Lawrence O'Donnell

{{Infobox person

| name = Lawrence O'Donnell

| image = Lawrence O'Donnell at the NYC Women's March on 5th Ave. Jan 21st, 2017.jpg

| caption = O'Donnell at the Women's March along Fifth Avenue on January 21, 2017

| birth_name = Lawrence Francis O’Donnell Jr.

| birth_date = {{nowrap|{{Birth date and age|1951|11|7}}}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Harvard University (BA)

| occupation = {{hlist | political analyst | television host | actor | senate staffer }}

| agent =

| spouse = {{marriage|Kathryn Harrold|1994|2013|end=div}}

| children = 1

| relatives =

| alias =

| credits = Political commentary:
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
The McLaughlin Group
Morning Joe
Television fictional series:
The West Wing (producer, writer, actor)
Big Love, Homeland (actor)

| website =

}}

Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951){{cite web|url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lawrence_odonnell|title = Lawrence O'Donnell|accessdate = September 13, 2021|website = Rotten Tomatoes|publisher = Fandango Media}} is an American television anchor, actor, author, screenwriter, liberal political commentator, and host of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, an MSNBC opinion and news program that airs on weeknights.{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/01/media/lawrence-odonnell-msnbc/index.html |title= Lawrence O'Donnell is staying on MSNBC |publisher=CNN |date=June 1, 2017 |access-date=June 14, 2020}}

He was a writer and producer for the NBC series The West Wing (playing the role of President Bartlet's father in flashbacks) as well as creator and executive producer of the NBC series Mister Sterling. He also appeared as recurring character Lee Hatcher in the HBO series Big Love.

O'Donnell began his political career in 1989, as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and was staff director for the Senate Finance Committee. He describes himself as a "practical European socialist".{{cite web | url = http://caglecartoons.com/column.asp?columnID=%7B3C798B88-CC34-4D12-865C-B7E91A29F0CE%7D | title = A liberal who loves markets: 'The West Wing's' Lawrence O'Donnell | work = Newsmaker Interviews | first = Bill | last = Steigerwald | date = November 11, 2005 | access-date = September 20, 2006 }}

Early life

O'Donnell was born in Boston on November 7, 1951, the son of Frances Marie (née Buckley), an office manager, and Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Sr., an attorney and member of the Supreme Court Bar. He is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic.{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?437111-1/playing-fire|title=Playing with Fire|website=C-SPAN.org}} He attended St. Sebastian's School (class of 1970), where he was captain of the baseball team and wide receiver on their undefeated football team. O'Donnell majored in economics at Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1976.The Almanac of the Unelected: Staff of the U.S. Congress: 1994. Edited by Jeffrey B. Trammell and Steve Piacente, 695. Washington, D.C.: Almanac Publishing, 1994. {{ISBN|0-9626134-5-2}}. While at Harvard, he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon.Wright, Jeanne. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-12-ls-26482-story.html The Sharp Shooter]" (Aug 12, 1994). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 14, 2010.

Career

=Author=

From 1977 to 1988, O'Donnell was a writer. In 1983, he published the book Deadly Force, about a case of wrongful death and police brutality in which O'Donnell's father was the plaintiff's lawyer.Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. Deadly Force: The Wrongful Death of James Bouden Jr.: A True Story of How a Badge Can Become a License To Kill. William Morrow & Co, 1983. {{ISBN|0-688-01914-5}}. In 1986, the book was made into the film A Case of Deadly Force; Richard Crenna played O'Donnell's father, and Tate Donovan played O'Donnell; O'Donnell was associate producer.{{cite web|title=A Case of Deadly Force|website=IMDb |access-date=July 16, 2010|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090802/}} In 2017, O'Donnell published the book Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/08/lessons-from-the-election-of-1968|title=Lessons from the Election of 1968|first=Louis|last=Menand|magazine=The New Yorker}}

=U.S. Congress=

From 1989 to 1995, O'Donnell was a legislative aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He served as senior adviser to Moynihan from 1989 to 1991, then as staff director of two senate committees that Moynihan was chairing: Environment and Public Works from 1992 to 1993, and Finance from 1993 to 1995.{{cite web|title=TV Producer Lawrence O'Donnell|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1184204|website=NPR|access-date=May 22, 2017}}

