Robert Osborne
Biography
Biography
Robert Osborne has been the primetime host and anchor of TURNER CLASSIC
MOVIES television network since TCM made it's on-air debut in April 1994. Since
1977 he has also been a writer for the daily show business trade publication THE
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER and in 1983 he began writing the paper's lead column
"Rambling Reporter," which covers all aspects of the movie, television and
Broadway worlds.
He is also known as the official biographer of "Oscar" because of the series of
books he's written on the subject of the motion picture industry's annual Academy
Awards, his latest being 75 YEARS OF THE OSCAR which was written at
the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was praised
by The Weekly Observer as "A scholar's dream, a researcher's paradise, a movie
buff's heaven." An update on his book, covering 80 YEARS OF THE
OSCAR is scheduled to be published by Abbeyville Press in the fall of 2008.
In 2005, Osborne received an Honorary Doctorate from the Academy of Art
University in San Francisco (Doctor Osborne?). On Feb. 1, 2006, he received a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located in front of the former Huntington Hartford
theatre, now the Ricardo Montalban) on Vine Street. Since 2006 he has been the
official red carpet greeter for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' at
the annual Acdemy Awards ceremony at the Kodak theatre in Hollywood.
Another ?distinction? came his way in April 2006: he was satirized on ?Saturday
Night Live.?
Osborne was born in Colfax, Washington (population: 2700), graduated from the
University of Washington's School of Journalism and eventually headed South to
Hollywood where he was soon signed to a contract as an actor by Lucille Ball
and Desi Arnaz at their Desilu Studios. It was Lucy who encouraged him to
seriously pursue writing ("especially after she saw me act," he says) and he
considers that suggestion the best career advice he's ever been given. Lucy
remained a friend and mentor to him until her death in 1989.
For TCM, in addition to hosting four primetime movies seven days per week, he
also hosts special one-on-one PRIVATE SCREENING interviews with has so far
included such legendary filmmakers as Lauren Bacall, Angela Lansbury, Shirley
MacLaine, three famous Janes (Fonda, Powell and Russell), Esther Williams,
Mickey Rooney, Charlton Heston, Leslie Caron, Tony Curtis, James Garner,
Debbie Reynolds, Patricia Neal, directors Sidney Lumet, Stanley Donen and
Norman Jewison, and the late Robert Michum, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau,
Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, Ann Miller, June Allyson and Betty Hutton.
During 2007-08, he is also co-hosting with Carrie Fisher the TCM series of films
considered ?Essentials? to anyone wanting to see the best of the best films ever
made. Osborne also cohosts TCM's ?Guest Programmer? series where guests have
included a long list (among them: Mia Farrow, Bill Cosby, David Mamet, Buck
Henry, Hugh Hefner, Barry Levinson) and, in November 2007, will further include
Whoopi Goldberg, Gore Vidal, Tracey Ullman, Neil LeBute, Alec Baldwin, James
Elroy, Graydon Carter, Renee Fleming, Harvey Fierstein, Alfred Molina, Brian
Dennehy, John Sayles, Thelma Schoolmaker, Charles Busch, Charles Grodin, Matt
Groening, Cybill Shepherd, Rose McGowan, Danny DeVito, Donald Trump and
Martha Stewart (but not together).
Osborne has lived in New York City since 1987 and also travels extensively to
Atlanta where he tapes his TCM segments, to Los Angeles and - whenever he can
swing it -- to his home state of Washington where he is one of the investors in a
movie house called The Rose (158 seats) in Port Townsend, Washington, which
has since acquired a sister-theatre, the Rosebud (83 seats). Since 2005, he has
also been hosting his own film festival ROBERT OSBORNE'S CLASSIC FILM
FESTIVAL which is held once a year in Athens, Georgia, the home of the
University of Georgia. The festival's fourth edition will be held in April 2008.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Sound (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Cast (Short)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1962
Appeared in the pilot episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" but declined to join the regular cast as he thought the show would be a failure.
Videos
Movie Clip
Promo
