1979–1995: Stand-up and early work O'Donnell toured as a stand-up comedian in clubs from 1979 to 1984. She got her first big break on
Star Search, explaining on
Larry King Live: After this success, she moved on to television sitcoms, making her series debut as
Nell Harper's neighbor on
Gimme a Break! in 1986. The show bombed at the same time as her film career took off. O'Donnell made her feature film debut in
A League of Their Own (1992) alongside
Tom Hanks,
Geena Davis, and
Madonna, the latter of whom became a lifelong friend. She was originally considered for the role of Mary Sanderson in Disney's
Hocus Pocus, but it was ultimately given to
Kathy Najimy. O'Donnell claimed on her blog that she turned down the offer to work with
Bette Midler because she refused to portray a frightening evil witch. Throughout her career, she has taken on an eclectic range of roles: she appeared in
Sleepless in Seattle as
Meg Ryan's character's best friend; as
Betty Rubble in the
live-action film adaptation of
The Flintstones with
John Goodman,
Elizabeth Perkins, and
Rick Moranis; as one of
Timothy Hutton's co-stars in
Beautiful Girls; as a federal agent comedically paired with
Dan Aykroyd in
Exit to Eden; as the voice of a tomboyish female gorilla named Terk in
Disney's
Tarzan; and as a baseball-loving nun in
M. Night Shyamalan's
Wide Awake. O'Donnell was considered for the role of
Elaine Benes on
Seinfeld.
1996–2002: ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' In 1996, she began hosting a
daytime talk show, ''
The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', for her production company KidRo Productions. The show proved very successful, winning multiple
Emmy Awards, and earning O'Donnell the title of "The Queen of Nice" for her style of light-hearted banter with her guests and interactions with the audience. She also professed an infatuation with
Tom Cruise. During the April 19, 1999, broadcast of her talk show, she stated, "You are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun, I think you should go to prison." O'Donnell previously had remarked, "I don't personally own a gun, but if you are qualified, licensed and registered, I have no problem." In May 1999, a month after the Columbine shootings, O'Donnell interviewed
Tom Selleck, who was promoting
The Love Letter. O'Donnell
interrogated him about his recent unpaid commercial for the
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and questioned him about the NRA's position on the use of "
assault weapons". She said at the end of the segment the conversation had "not gone the way I had hoped" and added "if you feel insulted by my questions, I apologize because it was not a personal attack. It was meant to bring up the subject as it is in the consciousness of so many today." Ironically, O'Donnell at that time was a multi-million dollar paid spokesperson for 5 years for
Kmart, which was the largest volume firearms retailer in the United States. Around the same time, the cast from
Annie Get Your Gun was to appear on the show but refused O'Donnell's request to remove the line "I can shoot a partridge with a single cartridge" from the song "
Anything You Can Do" and agreed to perform "My Defenses Are Down" instead. Later in 1999, O'Donnell discontinued her contract with Kmart as their spokeswoman, as gun enthusiasts complained that she should not be the spokesperson for the largest gun retailer. O'Donnell countered that Kmart sells hunting rifles, not handguns or assault weapons and does so legally, which she supports. Both Kmart and O'Donnell denied publicly that Kmart had terminated the contract. In May 2000, O'Donnell's bodyguard applied for a
concealed firearm permit. O'Donnell stated that the security firm contracted by
Warner Bros. requested the gun. O'Donnell stated that because of threats, she and her family needed protection. After the
September 11, 2001 attacks, Broadway and tourism in New York City was down and many shows were in danger of closing. O'Donnell was among many in the entertainment field who encouraged viewers to visit and support the performing arts. She announced that she would donate 1 million dollars for aid in the rescue efforts and encouraged other celebrities and citizens alike to "give till it hurts". In June 2002, she left her talk show. The show was replaced by
The Caroline Rhea Show, with comedian
Caroline Rhea, which ran for one additional season. In December 2002, O'Donnell hosted the reunion special for season four of the reality competition series
Survivor,
Survivor: Marquesas, taking over hosting duties from
Bryant Gumbel. She would be replaced the following season,
Survivor: Thailand, by series host
Jeff Probst for the remainder of the series up until it did away with reunion shows after
Survivor: Island of the Idols in 2019; Jeff Probst returned for
Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans in 2026. O'Donnell was a guest star on an episode of
HBO show
Curb Your Enthusiasm entitled "
The Bowtie" in 2005.
