Life and Career
Osmond was born in Samaria, Idaho, the daughter of Vera Ann (née Nichols) and Thomas Martin Davis. She moved to Ogden, Utah, where she worked as a secretary. There, she met George Osmond. They married on December 1, 1944.
Their first two children, Virl and Tom, were born with a degenerative condition which left them nearly deaf. Doctors warned the couple that any other children would be at risk of inheriting the same disorder, but George and Olive wanted a large family. The rest of the children, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie, and Jimmy, were born healthy.
George formed a barbershop quartet consisting of Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. Singer Andy Williams' father saw their act at Disneyland, and from 1962 to 1971, the Osmond Brothers appeared on The Andy Williams Show. Donny made his show-business debut on the program the day after his sixth birthday.
The brothers eventually left The Andy Williams Show and launched a successful recording career. They – including Donny, Marie, and Jimmy as solo artists – scored several hits, their biggest being the No. 1 "One Bad Apple". From 1976 to 1979, Donny and Marie hosted The Donny and Marie Show.
Marie played Olive in the 1982 TV movie Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family. Another 2001 TV movie, Inside the Osmonds, produced by Jimmy, depicted the brothers' egos, George's fiscal mismanagement, and the family's quest to build a multi-media empire as leading to their downfall. Because of Tom's and Virl's perceived disabilities, Olive used her family's fame to start The Osmond Foundation, now known as the Children's Miracle Network.
Osmond died on May 9, 2004, which was Mother's Day and five days after her 79th birthday; the cause of her death was complications from a stroke she had suffered three years earlier on November 13, 2001. She was surrounded by her family. She is still remembered by many Osmond fans everywhere as "Mother Osmond". She was survived by husband George (who died on November 6, 2007), their 9 children, 55 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
Read more about this topic: Olive Osmond
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