Marie Osmond

Olive Marie Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the eighth of nine children (and the only daughter) born to Olive May and George Virl Osmond.

Her brothers are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny and Jimmy Osmond. From an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business, singing and performing on national television.

Marie debuted as part of her brothers’ act The Osmond Brothers on The Andy Williams Show when she was four but generally did not perform with her brothers through the 1960s.

After the initial success of The Osmonds in 1970, Donny gained success as a solo artist on the popular music charts and became a teen idol.

The Osmonds’ management persuaded Marie to record an album, so she signed with the family’s label, MGM/Kolob Records and began making concert appearances with the Osmonds.

Her style was more directed towards country music, in contrast with her brothers, who were performing rock music at the time.

In 1973, Marie released her first single titled Paper Roses. The recording, a cover version of a song originally popularised by Anita Bryant, became a #1 country hit and reached the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart.

In 1974, she had two pop duet hits with Donny: I’m Leaving It All Up to You and Morning Side of the Mountain. both songs reached the Top 10.

In 1975, Marie and her brother Donny hosted a special variety show which was later picked up mid-season as a weekly variety show and began airing in 1976 as Donny & Marie and ran on ABC until 1978 before it was renamed The Osmond Family Hour in 1979.

Marie was the original choice to play the part of Sandy opposite John Travolta in the movie version of Grease (1978). She turned it down on moral grounds, nonplussed that her character had to “turn bad” to get her man.

Marie Osmond returned to television in the short-lived 1995 ABC sitcom Maybe This Time and then with Donny in 1998 to co-host Donny and Marie, a talk show that lasted two seasons.