Salon.com > Marie and Donny Osmond

Marie Osmond remarries first husband

Thu, 05 May 2011 12:39:00 +0000

When we think of the Osmonds, we might think of a creepy real-life Partridge family, with siblings Marie and Donnie as the original Jack and Meg White. (Are they married? Are they brother and sister? Both, possibly?) But in recent years, the perfect Osmond family has shown cracks. After all, Marie was on her second marriage – yes, the Church of Latter-Day Saints does allow for divorces – to Brian Blosil when she admitted she suffered from postpartum depression. Her son Michael committed suicide at the age of 18 last year by jumping off a building. Marie Osmond has had far from the perfect life.

Marie Osmond’s son committed suicide, coroner rules

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Coroner's officials say the death of Marie Osmond's son has been ruled a suicide and that drugs or alcohol didn't play a role in the teen's fall from a balcony.

Authorities had suspected that Michael Bryan killed himself by leaping from an eight-story balcony in Los Angeles in February.

The 18-year-old college student left behind a suicide note, but the coroner's office wanted toxicology results before ruling on his cause of death. The findings were released Wednesday.

Bryan was one of five children that Osmond and her ex-husband adopted. Her publicist, Nicole Perez, was not immediately available for comment.

Osmond and her brother, Donny, took a brief break from their Las Vegas show before returning with a teary tribute to Bryan in March.

Depression’s latest victim: Marie Osmond’s son

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:02:00 +0000

When Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son Michael Blosil leapt from his Los Angeles apartment building to his death Friday night, it was the grim end to a life that had been marked with severe bouts of depression -- and according to some friends, at least one prior suicide attempt.

Blosil's sudden death comes a few days after the body of "Growing Pains" actor Andrew Koenig was found in Canada after taking his own life, and just weeks after the suicide of designer Alexander McQueen. McQueen had allegedly been grieving the death of his friend Isabella Blow three years before -- also by suicide -- and had become further depressed after the recent death of his mother.

Donny Osmond won’t go away

Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:48:00 +0000

We've seen Donny Osmond take on several different roles since his "Puppy Love" and "Deep Purple" reign in the 1970s. He tried to rock, appeared on Broadway, and co-hosted a daytime talk show with sister Marie. He also stepped into the boxing ring to face former "Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce before thousands screaming for child-star blood, and just a few years ago he let millipedes, superworms and jumbo scorpions crawl all over him in competition with David Hasselhoff, pro wrestler Chyna and rapper Coolio on "Celebrity Fear Factor."

Now, having survived screaming teeny-boppers, unstintingly cruel treatment in the press, a particularly grueling battle with social-anxiety disorder, and incessant references to being "a little bit rock 'n' roll," Osmond, now 45, seems to have finally found his groove. He's the host of "Pyramid," slipping into the loafers of the show's previous, preternaturally youthful-looking host, Dick Clark. He even earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the job, which brings his gee whiz, G-rated charms to brand new audiences.

Donny Osmond: We suffer for his art

Tue, 21 Sep 1999 16:01:00 +0000

Buying a Donny Osmond biography is very much like stealing one -- the forced nonchalance, the rapid scan for watching eyes, the quick grab-and-run. "Do you want a bag for that?" asks the cashier. "Yes!" I reply. Too vehement -- people are looking at me. They know.

And who understands that better than Donny Osmond? He's been a walking Donny Osmond bio all his life. Wisely, the 41-year-old singer kicks off "Life Is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far" by disarming the cheap-shot artists with a description of what it's like to be considered a walking joke by anyone who fancies themselves hip. He describes an encounter with jeering teens at a gas station and lists alternate titles for his book, such as "One More Joke About Big Teeth and the Old Lady Gets It" and "I've Suffered for My Art -- Now It's Your Turn."

Clearly, Osmond wants to break through the plastic laminate that has seemed to coat him since his heyday as a '70s teen pop sensation, and in fact it's surprisingly easy to sympathize with the guy. Read more than one Q&A from the press kit and you can play Wince-Along-With-Donny as yet another wise-ass thinks he invented all those Goody Two Shoes jokes.