Jay osmond wife karen randall

ByBrian Boone

One of the mainthings that people get wrong about the s: It wasn't all disco and boundary-pushing. The pop charts and primetime TV schedule were both dominated by unabashed corniness in the form of bubblegum pop and glitzy musical-comedy variety shows.

It's in both of these worlds that the Osmonds flourished. Overcomingthe tragic history of Mormonism, the outwardly religious and squeaky-clean group of nine churchgoing siblings from Utah made entertainment the whole family could enjoy. Five of the brothers, billed as the Osmonds, had a No. 1 hit in with"One Bad Apple,"while breakout star Donny Osmond would enjoy a solo career and a TV show with younger sister and fellow phenom Marie Osmond.

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But even these entertainers who sang the most inoffensive pop songs, promoted family values, and seemed to always be on television somewhere flashing a toothy smile weren't spared the darkness of life.

The Osmond family, including the members made rich and famous in the s and their predecessors and successors, have suffered a lot in their private lives. Here's a look at the surprisingly heartbreaking and often tragic off-stage lives of the members of the Osmond family.

Afterfightingin World War II, George Osmond sold insurance and real estate and worked as a postmaster in Ogden, Utah, before he devoted his professional life to shepherding the musical careers of most of his nine children.

He initially enlisted four of his young sonsto make up a precise barbershop quartet, which became a singing quintet with the addition of Donny Osmond.

Kandilyn osmond: In other projects. Kandilyn Harris Osmond. Retrieved June 27, Though the ceremony was not so lavish and was a civil ceremony, it was attended by all of his siblings and family members.

To get the group coveted spots performing at Disneyland and on "The Andy Williams Show," and to keep everyone in line, George adopted cold and depersonalized parenting tactics. He assigned each of his children a number, and when 8-year-old Donny wrote a letter home from a tour stop in Sweden detailing his loneliness and homesickness, his father delivered a lecture and struck him violently several times.

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Donny cites his father's childhood and professional history for making him the way he was.

As a boy, George's stepfather abused him and then made him leave the family home when he was a teenager. From there, George became a sergeant in the US Army. "It's easy to blame the parent," Donny toldThe Guardianin "I got over that quickly and realized my father is not perfect but he did the best he could."

Three years after family matriarchOlive Osmond diedat the age of 79,George Osmond diedof natural causes in November at the age of

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After the Osmonds conquered pop music, the family launched the career of Marie , she joined brother Donny Osmond on theABCvariety show "Donny and Marie." Production on the series began when Marie was 15 years old, and that's also when she developed an eating disorder following cruel comments from a supervisor.

"I was taken out to the back by some head of the studio — and I'm like 5′ 5″ and about pounds — and he basically said, 'You're an embarrassment to your family. You're fat,' "Marie toldPage Six. He suggested the show could be canceled because of her appearance and so-called lack of self-control.

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The tirade sent Marie on a destructive path.

"I would literally starve myself for three days before taping, drinking lemon water and cayenne pepper with maple syrup so I can be skinny," she toldFox News. Already diminutive and slight, she lost about 10 percent of her body weight and dropped to just over 90 pounds. She realized she was experiencing body dysmorphia after catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror.

"I was in the dressing room, bending over putting on my pantyhose, and there was a girl in there changing who was just an emaciated skeleton with skin on her," she said. "And I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, that's so sick,' and I stood up and realized that girl was me."

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In the early s, Donny Osmond juggled his duties in theOsmondswith a solo career.

Without having to share the spotlight, Osmond amassed a string ofpop hitsgeared at fawning teens and tweens, including "Sweet and Innocent," "Go Away Little Girl," "Hey Girl," "Puppy Love," and "Too Young. " In , the year-old teen idol took his talents to television, starring in thepopularvariety show"Donny and Marie" with his younger sister, Marie Osmond.

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Staying away from thedebauchery and promiscuitylong associated with pop and rock stars, Donny began a quiet relationship with a woman named Debbie Glenn.

When he was 19, Donny proposed marriage. "When I told my dad, he said, 'Well, there goes your career, but this is ushering in your personal life,'" Donny recalled toThe Guardian. George Osmond implied that his son's army of very young fans would no longer be interested in following the career of a married man or an established adult. "My dad was right about my career," Donny noted.

