Roseanne Barr

Background

Roseanne Cherrie Barr was born to a Jewish family in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 3, 1952. Helen Davis, an accountant, and cashier, and Jerome Hershel “Jerry” Barr, a salesman, had four children. Barr was three years old when she was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy on the left side of her face. Barr stated, “My mother had a rabbi come to my house to pray for me, but nothing happened. My mother then summoned a Mormon preacher, who prayed for me and miraculously healed me.” Years later, Barr discovered that Bell’s palsy was typically only temporary and that the Mormon elder arrived “exactly on time.” She uncovered her first public stage when she was six years old, lecturing at L.D.S. churches throughout Utah and being elected president of a Mormon youth group. Barr moved out when she was 18, informing her parents that she would be visiting a friend in Colorado for two weeks, but she never returned. Barr had a baby the following year, which she adopted. They reconciled amicably 17 years later.

Barr decided to become a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s, using her experiences as a mother and wife as comic material and performing at local clubs in Denver and Colorado. She also appeared on major shows such as “The Comedy Store,” “The Tonight Show,” and “Late Night with David Letterman.” From 1988 to 1997, Barr was a popular T.V. figure through her show, “Roseanne,” on ABC. In the sitcom, she portrayed herself as a rigid, soft, wisecracking mother. It earned her numerous awards, including an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Kids’ Choice Award. While she was still a television sensation, Barr published her autobiography, “Roseanne – My Life As a Woman,” in 1989. In the same year, she appeared in the film “She-Devil.” Throughout the 1990s, she worked on a variety of entertainment projects, including a voice-over for “Look Who’s Talking Too,” made appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” and released her second autobiographical book, “My Life” in 1994. Barr debuted as a stage actor in 1998 when she played the “Wicked Witch of the West” in the Broadway play “The Wizard of Oz” at Madison Square Garden. In the same year, she launched her talk show, “The Roseanne Show.”

Barr took a long break from the entertainment world after “The Roseanne Show” was canceled in 2000. In 2006, she returned to television as a stand-up comedian with “Roseanne Barr: Blonde and Bitchin.” Barr became more involved with television in the late 2000s, hosting “The Search for the Funniest Mom in America” on Nick at Nite and co-hosting an hour-long political show on K.P.F.K. In 2012, Comedy Central ‘roasted’ her. In 2012, she filed as a Green Party presidential candidate with the Federal Election Commission and officially confirmed her candidacy for the party’s presidential nomination. She lost the candidacy and revealed that she would operate on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket alongside activist Cindy Sheehan. This time, she was nominated. Barr decided to join Keenen Ivory Wayans and Russell Peters as a judge on N.B.C.’s. “Last Comic Standing” in the summer of 2014.

Barr’s series “Momsters: When Moms Go Bad” premiered on the Investigation Discovery cable network on November 28, 2014, a network she describes as “a little obsessed with.” On April 28, 2017, it was reported that Barr, along with the majority of the original cast, was shopping an eight-episode revival of “Roseanne” to various networks and Netflix, with the original characters serving as producers. On March 27, 2018, the revived 10th season of “Roseanne” debuted on A.B.C. to powerful ratings. The program received a 13th-episode 11th season renewal from A.B.C. on March 30, 2018. Following a widely regarded racist tweet, A.B.C. canceled the show on May 29, 2018. In a follow-up spin-off, “The Conners,” which A.B.C. planned for the fall season shortly after, Barr and Werner decided to give up her producer stake. Barr then made a guest appearance in 2020 on the talk show “Quarantined with Norm Macdonald.”