Rosie O'Donnell was born into an Irish family in Commack, Long Island. She was in the middle of 5 children. Her mother died when she was ten. She said that she watched TV nearly 24 hours a day. When she was 18 she dropped out of college and went on to do shows like Gimme A Break, and she produced and hosted Stand Up Spotlight. Now she works on her own down-to-earth syndicated show: The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
Used to work in the catalog department at Sears. Her job was to attach the orders to the catalogs, dump the catalogs in the correct bins, and then fetch the orders for the customers. Has said that she will never have biological children because of a family history of alcoholism and cancer. She plans to adopt more children, and is also becoming a certified foster parent (as of December 1999). Voted most popular in her high school class. Has a very big toy collection, especially McDonald's Happy Meal toys. Started out doing stand-up comedy. Her role-models are Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler. Best friends with Madonna. Big Savage Garden fan. Big Tom Cruise fan. Was a VH-1 VeeJay. Is allergic to cats and horses. Dropped out of Boston University after 1 year. Father was born in Belfast, N. Ireland. Adopted third child, son Blake Christopher (b. November 1999) [5 December 1999] Won $20,000 on Star Search. Appeared as a lifeline on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, correctly answering the question, and helping the contestant win $32,000. She later invited the contestant onto her show, and gave him a week-long trip to London, England, UK. Fell and broke her right hand. [March 2000] Has a chain of roses tattoo on her ankle. She refuses to sign autographs for adults. Anjelica Huston wanted her to play the lead in the film "Agnes Browne" but she turned it down because the offer came shortly after the shootings at Columbine High-School and O'Donnell felt that she was too emotional to do a film at that time. Voted high school homecoming queen. Is a big New York Jets fan. Rosie attended Sawmill Junior High School in Commack, New York. Rosie's father, Edward, was a spy-camera engineer for a defense corporation. TV special she co-hosted on Nickelodeon - "Nick News Special Edition: My Family is Different" -logged some 100,000 e-mails and calls in protest about its gay-parenting content, before the show even aired 18 June 2002. The campaign was reportedly organized by the Traditional Values Coalition. Linda Ellerbee produced and also hosted. 4 children - Parker Jaren O'Donnell (adopted) born 25/5/1995, Chelsea Belle O'Donnell (adopted) born 20/9/1997, Blake Christopher O'Donnell (adopted) born 5/12/1999 and Vivienne Rose O'Donnell born 29/11/2002 to Kelli Carpenter (her partner) Once owned and lived in the late Helen Hayes's former home in Nyack, New York. Took the role in Exit to Eden after learning that Sharon Stone had turned it down. Also shares parental duties for child born to partner Kelli Carpenter: daughter Vivienne Rose born on November 29, 2002. The baby weighed 6lbs 6oz. Attended Commack High School South, the same high school as Sportscaster Bob Costas. Born on the same day as actor Matthew Broderick. She is a big fan of the Harry Potter book series, and even offered to play Molly Weasley in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) for free. Auditioned for role of Elaine on Seinfeld. Is a third cousin to Bridget Moynahan on her father's side. A fact that Rosie O'Donnell did not know until Bridget was guest on The View.