2006–2007: The View premiere for the
I Am Because We Are documentary, about the millions of orphans in the African country of
Malawi who lost parents and siblings to HIV and AIDS In September 2006, O'Donnell replaced
Meredith Vieira as a co-host and moderator of
The View, a daytime women-oriented talk show.
Star Jones, a co-host on the show, quit, with some speculating Jones's conservative views would be in constant tension with O'Donnell's more liberal counterpoint. O'Donnell had also disputed Jones's route of rapid weight loss, alluding that it must have been through
gastric bypass surgery, rather than dieting and exercise alone as Jones had insisted, which also fed speculation about certain tension between the two. (Jones later confirmed that surgery was involved.) O'Donnell was credited with keeping the show's "
buzz factor up". She was also credited with making it more news-focused, though it still embraced the "fluff" of daytime TV talk shows (celebrities, fashion, and food). Despite an overall downward trend for most daytime broadcast shows, ratings rose by 27% during O'Donnell's first year on
The View. The show was the fourth-most-watched in all of daytime in the key demographic of women ages 18–49 and scored record ratings in the total viewer category with an average of 3.4 million viewers—up 15% versus the same time in 2005. In the past, Kelly had placed her hand over Regis' mouth as a joke during non-flu season. Encouraged by the show to be outspoken, O'Donnell sometimes provoked debate, at one time stating "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." On the February 24, 2003, episode of
Phil Donahue's talk show, O'Donnell referred to the
sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston resulting in $157 million awarded to 983 claimants, stating "I hope the Catholic Church gets sued until the end of time. Maybe, you know, we can melt down some of the gold toilets in the Pope's
Vatican and pay off some of the lawsuits because, the whole tenet of living a Christ-like life, has been lost in Catholicism." O'Donnell joked about communion rituals alongside co-host Behar's drunk priest comments. On April 19, 2007, the panel discussed the
Supreme Court of the United States's ruling in
Gonzales v. Carhart, a decision upholding the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. O'Donnell cited a
Florynce Kennedy quote, "If men could get pregnant abortion would be a
sacrament" and asked
rhetorically "How many Supreme Court judges are Catholic?" and "How about
separation of church and state?" Some conservative commentators deemed her statements "anti-Catholic bigotry" and suggested that such statements against other religions would not be tolerated. O'Donnell's outspokenness and spontaneousness sometimes led to her views being recirculated by other media outlets, often surprising
The View co-hosts including O'Donnell. Frequently portrayed unfavorably by conservative media outlets and what she deemed as
Republican pundits, O'Donnell lamented that they were focusing on her comments instead of more important national and world issues. Vanessa Hua of the
San Francisco Chronicle expressed disappointment in O'Donnell, given the comedian's championing of
LGBT rights. On December 14, O'Donnell apologized to those she offended, explaining that "Some people have told me it's as bad as the
n-word. I was like, really? I didn't know that." O'Donnell warned that "there's a good chance I'll do something like that again, probably in the next week, not on purpose. Only 'cause it's how my brain works."