Following his marriage, ABC canceled "Donny and Marie" and, in an example of the messed up truth of the s music industry, Donny didn't hit the pop chart again for a decade.

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In the s and s,Merrill Osmond sang leadand played the bass guitar in the Osmonds.

Achild and then teenagerat the time, he dealt with an undue amount of attention from millions as well as the pressure to perform and succeed. That stress manifested in a series of mental health concerns.

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At the age of 16, he contemplated suicide. "I had a knife and I didn't want to live because I had no hope," he toldThe Mirrorin After scaling a mountain near his Utah home, he claimed he was shaken out of his depressive state when a stiff wind nearly knocked him over.

Several weeks later, he visited a psychologist who diagnosed depression as well as anxiety, on account of how Osmond experienced mood swings and periods of mania.

At the age of 30, Osmond received a more precise diagnosis: bipolar disorder, from which his father also suffered. "The depression has been with me forever," he said. "I still have bouts of it almost weekly. I can sit and cry all night, which I've done many times."

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Concurrently with his time in the Osmonds and his early depressive episodes, Osmond also experienced an eating disorder.

"I thought I was fat, I struggled with my weight," he said in a interview (via theYorkshire Post). "I stared myself."

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With her second husband, Marie Osmond raisedeight children, including five who were adopted, among them son Michael Blosil.

As a teenager, Blosil dealt with substance abuse issues, and he checked into a rehabilitation center in Within two years, his physical health had improved, and he found sobriety.

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However, his mental health issues persisted. In February , Blosil expressed his struggles via a phone call with his mother. "It was the first time I heard him start to cry and say he was alone," Osmond later "That he had no friends.

That he felt despair." Osmond urged Blosil to seek out help and told him she'd be in Los Angeles shortly to take care of him. The next day, Blosil died by suicide at his apartment in Los Angeles. "He had made that decision, I guess," Osmond said. "He loved his family but the pain was too intense."

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During pregnancy, the body produces a large volume of hormones, which stops after birth. That can contribute to weeks or months ofpostpartum depression.

It's similar to other forms of clinical depression and can lead to mood changes, anxiety, and profound feelings of sadness. A mother ofthree biological children, singer and TV star Marie Osmond experienced postpartum depression with such severity that she wrote a memoir about it,"Behind the Smile: My Journey Out of Postpartum Depression,"in hopes of publicizing and demystifying the issue.

"I lived with it for four, four and a half months," Osmond told"Larry King Live"about the hormonal collapse that led to her depression.

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It took Osmond more than a year to write the book, which was an honest take on her own mental health history. But in her research on postpartum depression, she uncovered a link between the condition and trauma.

"Almost some-odd percent of the people who suffer from postpartum depression have had some form of abuse in their life." Osmond shared that she was among that segment. "I was definitely abused, and it was definitely sexual. And you know, those types of things to go through, you think you are over them, but it is the long-term effects of those types of things that you don't even see." Osmond declined to reveal the identity of the perpetrator.

"The details I would rather keep to the past," she said.

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If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit theRape, Abuse & Incest National Network websiteor contact RAINN's National Helpline at HOPE ().

A vital member of the Osmonds,Alan Osmondwas the oldest singer in the group and co-writer of some of their biggest hits,including "Down by the Lazy River" and "Crazy Horses."In , thenot-yetyear-old singerwas diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis, a degenerative condition characterized by the brain slowly losing the ability to send signals.

That takes from patients, in part or entirely, their ability to walk, see, move, and speak. Nearly 40 years later, Osmond is still coping with the symptoms of the disease. "I was given a cortisone shot when I was first diagnosed, and it just about killed me," he toldCaregiving Club. "I decided there has to be a better way, and I started investigating alternative medicine that would not have the side effects of traditional drugs."

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Nonetheless,Osmond publicly demonstratedsome mobility difficulties in the early s, and a tabloid threatened to reveal his MS diagnosis unless he told his story through them.

Instead, on the advice of his friend and fellow MS diagnosis recipient Annette Funicello, he willingly announced that he had the condition on "Entertainment Tonight" as a public service.

In late , Osmond's son David, also a singer, experienced a host of concerning symptoms, including pain and heaviness in his feet that spread throughout his body, as well as paralysis.

