Rosie O'Donnell Movies
No one could have predicted that brash, acerbic, and earthy standup comedienne Rosie O'Donnell would become the American sweetheart (dubbed the Queen of Nice) of daytime talk shows. She is also a veteran character actress of feature films and television. Born and raised on Long Island, NY, the third of five children in an Irish family, O'Donnell's father was the primary caretaker after her mother passed away from cancer when the comedienne was just ten. An avowed television freak, her favorite shows were Merv Griffin and The Mike Douglas Show, both of which would inspire her own talk show decades later. Inspired by Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand, O'Donnell dreamed of becoming a performer, performing on stage for the first time at age 16.Despite the trauma of losing her mother, O'Donnell grew to become a vivacious and popular teen; in her high school year book (class of 1980) she was named Homecoming Queen, Class Clown, and Personality Plus, and she was also elected Senior Class President and was a member of the student council. She participated in every class sport and was a drummer in a garage band. Following high school, she briefly attended Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and Boston University, but dropped out to establish herself on the live comedy circuit. After appearing in nearly every state, she successfully auditioned for Ed McMahon's television talent show Star Search and went on to become a five-time winner. In 1986, she won a recurring role as Nell Carter's neighbor on the final season of the sitcom Gimme a Break (1986). From there, O'Donnell hosted and produced a comedy showcase, Stand Up Spotlight, for VH-1. She next appeared on the Fox short-lived comedy Stand By Your Man (1992).
Having established herself as a formidable funny lady, O'Donnell landed the role of tough-talking but goodhearted baseball player Doris Murphy in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own (1992) and found herself a national star. She continued her film career with a small role as Meg Ryan's confidante in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), followed by a co-starring part opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez in Another Stakeout (1993). As the bubbly Betty Rubble, she stole the show from John Goodman and Rick Moranis in The Flintstones (1994) and she had her first flop, playing a cop who masquerades as a leather-clad dominatrix opposite Dan Aykroyd in Exit to Eden (1994). She added Broadway to her list of successes when she breathed new life into the feisty Rizzo in the revival of Grease. In 1996, she played an understanding nanny in Harriet the Spy.
Though she could have continued to have steady work as an actress and live performer, O'Donnell steered her career in a different direction; capitalizing on her phenomenal popularity as a talk show guest by becoming the host of her own gab fest, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, in 1996. Not wanting her program to be yet another of the exploitational, issues-oriented freak shows that characterized the 1990s, she chose to pattern hers after the afternoon talk/variety shows of old, focusing on celebrity interviews, entertaining acts, helpful household hints, and current events. Daytime audiences were hungry for what she offered and, in no time, her show became the most popular of its kind, topping even the venerable Oprah Winfrey Show. During its first three years, O'Donnell and her series garnered numerous Emmys and Emmy nominations.
In 2002, after 6 years on television, The Rosie O'Donnell Show bowed, but not before its host ended long speculation by coming out as a lesbian. After leaving the show, O'Donnell transformed her persona to a passionate champion of GLBT-related causes. The adopted mother of three, she particularly focused her attention on lobbying against legal hurdles for gays and lesbians wishing to adopt.
In 2005, O'Donnell appeared in her first feature role in several years, playing a mentally-disabled woman in the made-for-TV melodrama Riding the Bus with My Sister. The following year, it was announced that O'Donnell would step in for the departing Meredith Viera on ABC's long-running daytime panel show The View. Her presence on the show regularly sparked controversy, with a public feud between O'Donnell and mogul Donald Trump gaining particular attention.
