Robert Osborne

THE SHORTHAND VERSION:

Robert Osborne has been the primetime host and anchor ofthe Peabody award winning TURNER CLASSIC MOVIEStelevision network since TCM made it's on-air debut in April1994. He is also known as the official biographer of "Oscar"because of a series of books he's written on the subject of themotion picture industry's annual Academy Awards, his latestbeing 80 YEARS OF THE OSCAR, an updated version of anearlier edition and written at the request of the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is also the host of theannual TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL in Hollywood held at thelegendary Grauman's Chinese theatre and other festivalvenues, a gathering of world-wide film enthusiasts  whichlaunched in April 2010. 

In 2005, Osborne was given an Honorary Doctorate from theAcademy of Art University in San Francisco. In 2006, hereceived a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame;  in 2008,he was presented the National Board of Review's William K.Everson Award. In 2009 had the "pleasure" (?) of having aBobblehead made in his image. In 2010, he was honored inthe Grand Ballroom of New York's Plaza Hotel for hiscontributions to preserving film history by LighthouseInternational.   He has also been satirized five times onSATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: by Daryl Hammond as RO on Apr. 14,2006, and by Jason Sudeikis as RO on Nov. 20, 2010,Jan. 29, 2011, Mar. 5, 2011 and again later in 2011.

THE LONGER VERSION:

Robert O. 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.

During his days as an actor, his credits include appearing in the pilot of the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES TV series, several movies including THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE, an episode of THE WHIRLYBIRDS directed by Robert Altman, a stage production produced by Lucy called THE DESILU REVUE, a two-year cross-country tour of a play GENERATION with Bob Cummings, and the first stage production of Paddy Chayefsky's THE LATENT HETEROSEXUAL directed by Burgess Meredith and starring Zero Mostel, done at the same theatre in Hollywood where, by a twist of fate, Osborne's Walk of Fame star now sits in the forecourt.

In addition to the numerous books he's written on the historyof the Academy Awards, for five years (2006-2010) he alsoserved as the official red carpet greeter for the Motion PictureAcademy at the annual Oscar ceremony at the Kodak theatrein Hollywood. He also had a long association with the filmtrade publication, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, joining thestaff there in 1977 and from 1982-2009 writing the paper'sdaily column, "Rambling Reporter," in addition to reviewingmovies and Broadway plays for the paper, eventually reducinghis THR activities because of his increasing work schedule forTURNER CLASSIC MOVIES, the same reason he later found itnecessary to curtail his red carpet activities in Hollywood onOscar night. From 2005-2010, he also hosted his own filmfestival ROBERT OSBORNE'S CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL annuallyin Athens, Georgia, the home of the University of Georgia.

For TCM, in addition to hosting four primetime movies every night seven days per week, he also hosts special one-on-one PRIVATE SCREENING interviews which has so far included numerous legendary filmmakers such as Lauren Bacall, Angela Lansbury, Shirley MacLaine, three famous Janes (Fonda, Russell and Powell), the late Betty Hutton, Anthony Quinn, Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum, also producer Walter Mirisch and directors Sidney Lumet, Stanley Donen and Norman Jewison. He also co-hosts (currently with Alec Baldwin) TCM's on-going ESSENTIALS series of films considered to be "essential viewing" for anyone wanting a well-rounded knowledge of the best films ever made. Osborne also co-hosts TCM's GUEST PROGRAMMER franchise and it's new monthly half-hour NOW PLAYING: THE TV SHOW.

He also has recently appeared as a host-narrator with severalSymphony Orchestras around the country, including theHollywood Bowl Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in California;with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap in Vienna,Virginia; the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall inBoston and at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.; with the AtlantaSymphony Orchestra at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre andat the Verizon Amphitheatre in Atlanta.

He has also hosted events at such venues as (in New York)the Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall,City Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose theatre, Alice TullyHall, Lincoln Center's Walter Reed theatre, the Museum ofModern Art, the Paley Center, the Academy Theatre at theLighthouse, the Directors Guild of America theatre and theZiegfeld theatre; (in Los Angeles) at Grauman's Chinesetheatre, the Egyptian theatre, the Music Box, the Academy'sSamuel Goldwyn theatre and the L.A. County Museum of Arttheatre; (in  Washington D.C.) at the National Archives;(in Chicago) at the Symphony Center Orchestra Hall, theMusic Box and the Drury Lane theatres; (in San Francisco)at the Castro; (in Atlanta) at the Fox, the Rialto and thethe Plaza theatres; (in Philadelphia) at the Prince theatre;(in Davenport) at the Adler theatre; (in Wichita) at theOrpheum and the Warren theatres, (in Seattle) at theEgyptian, SIFF Cinema Center and Harvard Exit theatres and(in Florida) at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, theFour Arts Center in Palm Beach, the Van Wezel PerformingArts Hall in Sarasota, the Riverside theatre in Vero Beachand the Crest theatre in Delray Beach. 

Osborne has lived in New York City since 1987 and alsotravels extensively to Atlanta where he tapes his TCMsegments, to Los Angeles and - whenever he can swing it --to his home state of Washington for family reunions andwhere he is one of the investors in a movie theatre calledThe Rose (158 seats) in Port Townsend, Washington, whichhas since acquired a sister-theatre, the Rosebud (83 seats).He is also an avid collector of movie posters. Little known ROfact: he spent two years in the Air Force as a Lieutenant.

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