Time called it a "pseudo-apology". O'Donnell later wrote in
Celebrity Detox that "I wish I had been a bit more pure in my public apology." In December 2006, O'Donnell criticized
Donald Trump for holding a press conference to reinstate Miss USA
Tara Conner, who had violated pageant guidelines, accusing him of using her scandal to "generate publicity for the
Miss USA Pageant" (to which he owned the rights) by announcing he was giving her a second chance. O'Donnell commented that due to Trump's multiple marital affairs and questionable business bankruptcies, he was not a
moral authority for young people in America. She stated, "Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second wife, had an affair – but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America." He called her names, insulted her by saying he would "send one of my friends to pick up her girlfriend [Kelli] and I think it would be easy", and claimed that Barbara Walters regretted hiring her. Walters was stuck in the middle as a social acquaintance of Trump's, and said O'Donnell did not feel like Walters defended her enough, which led to what both women agreed was an unfortunate confrontation in one of the dressing rooms. On April 25, 2007, ABC announced that O'Donnell would be leaving the show before the end of the year because of a failure to reach agreement on a new contract. O'Donnell condemned many of the Bush administration's policies, especially the
war in Iraq and the resulting
occupation. She also questioned the official explanation for the destruction of the World Trade Center, and stating in one episode, "I do believe that it's the
first time in history that fire has ever melted steel". She consistently mentioned recent military deaths and news about the war and criticized the U.S. media for its lack of attention to these issues compared to media coverage throughout the world. This led to a series of heated exchanges with co-host Hasselbeck, as well as "the most-discussed moment of her professional life." Conservative commentators criticized O'Donnell's statements, saying that she was comparing American soldiers to terrorists. O'Donnell was hurt and felt Hasselbeck had betrayed her friendship: "there's something about somebody being different on TV toward you than they are in the dressing room. It didn't really ring true for me." O'Donnell stated that Republican pundits were mischaracterising her statements and the right-wing media would portray her as a bully, attacking "innocent pure Christian Elisabeth" whenever they disagreed.
ABC News reported that her arguments with Hasselbeck brought the show its best ratings ever. O'Donnell was replaced by
Whoopi Goldberg as the moderator of
The View. In May 2007,
Time magazine included O'Donnell in their annual list of the
100 most influential people. O'Donnell was named "The Most Annoying Celebrity of 2007" by a
PARADE reader's poll, in response she said, "Frankly, most celebrities are annoying ... and I suppose I am the most annoying, but, whatever." In 2008,
The View won an Emmy for "Outstanding Special Class Writing" for a specially themed
Autism episode that O'Donnell helped create.
Janette Barber, O'Donnell's longtime friend and producer/writer of ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', accepted the award on behalf of herself and the other two winners, Christian McKiernan and Andrew Smith.
2007–2012: The Rosie Show and blog In March 2007, O'Donnell started a video blog,
Jahero, on her website Rosie.com answering fans questions, giving behind the scenes information and serving as a video diary. Originally featuring only O'Donnell and her hair and makeup artist
Helene Macaulay, they were soon joined by her writer from ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show
, Janette Barber. Called Jahero
, a name composed of the first two letters of each of their first names, they occasionally had short cameo appearances by View'' co-hosts Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbara Walters.
Jenny McCarthy appeared once briefly, as has Hasselbeck's mother-in-law and O'Donnell's mother-in-law, her (now) ex-wife Kelli's mother.
Kathy Griffin also appeared, where she read some of the questions. It became so popular that O'Donnell and her creative team considered an "on the road" version of the video blog using fan-submitted suggestions. O'Donnell was the front runner for the "best celebrity blogger" category in the 2007 Blogger's Choice Awards which she won. O'Donnell expressed interest in replacing long time host
Bob Barker when he retired from
CBS's game show
The Price Is Right. Barker was a frequent guest on her talk show and told reporters that she "would make a fine host". Although it was reported he had "endorsed" her as a "possible successor", Barker said that he had no role in choosing his replacement. In June 2007, she announced on her blog it was not going to happen and noted she was reluctant to uproot her family to move to California. In 2008, O'Donnell starred in and executive produced
America, a
Lifetime channel film in which she plays the therapist of the title character, a 16-year-old boy
aging out of the foster care system. The film is based on the
E.R. Frank book of the same name. In October 2009, she appeared in the original cast of
Love, Loss, and What I Wore. In November 2009, "Rosie Radio", a daily two-hour show with O'Donnell discussing news and events on
Sirius XM Radio, premiered. O'Donnell said she was approached by the company after she appeared on
Howard Stern's Sirius XM show. The radio show ended in June 2011. In 2009, O'Donnell made another guest appearance on
Curb Your Enthusiasm, where she beat up Larry twice, in an episode titled Denise Handicapped. OWN canceled
The Rosie Show on March 16, 2012, with the last show taped March 20, on the eve of O'Donnell's 50th birthday. The final show aired on OWN on March 29, 2012. In a statement, Oprah Winfrey said: O'Donnell responded to the cancellation by thanking her viewers and the host city of Chicago: In 2011, O'Donnell made another guest appearance on
Curb Your Enthusiasm, competing for the affection of a bisexual woman with Larry in an episode called "
The Bi-Sexual".