In 2007, after a year on the show, O'Donnell announced that a deal could not be reached with ABC, and she would be leaving the program. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-TV movie from the Lifetime Channel, Rosie O'Donnell stars as Dr. Maureen Brennan, a child psychiatrist who helps a 16-year-old boy named America (Philip Johnson) overcome years of childhood trauma, including growing up with a crack-addicted mother and being shuffled through a series of foster homes. The teleplay is based on a novel by E.R. Frank, who used her real-life experiences as a social worker as the basis for this tragic but ultimately hopeful story of transformative healing. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell, Philip Johnson, (more)
As Season 5 begins, Christian (Julian McMahon) joins Sean (Dylan Walsh) in Los Angeles, where they soon discover they're pretty small fish in a very big plastic-surgery pond. Needing exposure for the practice, they hire a publicist (Lauren Hutton), who finds them work as medical advisers for the prime-time soap opera "Hearts & Scalpels." It doesn't pan out for Christian, but the opposite holds true for Sean, who begins wielding a scalpel on-screen after the show's star (Bradley Cooper) is fired in a sex scandal. Sean also dates his costar (Paula Marshall) and meets another publicist, Colleen Rose (Sharon Gless), on the set. Colleen takes an intense interest in him, but Julia (Joely Richardson), who arrives in L.A. from New York, has lost interest in him. She's also involved with someone else -- a woman named Olivia Lord (Portia de Rossi). Olivia's promiscuous and duplicitous teen daughter Eden (AnnaLynne McCord) immediately dislikes Julia. Eden also has a brief fling with Sean and ends up in a threesome with Kimber (Kelly Carlson) and Kimber's old porn boss Ram Peters (John Schneider). Kimber has left Matt (John Hensley), but they share custody of their daughter. Meanwhile, Liz (Roma Maffia) follows Christian and Sean from Miami, but leaves McNamara/Troy after a falling out with Christian. Her replacement, adventurous Theodora "Teddy" Rowe (Katee Sackhoff), a recreational anesthesia user, has an affair with Sean. And Dawn Budge (Rosie O'Donnell) finds herself at McNamara/Troy after being bitten by an eagle while hang gliding. She becomes romantically involved with "Hearts & Scalpels" executive producer Freddy Prune (Oliver Platt). And then there's Christian, who has his own issues. He gets sexually reacquainted with Julia and Gina Russo (Jessalyn Gilsig), his adopted son Wilber's sex-addicted mother. Then he faces a health crisis. ~ Paul Droesch, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dylan Walsh, Julian McMahon, (more)
Sex. Seduction. Liposuction. Find them all in the fearless Nip/Tuck, the award-winning series that's the scalpel's edge of entertainment...and the spark for debate about what cosmetic surgery can or cannot bring to a patient's life. Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon play plastic surgeons/best friends whose glamorous South Beach practice is a revolving door for Season 4's hot-button issues (including a terrifying story arc about an organ-harvest ring) and human foibles (a ventriloquist wants to look like his dummy). Guest stars include Jacqueline Bissett, Larry Hagman, Alanis Morissette, Mo'Nique, Rosie O'Donnell, Brooke Shields and more. Thrills, surprises, shocks, stars abound in this 5-Disc Set. And all it takes is a little Nip/Tuck.
- Starring:
- Dylan Walsh, Julian McMahon, (more)
- 2006
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Entertainer Rosie O'Donnell, her wife, Kelli, and their children set sail for the Bahamas with 500 other gay, lesbian, and transgendered families in this television documentary. All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise goes behind the scenes of the 2004 inaugural voyage of R Family Vacations, a gay travel company founded by the O'Donnells. Interviews with a cross-section of passengers are interspersed with footage of on-ship entertainment (including Broadway-style musical numbers featuring O'Donnell) and on-shore demonstrations by anti-gay activists. The cruise's passengers include not only gay parents and their adopted and biological children, but also straight parents, siblings, and friends of gay passengers. O'Donnell says the goal in launching her company was to provide vacations with an atmosphere in which same-sex partners and their kids could feel welcome instead of scrutinized. Interview subjects recount tales of other, less queer-friendly vacations, while others give a peek at the realities of gay marriage and adoption. Several longtime couples celebrate weddings and commitment ceremonies, while others meet new friends and, in some cases, sperm donors and surrogate mothers. All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise premiered April 6, 2006, on HBO. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Based on a true story, this "Hallmark Hall of Fame" TV movie was produced by Rosie O'Donnell, who also stars as the profoundly mentally challenged Beth Simon. When Beth's father dies, her sister, Rachel (Andie MacDowell), a brittle, self-absorbed fashion photographer, takes charge of Beth -- who, having been allowed to grow up without learning anything of self-discipline and social propriety, is no prize herself. Though she loves her sister, Rachel is embarrassed by Beth's obnoxious, obstreperous behavior, especially when riding the bus, which she does religiously and obsessively every day, much to the dismay of the other passengers. (Be warned: this is not one of those lachrymose "lovable handicapped adult" movies so common to network television.) Also, Beth has been allowed by her overindulgent father to neglect her health and hygiene in a deplorable fashion. Gradually, the two sisters connect and manage to profoundly change one another. Those viewers and critics who condemned Rosie O'Donnell for her abrasive, over-the-top portrayal of Beth were generally those who had had little contact with genuine handicapped people; conversely, those who had such people in their own families, or who had worked extensively with them professionally, applauded O'Donnell for her disturbingly accurate performance. Adapted from the book by the real-life Rachel Simon (actually an English professor and not a photographer), Riding the Bus with My Sister was telecast by CBS on May 1, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell, Andie MacDowell, (more)
