One of the most outspoken and successful comediennes of the 1990s, Roseanne Barr gave voice to the joys and frustrations of women’s lives in middle America, first, through her stand-up career, and later, as the star and producer of her own popular sitcom, “Roseanne” (ABC, 1988-1997). The show was among the most honest portrayals of domestic life on television, but its Top 20 ratings and numerous awards were occasionally outshined by the tabloid coverage of its star, who garnered controversy for her multiple marriages – most famously, to the obnoxious comic, Tom Arnold – and occasionally ruthless backstage manner on her show – to say nothing of her infamous mangling of the “Star Spangled Banner” to the boos of sports fans and patriots everywhere. However outlandish Roseanne would become – there was no denying she struck a crowd with middle class viewers who, for a time, made Roseanne the most powerful woman on television.
Born Roseanne Cherrie Barr in Salt Lake City, UT on November 3, 1952 to a bookkeeper mother and a salesman father, she found her calling in performance at an early age, often entertaining her family when they gathered for the Sabbath on Friday evenings. Reportedly, Barr’s parents kept their Jewish identity hidden, and maintained an interest in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to blend in with their neighbors. Barr was active in school plays, but sought bigger audiences outside of Utah. By the age of 17, she had dropped out of school and relocated to an artists’ colony in Colorado – she was also reportedly involved a car accident at this time, which resulted in post-traumatic stress and required a stint in a local institution. While there, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Brandi Brown, whom she gave up for adoption (the pair reunited in 1989 and remained close thereafter). Three years later, she married Bill Pentland, with whom she had three children (two daughters and a son). While working part-time as a waitress and window dresser, she was encouraged by customers to take her quick wit to comedy clubs. Gathering up the nerve, she stepped in front of the mike for the first time. By the early 1980s, she had risen to the top of the Denver comedy scene.
Barr’s comedy was based around her experiences as a housewife and mother, which she referred to as “domestic goddesses.” A dry and drawling delivery and a wickedly sharp tongue helped attract the attention of comics in Los Angeles, who asked her to try out for Mitzi Shore, legendary owner of the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. She nailed her audition and scored highly with the Los Angeles crowds; she also landed one of her earliest television appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (NBC, 1962-1992) in 1985.
More television appearances led to her own ABC series, in which she starred as Roseanne Connor, the opinionated but open-minded force of nature at the center of a closely-knit blue collar family in Illinois. Critics singled out the show for its humor, which was biting but affectionate, and for its portrayal of women, which was built on ideas and open dialogue rather than appearances. The show, which rose to #2 in its debut season, was not afraid to tackle controversial subjects – including through the years, gay marriage, obesity, alcoholism, unemployment and domestic violence – which were all addressed during its network run, but the show refused to tap these issues for their hot-button quality or to turn them into moral soapboxes. Rather, they were all woven into one of the most accurate depictions of middle-class life on television. For its efforts, the show won a Golden Globe in 1993 and a Peabody Award in 1992. Barr herself, who had done little to no acting prior to the program’s launch, won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her portrayal.
Though the Connor family managed to pull together despite all manner of troubles, Barr herself was frequently at the center of several domestic and business hurricanes that put her front and center on tabloids for the better part of a decade. Her marriage to Pentland, who had served as executive consultant on “Roseanne” during its first season, slowly unraveled between 1988 and 1990, due in no small part to Barr’s growing romance with fellow comic and writer Tom Arnold. After Barr and Pentland divorced in 1990, she married Arnold – just four days after the divorce was completed – who rose to the ranks of executive producer at “Roseanne.” By the midpoint of the show’s network run, Barr had dismissed many of its writers and essentially taken over its production. The pair was open and brash about their success (Arnold referred to them as “America’s worst nightmare – white trash with money”), and audiences found the joined-at-the-hip coupling either hilarious or repellant. A much-publicized comedy tour, followed by a short-lived series for Arnold (the underrated “Jackie Thomas Show,” ABC, 1992), and the opening of their own diner in 1993, did not endear them to their detractors, nor did Barr’s feuding with ABC over their alleged failure to promote Arnold’s show. In 1994, Barr and Arnold divorced under an unpleasant cloud of alleged spousal and child abuse.
