Marie Osmond says faith in God helped her avoid curse of childhood stardom
Multi-talented entertainer Marie Osmond has had a successful career that spans over 50 years and in a recent interview, she testified that it was God who helped her avoid the childhood curse that followed many young entertainers in Hollywood.
Osmond recently stepped down from the daytime television show "The Talk" to focus on other projects. Before that gig, Osmond and her brother, Donny Osmond, had an 11-year performance contract in Las Vegas and her popularity continues.
In a recent interview with Fox News, the "Paper Roses" singer opened up about how she managed to have a long and successful career in show business despite some people's efforts to dissuade her or dismiss her as being yet another young child star commodity.
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Osmond has been in show business since she was 3 years old when she made her first TV appearance on "The Andy Williams Show" alongside her brothers. At a very young age, she was told by industry executives that she had to lose weight and said she has a hard time overcoming that.
“Fortunately, I had great parents and a strong belief in God. I was 103 pounds and producers told me I was fat. I was 15. Are you kidding? That’s insanity. Telling a 15-year-old who’s 103 pounds she’s fat is ridiculous,” Osmond said.
Instead, the multi-talented entertainer made “peace” with herself.
“I said to myself, ‘You know, little body, you have been really good for me. You hung around when I’ve been brutal to you. Now it’s time for me to be kind to you.’ I don’t think we love our bodies enough and appreciate what it does for us,” she added.
Now in 2021, Osmond has been taking great care of herself, spending time with her family and running around after her seven grandchildren.
She went on to share what she would tell her younger self today.
“I would tell her she’s going to have a wonderful life. You can either sit on all the negatives and worry about the what-ifs, or you can take care of yourself, the incredible body that God gave you,” she advised.
When asked how she avoided the dreaded childhood star curse which led many of her peers down a dark path to drugs, rehab or even death, she admitted she doesn't know if she “escaped it completely” but honors her mother and God for her longevity.
“There’s a stigma in being a child celebrity. … But I think it starts with family. My mother saved me. … I remember when I was doing ‘Donny & Marie,’ I was about 17 at the time,” she said.
“I was working 17,18 hour days and we had to memorize 350-page scripts in two-and-a-half days. It was a lot of work and I went to school so I would come home late at night. I remember one time I said, ‘Mother, I have to go to bed. We’re taping in the morning and I need to look good.’
"She goes, ‘You have chores to do.’ And I said, ‘Mother, I’m like Marie Osmond.’ She said, "Really? Well, you can clean the toilet too. [TV] is your job. This is reality.’ I think the way my parents raised me and my belief in God made all the difference. You have to look at the big picture and see what’s important. But ... not a lot of people make it,” she added.
In 2001, Osmond told longtime talk show host Larry King — who died Saturday at the age of 87 after being hospitalized with COVID-19 — that growing up in the spotlight was difficult at times.
The performer was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and first started talking about faith publicly after a series of family troubles.
Osmond has been married three times to two different men. She remarried her first husband, Stephen, after her divorce in 2011. She has seven children, five of whom are adopted.