Initially diagnosed with pinched nerves,in , a doctor recognized David's symptoms as those associated with MS, and he began treatments.

Many of the original Osmond family went on to have large families of their own, and some of those descendants suffered from tragic accidents and fatal health emergencies.

Jay Osmond (pictured) divorcedhis first wife and married again in the s. His second wife, Karen Osmond,had children and grandchildren of her own, and in November , one of them died. In the run-up to a move out of Arizona to Utah to be near multiple other members of the Osmond family, 7-year-old London Mortensen was hit by a falling trailer door.

She sustained injuries that killed her. "Our hearts are heavy with the loss," Jay said on X, formerly known as Twitter (viaRadar Online). "How sad it is to lose someone so sweet and so young."

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InNovember , following a series of arrests and charges for theft and drug crimes and a stay in a drug rehabilitation facility, Troy Osmond was discovered unresponsive at his family's home in Utah.

Pronounced dead on the scene by authorities, the youngest son of Merrill Osmonddied of a heart attackwhile sleeping. He was 33 years old.

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Known initially in the early s asLittle Jimmy Osmond,the youngest member of the performing arts family evolved from a 9-year-old hitmaker into an adultmusical theater performerunder the name James A.

Osmond. In December , Osmondstarred as Captain Hookin a stage adaptation of"Peter Pan" (a story with dark origins)at the Birmingham Hippodrome in England.

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In a frightening moment for both singers and spectators, Osmond almost joined the group ofperformers who died in front of their audiences. He fell ill during the show but managed to finish the performance and then sought emergency medical attention immediately after.

Doctors at a nearby hospital believe that a stroke after Osmond. Eight months later, older brother Merrill Osmond gave reporters a dour outlook on Jimmy's condition. "I think live performances are off the cards," he told the Press Association (viaNME). "He doesn't want to meet with anybody.

The rest of the time, it's basically family and all the space he needs to get better." Fortunately, by early , Jimmy had recovered enough to paint and exercise. "He's getting better every day," Merrill toldThe Mirror.

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The Osmond family includednine children, and seven of them eventually found success as professional musicians.

The two eldest Osmonds, Virl and Tom, couldn't fully participate in musical activities because they were both born with hearing impairments. Parents George and Olive Osmondwere urged by doctorsto institutionalize their two children and not to raise their family anymore; they didn't heed either suggestion.

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In recent years, the non-musicians in the family dealt with some serious health issues.

"It's been an interesting year," Marie Osmond told People Now (viaFox News) in early In the previous months, Virl had suffered a stroke, and Tom underwent quadruple bypass surgery to treat a heart ailment. The latternearly joined the list of forgotten s musicians that you may have missed died—complicationsbriefly left Tom on life support systems.

Those weren't the only health problems in the family.

Donny Osmond submitted to a shoulder surgery in , several months before Marie's daughter, Brianna Blosil Schwep,delivered a baby girlwho spent the first period of her life in a children's intensive care unit.

And in the summer of , Jay Osmond had a medical episode. "They said I had a mini stroke," he wrote onFacebook. "This was brought on by stresses I was under."

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The second-oldest of the brothers in the Osmonds, Wayne Osmond sang and energetically playedelectric guitarand other instruments in his family band.

By the s, he made headlines less for his musical prowess than for his medical a concertwith his brothers, Osmond was hit with a heart attack so severe that he couldn't play the saxophone anymore, nor remain standing up on stage. His family doctor ordered an MRI, and specialists diagnosed a two-inch-long tumor spotted behind his cerebellum as ependymoma, a form of brain cancer that usually develops in children.

After 17 hours of surgery and six weeks of radiation, doctors pronounced Osmond cancer-free and admitted that they initially considered his case to be incurable. Unfortunately, there was one serious lasting effect of the cancer and the tools used to treat it:He lost most of his abilityto hear.

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In , Osmond reportedly suffered a stroke.

Thirteen years later, he experienced the same medical emergency, but that one would prove to be fatal. On January 1, , Wayne Osmond died at the age of "My dear brother Wayne passed away peacefully last night from a stroke," Donny Osmond announced on hisInstagram page. "I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit him in the hospital before he passed."