Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr is one of the producers and main actors of Roseanne, portraying the titular role of Roseanne Conner.

Biography
Barr was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 3, 1952. She is the oldest of four children born to Helen (née Davis), a bookkeeper and cashier, and Jerome Hershel "Jerry" Barr, who worked as a salesman. Her father's family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, and her maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Austria-Hungary and Lithuania, respectively. Her paternal grandfather changed his surname from "Borisofsky" to "Barr" upon entering the United States.

At 16, she was hit by a car that left her with a traumatic brain injury. Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for eight months at Utah State Hospital. While institutionalized she had a baby, which she placed through adoption. In 1970, when Barr was 18 years old, she moved out by informing her parents she was going to visit a friend in Colorado for two weeks, but never returned.

While in Colorado, Barr did stand-up gigs in clubs in Denver and other Colorado towns. This led to her breakout appearance on The Tonight Show in 1985, an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in 1986, and her own HBO special called The Roseanne Barr Show the following year, earning her an American Comedy Award for the funniest female performer in a television special. Barr was offered the role of Peg Bundy in the FOX sitcom Married... with Children but turned it down.

In 1987, The Cosby Show executive producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner wanted to bring a "no-perks family comedy" to television. They hired Cosby writer Matt Williams to write a script about factory workers. In October 1988, Barr debuted her "starring" role in ABC's Roseanne. She plays the role of Roseanne Conner, a bossy, loud, caustic, overweight, and dominant line worker at Wellman Plastics. Despite her dominating nature, Roseanne is a loving mother who works hard and makes as much time for her kids as possible. The show premiered with "Life and Stuff" on October 18, 1988 and was watched by 21.4 million households, making it the highest-rated debut of that season.

Barr became outraged when she watched the first episode of Roseanne and noticed that in the credits, Williams was listed as creator. She told Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly, "We built the show around my actual life and my kids. The 'domestic goddess', the whole thing". In the same interview, Werner said, "I don't think Roseanne, to this day, understands that this is something legislated by the Writers Guild, and it's part of what every show has to deal with. They're the final arbiters." During the first season, Barr sought more creative control over the show, opposing Williams' authority. Barr refused to say certain lines and eventually walked off set. She threatened to quit the show if Williams did not leave. ABC let Williams go after the thirteenth episode.

In the final season of the original run of the show, Barr was in negotiations between Carsey-Werner Productions and ABC executives to continue playing Roseanne Conner in a spin-off. However, after failed discussions with ABC, and later CBS and Fox, Carsey-Werner and Barr agreed not to go on with the negotiations.

Barr gave Amy Sherman-Palladino and Joss Whedon their first writing jobs on Roseanne. She released her autobiography in 1989, titled Roseanne—My Life As a Woman. That same year, she made her film debut in She-Devil, playing Ruth opposite Meryl Streep and Ed Begley Jr.. In 1991, she voiced the baby, Julie, in Look Who's Talking Too. She was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. She appeared three times on Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1994, co-hosting with then-husband Tom Arnold in 1992. In 1994, she released a second book, My Lives. That same year, Barr became the first female comedian to host the MTV Video Music Awards on her own. She remained the only one to have done so until comedian Chelsea Handler hosted in 2010. In 1997, she made guest appearances on 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Nanny.

In 1998, she portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in a production of The Wizard of Oz at Madison Square Garden. That same year, Barr hosted her own talk show, The Roseanne Show, which ran for two years before it was canceled in 2000. In the summer of 2003, she took on the dual role of hosting a cooking show called Domestic Goddess and starring in a reality show called The Real Roseanne Show about hosting a cooking show. Although 13 episodes were in production, a hysterectomy brought a premature end to both projects. In 2004, she voiced Maggie, one of the main characters in the Disney animated film Home on the Range.

On April 28, 2017, television trade publications reported an 8-episode revival of Roseanne, being shopped to multiple networks including ABC and Netflix. Barr, John Goodman, and Sara Gilbert were attached to reprise their roles, while Laurie Metcalf was considered likely to return.

In May 2017, it was announced the series was greenlit and would air on ABC mid–season in 2018. Barr, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford will produce the series, alongside Gilbert, who will serve as an executive producer while Helford and Whitney Cummings will be handling day-to-day oversight of the show. Original writer Norm Macdonald has stated he has written for 8 of the episodes.

Gallery
Gallery of behind the scene stills released to promote the actor.