Roseanne Barr facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roseanne Barr
From the 2010 documentary I Am Comic
Born	Roseanne Cherrie Barr (1952-11-03) November 3, 1952 (age 72) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, comedian, writer, producer
Years active	1970–present
Political party	Peace and Freedom (2012–2013) Green (2008–2012) Democratic (1970–2008)
Spouse(s)	Bill Pentland ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1990)​ Tom Arnold ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1994)​ Ben Thomas ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2002)​
Partner(s)	Johnny Argent (2003–present)
Children	5

Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952), known simply as Roseanne, is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She started her career performing stand-up comedy. Roseanne became widely famous for playing the main character on the ABC TV show Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018). For this role, she won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

The Roseanne show was brought back in 2018 and had many viewers. However, plans for more seasons were stopped after Roseanne made a tweet that many people said was racist. Roseanne later called the tweet a "bad joke." Her comedy special, Cancel This!, was released in 2023 on Fox Nation.

Early Life and Background

Roseanne Barr was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She grew up in a Jewish family and is the oldest of four children. Her father's family were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. Her mother's parents were Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary and Lithuania. Roseanne's paternal grandfather changed his last name to "Barr" when he came to the United States.

Her family had a mix of Jewish and Mormon traditions. Roseanne has said, "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons."

When Roseanne was three, she had a temporary condition called Bell's palsy that affected the left side of her face. She later learned that this condition usually goes away on its own. Roseanne has also shared that she is on the autism spectrum. At age six, she began speaking at churches in Utah and was chosen to be president of a Mormon youth group.

She went to East High School. When she was 16, Roseanne was hit by a car, which caused a serious head injury. Because of this, her behavior changed a lot, and she spent eight months in a hospital for treatment. In 1970, at 18, she moved out of her parents' home. The next year, Roseanne had a baby whom she placed for adoption. They later reunited when her daughter was 17 years old.

Career Highlights

Stand-Up Comedy Beginnings: 1980–1986

While living in Colorado, Roseanne started performing stand-up comedy in clubs in Denver. She later performed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. In 1985, she appeared on The Tonight Show.

In 1986, she was on a Rodney Dangerfield TV special and Late Night with David Letterman. The next year, she had her own HBO special called The Roseanne Barr Show. This show won her an American Comedy Award for funniest female performer. Roseanne was offered a role in the show Married... with Children but turned it down. In her comedy acts, she made the phrase "domestic goddess" popular, referring to a homemaker. The success of her comedy led to her own TV series, Roseanne.

The Roseanne Sitcom and Other Projects: 1987–2004

In 1987, TV producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner wanted to create a realistic family comedy. They hired writer Matt Williams and signed Roseanne to play Roseanne Conner. The show first aired on October 18, 1988. It was watched by 21.4 million homes, making it the most-watched new show that season.

Roseanne wanted more creative control over the show. She felt the show was based on her own life and family. She disagreed with Williams and eventually threatened to quit if he didn't leave. ABC let Williams go after the thirteenth episode. Roseanne also gave Amy Sherman-Palladino and Joss Whedon their first writing jobs on Roseanne.

Roseanne ran for nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997. Roseanne won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Kids' Choice Award, and three American Comedy Awards for her role. She wanted to create a realistic show about a strong mother who was not a victim. For the last two seasons, Roseanne earned $40 million, making her one of the highest-paid women in entertainment at the time.

On July 25, 1990, Roseanne sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a baseball game. She later said she was singing very loudly to hear herself over the stadium's sound system, which made her singing sound "screechy." After singing, she copied actions often seen by baseball players. Many people criticized this, including President George H. W. Bush, who called it "disgraceful."

Roseanne at the 1992 Emmy Awards

Writer Barbara Ehrenreich called Roseanne a voice for working-class women. She said Roseanne represented "fast-food waitresses, factory workers, housewives, members of the invisible pink-collar army." Roseanne reportedly did not like the term "blue collar" because she felt it hid issues of social class.

After Roseanne ended, Roseanne released her autobiography in 1989, called Roseanne—My Life As a Woman. That same year, she made her film debut in She-Devil. Film critic Roger Ebert praised her performance. In 1991, she voiced the baby Julie in Look Who's Talking Too.

She appeared three times on Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1994. In 1994, she released another book, My Lives. That same year, Roseanne became the first female comedian to host the MTV Video Music Awards by herself. In 1997, she made guest appearances on 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Nanny.

In 1998, she played the Wicked Witch of the West in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz at Madison Square Garden. That same year, Roseanne hosted her own talk show, The Roseanne Show, which ran for two years. In 2003, she hosted a cooking show called Domestic Goddess and a reality show called The Real Roseanne Show. Both projects ended early due to a surgery she had. In 2004, she voiced Maggie in the animated film Home on the Range.

Return to Comedy and TV: 2005–Present

Roseanne in 2010

In 2005, Roseanne returned to stand-up comedy with a world tour. In 2006, she performed in Europe for the first time. She also released a children's DVD called Rockin' with Roseanne: Calling All Kids. Her return to stand-up led to an HBO Comedy Special, Roseanne Barr: Blonde N Bitchin, which aired in November 2006. She also made a guest appearance on NBC's My Name Is Earl.