Further clouding Barr’s standing as spokesperson for America’s working mothers and wives was a 1990 incident in which she deliberately mangled a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” following it up with a ballplayer-style spit and readjustment of her crotch. The performance was broadcast ad nauseam on television newscasts, which clucked and tsked over her lack of taste – with even then-President George H.W. Bush weighing in on the controversy. This was soon followed by claims to the press in 1991 that she had been sexually abused by her parents as a child. Barr’s parents and siblings both denied the charges and even took polygraph tests to prove their innocence. The incident resulted in a 10-year estrangement from her family. It seemed to an outsider that Barr had gone off the rails.
Barr’s appearances outside “Roseanne” were infrequent. She was top-billed opposite Meryl Streep in “She-Devil” (1989), a failed film adaptation of the Fay Weldon novel. She provided the voice of baby Julie in “Look Who’s Talking Too” (1990) and made a cameo with Arnold (as themselves) in “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (1991). Barr and Arnold also co-starred in two likable TV-movies, “Backfield in Motion” (1991) and “The Woman Who Loved Elvis” (1993), and was featured in the quirky documentary “Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood” (1994), about an Appalachian eccentric who winds up a guest on “Roseanne.” She also published her autobiography, Roseanne: My Life as a Woman; a subsequent book, My Lives which alleged that she suffered from multiple personality disorder, was released in 1994.
The ratings on “Roseanne” began to decline in its seventh season (1994-95); the series, which had once bested “The Cosby Show” (NBC, 1984-1992), had slipped into frequent stunt episodes and gag casting, though a storyline about Roseanne’s unexpected pregnancy offered a spark of the series’ previous level of quality. Barr herself married again that year, this time to her security guard, Ben Thomas, with whom she would have a son, Buck. “Roseanne” itself limped through its final two seasons, ending in 1997 after seeing the perennially hard-luck Connors enjoy a whirlwind tour of the country after winning the lottery. As with so many of Barr’s projects and personal choices, the final season was a divisive issue among viewers.
Following the series’ conclusion, Barr served as executive producer and occasional guest star of a well-regarded sketch comedy series, “Saturday Night Special” (Fox, 1996), which failed to connect with audiences. She also played the Wicked Witch of the West in a glitzy production of “The Wizard of Oz” at Madison Square Garden in 1997 – in then-typical Barr fashion, she made outlandish claims of studying serial killers to aid her portrayal of the Witch. The following year, she hosted her own talk show, “The Roseanne Show” (syndicated, 1998-2000), which fell off in ratings after a strong start in its first season.
Barr filed for divorce from Thomas in 1998 under allegations of his alcoholism and threats to abduct their son; the suit was soon dropped and audiences found her renewing her vows with Thomas on a 1999 episode of her talk show. The marriage lasted until 2002, when they divorced for good. Barr began exploring religion via Kabbalah, which apparently gave her some inner peace. She reunited with her family and returned to television with an offbeat idea: a reality show about Barr hosting a cooking show. The series, originally titled “Domestic Goddess” but later changed to “The Real Roseanne Show” (ABC, 2003) came to a halt when Barr fell ill during production, and it was cancelled after airing only a single episode.
Barr contributed her voice to the animated Disney feature “Home on the Range” in 2004; the following year, she reinstated her maiden surname and returned to stand-up with an international tour, including an appearance at Comic Relief in 2006 and her first dates in Europe. Audiences noted that her appearance had changed somewhat since her last television appearances; in addition to changing her hair from brunette to blonde (her 2006 HBO special was “Roseanne Barr: Blond N Bitchin’”), Barr had undergone some plastic surgery, including a rhinoplasty for sleep apnea and a breast reduction.
During this same period, she also surprised many by exploring a singing career; the result of this phase was a charming children’s DVD called “Rockin’ with Rosie,” which was released through her own production company in 2006. And there were well-received guest shots on television series like “My Name is Earl” (NBC, 2005- ). Naturally, this spawned rumors of a return to network television, most notably with a recurring role on “Desperate Housewives” (ABC, 2004- ).
In 2007, Barr replaced Sandra Bernhard as the host of “The Search for America’s Funniest Mom” (Nick at Nite, 2005- ), a reality series about women whose own lives paralleled hers. That same year, she began hosting her own radio talk show on KCAA in Los Angeles. The program got off to a rocky start when her comments about gays and political activism garnered negative media attention. She also maintained her own website, RoseanneWorld.com, which gave voice to her many political and social concerns.