guest spots on numerous other television shows such as "Friends" and "Diagnosis Murder".
Donny can be seen dancing in the music video of "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "White & Nerdy". The song is a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'", and is on Yankovic's 2006 album Straight Outta Lynwood. In the video, Osmond's role is analogous to that of Krayzie Bone's role in Chamillionaire's "Ridin'". Weird Al asked Donny to appear because he was the 'whitest guy' he could think of.
He returned to Broadway on September 19, 2006, in the role of Gaston in Disney's Beauty And The Beast. He was scheduled to perform for nine weeks but due to popular demand he extended his run through December 24th. Liz Smith, of the New York Post wrote "I am here to tell you he is charmingly campy, good-looking and grand as the villain "Gaston," patterned after our old friend Elvis and noting "Donny is divine". On July 29, 2007, Osmond played Gaston again for the final performance of Beauty And The Beast'.
Donny and Marie were part of a Pepsi Twist commercial in 2006 with the Osbournes (Ozzy Osbourne and family).
Osmond returned to ABC as host of The Great American Dream Vote, a prime-time reality/game show that debuted in March, 2007. The return would prove short-lived; after earning lackluster ratings in its first two episodes, the program was canceled.
Osmond hosts the British version of the game show Identity on BBC Two during the daytime. On March 5, 2008, it was announced that Osmond's temporary position as co-host of The Insider has been made permanent, replacing Pat O'Brien.
Osmond remarked in an interview recently that with his movie appearance on College Road Trip and upcoming appearances on two Disney Channel shows he would coming about full circle since he and his family were discovered by Walt Disney.
Donny and Marie are slated to be the new permanent act at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, NV.
Osmond appeared in the North American version commercial for the Playstation 2 video game, Buzz! the Mega Quiz.
Osmond married Debra Glenn on May 8, 1978 at the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Together they have five sons: Donald Clark Osmond Jr. (b. July 31, 1979), Jeremy James Osmond (b. June 8, 1981), Brandon Michael Osmond (b. January 29, 1985), Christopher Glenn Osmond (b. December 12, 1990) and Joshua Davis Osmond (b. February 16, 1998)
Donny Osmond became a first-time grandfather on August 21, 2005, when his second son Jeremy and his wife Melisa had Dylan Osmond. Donny and his family welcomed a granddaughter, Emery, on February 24, 2008. This is the first girl born into Donny's immediate family, as he is father to five boys.
Osmond, 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". He continues sharing his beliefs in an extensive letters-and-comments portion of his website.
His mother suffered a stroke on November 13, 2001. She died on May 9, 2004 at age 79 from stroke complications. On November 6, 2007 his father died of natural causes/old age; he was 90.
1"I Knew You When" charted as a tagalong b-side of "Hey Girl" on the Hot 100.
2"Lonely Boy" charted as a tagalong b-side of "Why" on the Hot 100.
3"You've Got Me Dangling on a String" did not chart on Billboard's Hot 100, but peaked at number nine on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