In April 2007, Roseanne hosted season three of The Search for the Funniest Mom in America. From 2008 to 2013, she and her partner Johnny Argent hosted a weekly radio show called "The Roseanne and Johnny Show." From 2009 to 2010, she hosted a political radio show. In 2010, Roseanne appeared in Jordan Brady's documentary about stand-up comedy, I Am Comic.

Roseanne at the 2011 Utah Pride Festival

In January 2011, Roseanne released her third book, Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm. In 2011, she was in a Super Bowl XLV commercial for Snickers with comedian Richard Lewis.

On July 13, 2011, Roseanne's Nuts, a reality show about Roseanne, her boyfriend Johnny Argent, and her son Jake running a macadamia nut farm in Big Island, Hawaii, premiered on Lifetime. The show was canceled in September of that year.

In 2011, Roseanne was working on a new sitcom called Downwardly Mobile. NBC picked up the show but later dropped it. Roseanne believed her progressive politics were the reason the show was not picked up. In August 2012, Roseanne was the subject of a Comedy Central Roast. In the summer of 2014, Roseanne became a judge on Last Comic Standing on NBC.

On November 28, 2014, Roseanne's series, Momsters: When Moms Go Bad, debuted on the Investigation Discovery cable network. Roseanne hosts the show as herself.

On March 27, 2018, the revived 10th season of Roseanne with the original cast premiered on ABC and received high ratings. On March 30, 2018, ABC renewed the series for an 11th season. However, on May 29, 2018, the series was canceled by ABC after a tweet by Roseanne was widely seen as racist. Roseanne and Tom Werner later agreed that she would give up her producer's share in a spin-off show called The Conners, which ABC ordered soon after.

In September 2022, it was announced that Roseanne would appear in a new comedy special, Cancel This!. It was released on the streaming service Fox Nation on February 13, 2023. In November 2023, it was announced that Roseanne would star in an animated comedy series for The Daily Wire, titled Mr. Birchum, which was released in 2024.

Personal Life

Family and Relationships

Roseanne has been married three times and has five children. In 1970, when she was 17, she had a child, Brandi Ann Brown, whom she placed for adoption. They later reunited. On February 4, 1974, Roseanne married Bill Pentland, a motel clerk. They had three children: Jessica, Jennifer, and Jake. They divorced in 1990.

Four days later, on January 20, 1990, Roseanne married comedian Tom Arnold. She met Arnold in 1983. In 1988, Roseanne brought Arnold onto her sitcom Roseanne as a writer. They divorced in 1994.

On February 14, 1995, Roseanne married Ben Thomas, her former security guard. They had a son named Buck. The couple stayed together until 2002.

In 2002, Roseanne met Johnny Argent online. They started dating in 2003 after a year of talking on the phone. They live on a 46-acre macadamia nut farm on the Big Island of Hawaii, which Roseanne bought in 2007. Roseanne has studied Kabbalah and often talks about it.

Roseanne's sister Geraldine is a lesbian, and her brother Ben is gay. Roseanne has said this inspired her to include gay characters in her sitcom and to support same-sex marriage.

Health

In the mid-1990s, Roseanne had several cosmetic surgeries. In the late 1990s, she had gastric bypass surgery. In 2015, Roseanne shared that she had been diagnosed with macular degeneration and glaucoma, which meant she was slowly losing her eyesight. Roseanne later said that she was misdiagnosed and her vision problem was due to a mole behind her eye, which could be fixed with surgery. In November 2018, there were reports that Roseanne had a heart attack, but she later said on social media that she was not having any medical issues.

Political Activities

2012 Presidential Campaign

On August 5, 2011, Roseanne announced on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that she would run for president in the 2012 presidential election. She ran on a self-created "Green Tea Party" ticket. Her campaign focused on economics, personal health, and meditation. She also said she would run for Prime Minister of Israel.

On September 19, she spoke at the Occupy Wall Street protests, supporting the protestors. Roseanne filed to be a Green Party presidential candidate in January 2012. She formally announced her candidacy on February 2. On July 14, she came in second in the Green Party primaries, losing the nomination to Jill Stein.

After losing the Green Party nomination, on August 4, 2012, Roseanne won the presidential nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party with activist Cindy Sheehan as her running mate. However, Sheehan later withdrew from the campaign due to disagreements.

Roseanne appeared on the ballot in California, Colorado, and Florida. She received 67,326 votes nationwide, placing sixth overall. A film crew followed Roseanne throughout her campaign, and the footage was released as a film called Roseanne for President!. Despite questions about how serious her campaign was, Roseanne and her family have said her desire to run for president was "very real."

Support for Donald Trump

Roseanne voiced her support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a June 2016 interview. In May 2018, Roseanne defended her support for Trump on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In December 2023, Roseanne spoke at the Turning Point USA-hosted America Fest.

Roseanne is featured in rapper Tom MacDonald's song "Daddy's Home," released in January 2025.

Discography

Album

• 1990: I Enjoy Being a Girl (Hollywood Records) CD/Cassette

Audiobook

• 2011: Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm (Unabridged) CD/Download

Filmography

Film

Television

Host

Awards

Roseanne has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the north side of the 6700 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

See also

In Spanish: Roseanne Barr para niños