- 2005
- Add The Lady in Question is Charles Busch to QueueAdd The Lady in Question is Charles Busch to top of Queue
When East Village theater Renaissance man Charles Busch's sexually salacious Vampire Lesbians of Sodom first premiered on the New York stage in 1984, few would have suspected that the cross-dressing slice of kitsch theater would eventually be honored as one of the longest-running shows in off-Broadway history. A runaway hit with the underground art community that quickly found its way to the mainstream, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom defied convention to become one of the hottest tickets in town, and eventually served to launch the career of a man known best for being a woman. Devastated by the death of his mother at a young age, Charles Busch escaped into the world of classic film before being spirited away from the suburbs by his caring aunt and encouraged to explore his creativity in Manhattan. Though originally rejected by a variety of directors who dismissed him as either "too odd," or "too gay," Busch eventually decided to take control of his destiny by writing his own plays and became one of the most celebrated figures in New York theater. From Busch's early success with the Theater-in-Limbo to his later success in film with Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the remarkable story of the self-made theater phenomenon is explored in this documentary from filmmakers John Catania and Charles D. Ignacio. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Busch
Filmmakers Geoff Callan and Mike Shaw examine the shifting perception of legal unions in 21st Century America with this documentary centering on the subject of same-sex marriage. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was just thirty-five days into his term when, on February 12, 2004, he gave San Francisco's Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng orders to preside over the marriage of iconic lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Shortly thereafter, United States President George W. Bush implored Congress to pass an amendment explicitly defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. As thousands of same-sex couples flocked to San Francisco City Hall in hopes of pledging their love for their partners, a deeply divisive storm began to brew in the American political landscape. Protestors accused Mayor Newsom of political anarchy, demanding that he resign immediately and that the weddings stop. Less than one month later, on March 11, 2004, the justices of the California Supreme Court declared that same-sex marriages were to cease immediately. In this documentary, filmmakers allow viewers a closer look into San Francisco's new generation of politics while examining the long-term implications of civil and human rights decisions and posing questions about the roles that values and government play in the lives of everyday Americans. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
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Prepare to witness a comedy superstar in the making in this release of an early performance by outspoken comedienne and future talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. Years before she took her seat across from Barbara Walters on The View, O'Donnell was just another touring comic attempting to get some laughs and make a buck. Now fans can see O'Donnell as few have seen her before in this performance captured live at Rascal's Comedy Club and featuring the kind of topical humor that kept comedy fans doubled over with laughter. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
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Rascals Presents: Comedy Knockouts features stand-up sets from such celebrated comics as Tim Allen, Drew Carey, Sinbad, and Ray Romano. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Like its predecessors, this installment to the popular Laughing Out Loud series offers viewers the experience of a standup comedy club from the comfort of home. This production features a variety of comedians performing some of their funniest bits; among those included are Jerry Seinfeld, Kelsey Grammer, Adam Sandler, Mark Alexander, John Caponera, John Ferrantino, Judy Tentua, Carol Leifer, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jeff Foxworthy. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Actors and political activists come together to take a long, hard look at the State of the Union during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election in this documentary, a follow-up to 1993's The Last Party, in which actor Robert Downey Jr. followed the 1992 presidential campaign. In The Last Party 2000, with Robert Downey Jr. unavailable due to drug convictions (he does make a brief appearance, and his legal problems as well as the current state of American drug laws are discussed), Philip Seymour Hoffman takes his place as he visits the 2000 Democratic and Republican National Conventions and talks to politicians and activists both famous and obscure as a pitched battle is fought between supporters of democratic candidate Al Gore, republican nominee George W. Bush, and the many voices who believed neither candidate represented a worthwhile or reasonable choice. Along with Downey and Hoffman, celebrities speaking out on the issues in this film include Courtney Love, Rosie O'Donnell, Reese Witherspoon, and David Crosby; the rock band Stone Temple Pilots also appear at a political rally. The Last Party 2000 was directed by actor and musician Donovan Leitch, who served as a producer on the first film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1998
