Osbourne, Sharon 1952(?)- (Sharon Arden)

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Osbourne, Sharon 1952(?)- (Sharon Arden)

PERSONAL:

Born Sharon Arden, October 9, 1952 (one source cites 1953), in London, England; daughter of Don (a band manager) and Hope (a dancer) Arden; married Ozzy Osbourne (a singer and musician), July 4, 1982; children: Aimee, Kelly, and Jack.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA.

CAREER:

Television personality, concert producer, and band manager. Star and coproducer of television show The Osbournes, 2002-2005. Founder of the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Woman of the Year Award, 2003, from Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy.

WRITINGS:

(With husband, Ozzy Osbourne, and others) Ordinary People: Our Story, MTV Books/Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Penelope Dening) Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, Springboard Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Sharon Osbourne is the coauthor of two best-selling autobiographies that explore her life from her youth as the daughter of one of rock music's earliest concert promoters, to her own success managing bands, to her tumultuous business partnership and marriage to former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne. The road to becoming the matriarch of the colorful Osbourne clan was paved with alcohol, drugs, and violence, all of which informed Osbourne's biggest professional success, MTV's highest-rated series ever, The Osbournes. As the always-candid Osbourne told Tom Gliatto of People, she has 'lived 50 lives in 50 years."

Osbourne's first book, Ordinary People: Our Story, was a joint venture with writer Todd Gold and the other members of the Osbourne family. Formatted in transcript-like interviews with Sharon, Ozzy, and their children—Aimee, Jack, and Kelly—subjects range from Ozzy's legendary drug abuse, Jack and Kelly's fledgling careers in the music industry, and the unprecedented success of their reality show. Other anecdotes include well-known events such as the time Ozzy tried to strangle Sharon and the business meeting during which Ozzy bit the head off a live dove. Published to coincide with the third season of their TV show, Ordinary People was deemed "so slight and lightweight it threatens to levitate off the table" by Booklist reviewer Carlos Orellana.

Osbourne continues her life story in Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, written with Penelope Dening and published after Ozzy decided to postpone writing his own autobiography. The volume includes more details about her stormy and unconventional relationship with her domineering father, an account of her bout with colon cancer and chemotherapy, and her battle with an eating disorder that prompted her to undergo gastric band surgery. She also writes about the life transition involved in having her three children move out and start their own lives independently of their parents. A writer for Publishers Weekly called the volume "rip-roaring chatty and never boring," and a Kirkus Reviews writer described it as an "exhausting memoir soaked in bodily fluids from [a] warmhearted showbiz vulgarian."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Osbourne, Sharon, with Ozzy Osbourne and others, Ordinary People: Our Story, MTV Books/Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Osbourne, Sharon, and Penelope Dening, Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, Springboard Press (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2004, Carlos Orellana, review of Ordinary People, p. 1098.

Bookseller, June 17, 2005, review of Sharon Osbourne Extreme, p. 39; September 30, 2005, review of Sharon Osbourne Extreme, p. 10; May 11, 2007, "Sharon Covers for Ozzy," p. 5.

Broadcasting & Cable, January 6, 2003, "Hip Mom Wants to Have a Chat," p. 23.

Entertainment Weekly, November 12, 2004, Dan Snierson, "Stupid Questions: This Week With … Sharon Osbourne," p. 132; October 13, 2006, Tim Stack, review of Sharon Osbourne Extreme, p. 135.

Fortune, April 16, 2007, Mark Borden, "Metal's New Rules?," p. 29.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2006, review of Sharon Osbourne Extreme, p. 622.

New York Times, September 16, 2003, "The Perils of Pleasant, or Spacey, on Talk Shows," p. 5.

People, December 9, 2002, Tom Gliatto, "Daze of Their Lives: With Sharon Recovering from Cancer and Ozzy a Total Wreck, the Osbournes Swear by Each Other," p. 66; October 30, 2006, "Goodbye to the Band," p. 69.

Publishers Weekly, August 28, 2006, review of Sharon Osbourne Extreme, p. 46.

Redbook, October 1, 2006, "Q and A: Sharon Osbourne," p. 40.

Teen People, November 1, 2002, David Keeps, "Sharon Osbourne Speaks Out," p. 104.