Born 67 Years Ago Today in Utah, the Superstar Singer and Actress Who Became Half of an Iconic Sibling Duo

On this day (October 13) in 1959, Marie Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah. She was the eighth of nine children and the only daughter. Born into a family of performers, she made her TV debut at three. By the time she was 14, she was sending singles and albums to the top of the country chart. Around this time, she began collaborating with her brother, Donny. They found decades of success as one of the most recognizable sibling duos in entertainment history. Osmond has also written books, designed a line of dolls, and starred in Broadway musicals.

When Osmond was three, she joined her brothers on The Andy Williams Show. She spent the next few years performing with her brothers across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

By the early 1970s, Marie’s brothers were billing themselves as The Osmonds and had notched several pop hits. Around this time, the group’s management suggested that she could start a solo career. Already thinking about her future, she chose country music because she saw artists like Loretta Lynn balance family and career, she revealed in an interview.

Marie Osmond Goes Country

Marie Osmond recorded a demo featuring Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” when she was 11. Don Owens at MGM Records heard it and gave her a record deal. She flew to Nashville in 1973 to record her debut single, “Paper Roses.” Later that year, it reached the top of the country chart and No. 5 on the Hot 100. At just 14 years old, she was the youngest female country artist to hit No. 1 with a debut single.

The peak of Osmond’s solo country career came in the mid-1980s. She scored two chart-toppers in 1985. The first, “Meet Me in Montana,” was a duet with Dan Seals. She followed that with “There’s No Stopping Your Heart.” The next year, she and Paul Davis shared the top of the country chart with “You’re Still New to Me.”

Donny & Marie

Donny and Marie Osmond started collaborating long before they started recording together. Their decades of collaboration came as a result of their natural musical chemistry. “Donny was doing solo things separate from the brothers. I was doing solo things with ‘Paper Roses.’ Donny was in the studio recording, and couldn’t get a certain harmony part,” she recalled. “So, I went in and put on vocals. With ‘Leaving It All Up to You,’ it was just one of those things that happened that was an accident. A good accident.”

“I’m Leaving It Up to You” reached No. 4 on the Hot 100, No. 17 on the country chart, and topped the adult contemporary chart in 1974. Two years later, they launched their variety show, Donny & Marie. At just 14 years old, she was the youngest female to co-host a TV show.

The Osmond siblings released five solo albums between 1974 and 1977. More than two decades later, they returned with Donny & Marie in 2009. The next year, they released A Broadway Christmas.

Marie Osmond’s Acting Career

Marie Osmond’s feature film debut came in 1978 when she and Donny starred in Going’ Coconuts. Later that year, she appeared in The Gift of Love. In the following decade, she appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including I Married Wyatt Earp and Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family, in which she portrayed her mother.

[RELATED: Everyone Should Know These 4 Marie Osmond Songs, Even Though They Aren’t All Big Hits]

In 1994, she began her career as a stage actor in a touring production of The Sound of Music as Maria von Trapp. Three years later, she made her Broadway debut as Anna in a production of The King and I.

Featured Image by Harry Langdon/Getty Images