Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr., an American Journalist, producer, actor, political analyst, and writer, is best known as the host of The last word with Lawrence O'Donnell. He started his political career as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and worked as a Staff Director for the Senate Finance Committee. He has described himself as a "practical European socialist."
As an occasional actor and film producer, Lawrence O'Donnell has appeared as a recurring supporting character on the HBO series, Boy Love.
Lawrence O'Donnell's Early Life And Education
Lawrence O'Donnell was born on November 7, 1951, in Boston. He is the son of Frances Marie, an office manager, and Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Sr., an attorney. He is of Irish descent and belongs to American nationality. He grew up Catholic.
Lawrence O'Donnell graduated from St. Sebastian's School in 1970, where he was a captain of a school's basketball team and wide receiver on their undefeated team. He graduated from Harvard College in the year 1976, with a major in economics.
He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon while at Harvard and was popular among its members for his wit and sarcasm.
Lawrence O'Donnell's Career
Lawrence O'Donnell started his career as a writer. His first book, ‘Deadly force' published in 1983. It was about the brutality of police later, it was made into the film as well.
He worked as a legislative aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1989 to 1995. He worked as a senior advisor to Moynihan from 1989 to 1991.
Lawrence O'Donnell worked as staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works from 1992 to 1993, chaired by Senator Moynihan.
He was a staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Finance from 1993 to 1995, again under Senator Moynihan’s chairmanship.
Lawrence O'Donnell started his career in television from 1999-2006. He was a s sociated with the television series 'The West Wing’. He wrote 16 episodes during that time.
He was executive story editor for 12 episodes from 1999-2000; he was co-producer of 5 episodes in 2000; he was the producer of 17 episodes from 2000 to 2001; he was consulting producer for 44 episodes from 2003 to 2005; and, he was an executive producer for 22 episodes from 2005 to 2006.
Lawrence O'Donnell won the 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for The West Wing and was nominated for the 2006 Emmy for the same category. He was a supervising producer and writer for the TV drama First Monday in 2002, was a creator, executive producer, and writer for the TV drama Mister Sterling.
He became a regular contributor on Morning Joe alongside Joe Scarborough, in 2009. His aggressive debate style on that program and others led to several notable on-air confrontations, one of the most notable being an interview with conservative Marc Thiessen on Morning Joe that became so heated that the conservative Scarborough took O'Donnell off the air.
In addition, Lawrence O'Donnell is active in acting as well. He played Lee Hatcher, the Henrickson family attorney, in the HBO series Big Love. He has a producer on the TV series, The West Wing and also played President Josiah Bartlet's father in a flashback sequence of the episode "Two Cathedrals."
He portrayed Judge Lawrence Barr in two episodes of Monk and played himself on an episode of Showtime's Homeland.
Lawrence O'Donnell's Net Worth And Salary
Lawrence O'Donnell's net worth is $16 million at present. He is one of the richest celebrities with an annual salary of $4 million.
Lawrence O'Donnell has made a trip to Malawi with the intent of providing school-room desks for students in late 2010. MSNBC and UNICEF partnered to create the K.I.N.D. fund - Kids in Need of Desks - with the mission to deliver desks to African schools.
The program raised over $6.5 million, as of December 2013, paying for approximately 100,000 desks to be delivered to cla s srooms.
In addition, the K.I.N.D. the fund also provides scholarships to help young girls in Malawi attend school. By the end of 2017, the Fund had raised $19 million.
Lawrence O'Donnell stands at the height of 5 feet 10 inches. He is active on social sites and can be followed on Twitter as well as Facebook.
Lawrence O'Donnell's Personal Life
Lawrence O'Donnell was married to television and film actress, Kathryn Harrold. The couple tied the knot in 1994. They have a daughter named Elizabeth Buckley Harrold O'Donnell. He divorced his wife in 1999.
Lawrence O'Donnell allegedly dated well-known television host Tamron Hall. The duo was linked together and said to be secretly dating. There was a lot of rumor about them getting married soon but there is no official confirmation of the news. It will be a treat to watch this lovely couple together.
He made a trip to Malawi in late 2010, with the intent of providing desks for students who had never seen desks. MSNBC and UNICEF partnered to create the K.I.N.D. fund - Kids in Need of Desks - with the mission to deliver desks to African schools.
As of 2013, the project has gathered $6.5 million paying to 100,000 desks for the cla s srooms. In addition, K.I.N.D. also helped young girls in Malawi attend school by providing them scholarships. The fund has raised $19 million by the end of 2017.
Controversies
A celebrity is incomplete without controversy likewise, Lawrence O'Donnell has also been involved in many controversies over the year including a heated argument with John O'Neill in October 2004, or his sarcastic criticism while interviewing with Congressman Ron Paul, or his recent argument with POTUS Donald Trump.
He always comes forward about his opinion if he disagrees with something or someone including high-profile celebrities because of which he is surrounded by controversies all the time.
He once became a casualty of the drunken driving taxi accident while traveling on Tortola, the British Virgin Islands in April 2014. Both he and his oldest brother Michael were critically injured. Both of them had to go through critical surgeries.
On September 20, 2017, an 8-minute video clip was leaked that showed O'Donnell cursing and swearing between segments of a live broadcast that aired on August 29, 2017. O'Donnell apologized on Twitter, and the leaker was subsequently fired.
by sanjeet, 27 May, 2016