In order to prove a point about sexual double standards, Kay (Lily Tomlin) disguises herself as a man named Rick. Later, it is "Rick" who rescues Murphy from the lecherous advances of an IRS accountant (Frederic Forrest). Unfortunately, Murphy didn't entirely want to be rescued; she was hoping that the accountant would turn over a list of names that would help her complete her latest TV expose! Rosie O'Donnell appears as Murphy's 92nd secretary--who is disastrously devoted to Broadway tunes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Important issues that may affect a child's life are portrayed in a lighthearted but sincere manner in this HBO special based on Rosie O'Donnell's book by the same name. O'Donnell shows how laughter and a sense of humor are a vital part of dealing with things that might be beyond one's immediate control. The 30-minute program mixes short animated tales that contain a particular lesson or theme with short clips of children talking candidly about what things they think are funny. Issues that are addressed in this innovative format are slavery, heaven, and the death of a classmate. A good show for families to watch and discuss together. Net proceeds are donated to the For All Kids Foundation, a group that awards grants to programs helping disadvantaged children throughout the United States.
~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide
~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide
- 1997
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If you're looking for a gentle video to entertain your preschooler quietly, this is NOT it! Sesame Street: Get Up and Dance is an all-star musical dance-a-bration! Kids will need lots of space to dance the "I'm a Little Airplane," "Birdland Jump," "Do the Dog," "Do the Jelly," "Cat Had a Birthday," "Doin' the Grouch," "A Very Simple Dance," and "A New Way To Walk." Guest dancers include Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Chang, Garth Brooks, and Maya Angelou. Great active fun for ages two to six. ~ Heather M. Fierst, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Directed by actress Lee Grant, this powerful 90-minute documentary focuses on various breast-cancer survivors in the United States. Among the people represented herein are a mother and two daughters, all suffering from cancer. But the film's most poignant moment belongs to host-narrator Rosie O'Donnell, as she recounts the lingering illness and death of her own mother. A prime example of "advocacy" filmmaking, Say It, Fight It, Cure It was originally telecast by the Lifetime cable network on October 5, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell
- 1996
This 1996 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Rosie O'Donnell and features musical guest Whitney Houston. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell, Whitney Houston, (more)
- 1995
The Larry Sanders Show is celebrating its eighth anniversary, and guests k.d. lang, Pat O'Brien, Rosie O'Donnell, Mandy Patinkin, and Noah Wyle are booked for the big show. It seems that Murphy's Law is in full effect for the anniversary show, however, and in addition to O'Donnell's limo failing to arrive, it's revealed that lang and Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) have a background as feuding neighbors, while Patinkin and Wyle can't stop arguing over who has a better TV series. As if those factors weren't enough to make the anniversary show a stressful occasion, it seems as if Larry (Garry Shandling) has forgotten to take his usual bathroom break before the show. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In this campy, nostalgic comedy based on a popular TV series from the early '60s, the two bungling cops Toody and Muldoon are assigned to guard a key witness who is planning to testify against a crime lord. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Johansen, John C. McGinley, (more)
- 1993
This 1993 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Rosie O'Donnell and features musical guest James Taylor. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell, James Taylor, (more)
In Stakeout, cop Richard Dreyfuss fell in love with Madeline Stowe, the woman he and his partner Emilio Estevez were watching during a police stakeout. Stowe's back in Another Stakeout, but her part is fleeting and unbilled. On the other hand, we get plenty of Dreyfuss and Estevez, still both as cantankerous and obnoxious as ever. This time, our two heroes are in search of a Mafia witness who has disappeared after an attempt on her life. While holed up in a judge's mansion, staking out the apartment where the woman may or may not return, the pair are subject to the comic aggravation of DA's assistant Rosie O'Donnell, who's brought her "darling" little rotweiler along for company. Another Stakeout works a little harder for its laughs than its predecessor; the best scenes go to Ms. O'Donnell and to nonplussed supporting players Dennis Farina and Marcia Strassman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, (more)
