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"Let's Be Frank" columns
When discussing the Osmonds, there are three separate elements – Donny, Marie and the Osmond Brothers (Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Jimmy). You could add a fourth as Merrill would prefer being a solo artist, and rightly so, since he sang lead on all the group’s hits.
Celebrating their 50th anniversary in show business, an era of performing will probably end this year when the entire family gets together once more for a series of concerts in England, Australia, Malaysia and Japan starting in May. No American dates are planned and probably won’t since they taped their 50th Anniversary PBC television special last year at the Orleans. The special will start airing in March.
Ironically, the driving force behind the special and the concerts is the youngest Osmond, 44 year-old Jimmy, who garnered his first gold record at age seven for a song he recorded in Japan entitled “My Little Darling.”
“I thought I was really smart inheriting all the coordination efforts,” explains Jimmy in an exclusive interview from his Utah home. “In reality I got the grunt work. Ever since I can remember I had to create the opportunities. I’m not complaining because I’m personally fulfilled and couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Performing with his brothers -- they’ll be at the Suncoast Feb. 22-24 – Jimmy has done about 200 shows a year the past 3 years. He’d like to cut it down to 150 or even 100 a year.
“Things have changed for me since dad passed away,” says Jimmy. “It’s really weird not seeing him. He was so much a part of our lives from the beginning. He prepared us for life; he armed us with responsibilities and instilled us with a forever family creed.” George Osmond died a few months ago. Though it was made out to be a surprise, he had been in declining health for sometime.
“There’s so much more than performing. I just signed a record deal for the brothers and I want to help Merrill with his solo career, plus I have other projects I want to develop,” says Jimmy, who started doing his own income tax preparation and owned his own home at age 14.
He is also the one that seems to keep the family together.
“We’re not a perfect family; we have words and issues like most families,” Jimmy says with a sigh in his voice. “Sometimes I’d like to strange them and there are scares. But, we have the greatest support system. When someone is down, we all rally for them. When it matters, you know that the family will be behind you no matter what might have happened the day before.”
Jimmy credits their family loyalties to the “old Hollywood way” they were brought up.
“We were like vaudevillians. We had to learn every facet of everything we did,” he recalls. “And we always supported each other. There may have been a star on stage, but off stage we were all equal.
I’ve know the Osmond family for more than 40 years and 34 years ago, when I first got married, they spent many a weekend at my apartment in Los Angeles watching cable television and devouring whatever food was in the cupboards and refrigerator. They were precocious, courteous and always with a smile. If you could spend time backstage with any of them today, you’ll find that they’re the same.
“I don’t think we’ve really change,” says Jimmy, “the big difference is now we’re the ones who have kids. I know we try to teach them the same family values we were taught.”
Jimmy Osmond is a multi-faceted entrepreneur who has also obtained success off stage. Through his experiences in the entertainment industry, he had produced and promoted concert tours, ice extravaganzas, commercials and even coordinated celebrity commercial endorsements.
He is owner of Osmond Family Theater Production based in Branson, Missouri, that produces family oriented productions including fireworks spectaculars as well as shows for the cruise industry.
Before age 15, Jimmy had developed and supervised most of the Osmonds’ merchandising business. Soon after, he launched a successful advertising agency that handled production services and campaigns for larger corporations including Yamaha and Coca-Cola.
In addition to live performances, Jimmy and his production companies have produced more than 1,100 hours of programming including theatrical films, made for television movies, TV specials, music videos, commercials and industrial videos.
In 1999, Jimmy was honored by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. Previous honorees have included Presidents John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford, Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Al Gore, Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley and Christopher Reeve.
READ FRANK'S ARTICLE ON THIS WEEK'S COVER STORY, DAVID BRENNER HERE.
Other "Let's Be Frank" columnsHERE |
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