2013–2016: The Fosters and return to The View In 2013, O'Donnell appeared in a number of television shows. First, she played "brash but astute" reporter Dottie Shannon in an episode of
Bomb Girls, followed by playing the voice of the Bouncing Bumble Queen in
Jake and the Never Land Pirates. After that, also in 2013, she appeared in two episodes of
Smash as herself. That same year she also appeared as herself in an episode of
Impractical Jokers called "Everything's Rosie". In 2014, O'Donnell landed a reoccurring role as Rita Hendricks on
The Fosters, "a tough yet compassionate woman who works for the foster care system and becomes a mentor to a member of the Foster family." The character lasted through their 2016 season. In the fall of 2014, O'Donnell returned to
The View as a co-host, with a newly re-vamped version of the show, along with
Whoopi Goldberg returning as moderator and new co-hosts
Rosie Perez and
Nicolle Wallace. On February 6, 2015, representatives for O'Donnell confirmed she would once again exit the panel. In a statement, made to
The Hollywood Reporter, O'Donnell said, "[My health] got a little bit worse right before the holidays — [my doctor] was kind of concerned. ... I can't really fix [my personal life] right away, but I can fix [my job]." In 2015, O'Donnell made a cameo in
Pitch Perfect 2, playing a co-host on
The View. Deadline called the cameo "a bit that already seems dated." That same year, she appeared in an episode of
Empire, playing Pepper O'Leary, "a tough criminal who shared a cell for years with Cookie Lyon." In preparation for the role, she hired an acting coach and stated, "I prepared for this like I've never prepared for anything in my career, because I didn't want to disappoint and I understood the pace at which they work." In September 2015, the documentary
Everything Is Copy was released, a film by Jacob Bernstein about his mother
Nora Ephron. O'Donnell appeared in the documentary to help "bring his mother into focus" along with a number of other celebrities. In 2016, O'Donnell made a two-episode appearance in the CBS series
Mom, playing Jeanine, "the ex-girlfriend of Bonnie (
Allison Janney)". That same year, she was also a regular panelist on
Match Game and appeared in one episode of
The $100,000 Pyramid, where she competed against
Kathy Najimy. Later that year, O'Donnell also played the role of the gym teacher in
Hairspray Live! 2017–present: Return to acting In November 2016,
Showtime announced she had joined the cast of the comedy pilot
SMILF. The series aired from November 5, 2017, until March 31, 2019, and O'Donnell received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Tutu. On April 3, 2019, it was announced that O'Donnell would play the role of Lisa Sheffer in the HBO series
I Know This Much Is True. In 2021, O'Donnell guest starred on the series
Run the World and
The L Word: Generation Q. On June 15, 2021, it was announced that she would star as Detective Sunday, alongside Jon Bernthal, in a series reboot of
American Gigolo on Showtime, premiering in 2022. In 2022 she voiced the role of the MTA subway announcements in the second season of
Netflix series
Russian Doll starring
Natasha Lyonne. That same year she appeared as Vi in the
Amazon Prime Video series
A League of Their Own (2022). ==Other ventures==