=Television=

==Writing and production==

From 1999 to 2006, O'Donnell was associated with the television drama The West Wing, writing 16 episodes and serving as executive story editor for 12 episodes (1999-2000), as co-producer for five episodes (2000), as producer for 17 episodes (2000-2001), as consulting producer for 44 episodes (2003-2005), and as executive producer for 22 episodes (2005-2006).{{cite web|title=Lawrence O'Donnell|website=IMDb |access-date=July 16, 2010|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640713/}} He won the 2001 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for The West Wing and was nominated for the 2006 Emmy in the same category.{{cite web|title=Awards for Lawrence O'Donnell|website=IMDb |access-date=July 16, 2010|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640713/awards}}

In 2002, O'Donnell was supervising producer and writer for the television drama First Monday; and in 2003 he was creator, executive producer, and writer for the television drama Mister Sterling.

==Contributor and host==

File:Ed Asner Lawrence O'Donnell.jpg in 2017]]

In 2009, O'Donnell became a regular contributor on Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough. His aggressive debate style on that program and others led to several on-air confrontations, including an interview with conservative Marc Thiessen on Morning Joe that became so heated that Scarborough took O'Donnell off the air.{{cite news|url=https://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/lawrence-odonnell-slams-marc-thiesse|title=Lawrence O'Donnell Slams Marc Thiessen For His Hypocrisy, But Scarborough Shuts Him Down|author=Neiwert, David|date=February 12, 2010|access-date=August 23, 2023|website=Crooks and Liars}} Also in 2009 and 2010, O'Donnell began appearing frequently as a substitute host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, particularly when Olbermann's father was ill in the hospital.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

On September 27, 2010, O'Donnell began hosting a 10{{nbsp}}p.m. show on MSNBC, called The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/last-word-lawrence-odonne_n_665768.html|title='Last Word': Lawrence O'Donnell MSNBC Show Gets Name|author=Gellman, Lindsay|date=July 31, 2010|access-date=August 9, 2010|website=The Huffington Post}}[http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/odonnell-gets-his-own-msnbc-show/ Lawrence O'Donnell Gets His Own MSNBC Show] The New York Times June 15, 2010. On January 21, 2011, it was announced that O'Donnell would take over the 8{{nbsp}}p.m. slot from Keith Olbermann after Olbermann announced the abrupt termination of his show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.Carter, Bill. [http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/ "Olbermann leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC"], The New York Times, January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2012. Beginning October 24, 2011, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell switched time slots with The Ed Show, with Ed Schultz taking over the 8{{nbsp}}p.m. Eastern slot, and O'Donnell returning to the 10{{nbsp}}p.m. Eastern slot.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcuniversal.presscentre.com/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=7187&NewsAreaId=2|title=MSNBC Primetime Schedule Change|last=Gaines|first=Jeremy|date=October 19, 2011|publisher=NBC Universal|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021032825/http://www.nbcuniversal.presscentre.com/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=7187&NewsAreaId=2|archive-date=October 21, 2011}}

On September 20, 2017, an eight-minute video clip was leaked; it showed O'Donnell angrily cursing and swearing about background noise between segments of a live broadcast that had aired on August 29, 2017.{{cite news |last=Huddleston |first=Tom Jr. |date=September 20, 2017 |title=MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Pleads 'Stop the Hammering!' in Leaked Outtakes |url=http://fortune.com/2017/09/20/msnbc-lawrence-odonnell-outtake-stop-the-hammering/ |work=Fortune |location=New York, NY |ref={{sfnRef|"MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Pleads 'Stop the Hammering!' in Leaked Outtakes"}}}} O'Donnell apologized on Twitter,{{sfn|"MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Pleads 'Stop the Hammering!' in Leaked Outtakes"}} and the leaker was subsequently fired.{{cite news |last=Concha |first=Joe |date=October 16, 2017 |title=NBC fires producer who leaked Lawrence O'Donnell meltdown video: report |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/355664-nbc-fires-producer-who-leaked-lawrence-odonnell-meltdown-video-report/ |work=The Hill |location=Washington, DC}}

==Acting==

O'Donnell played Lee Hatcher, the Henrickson family attorney, in the HBO series Big Love, about a polygamous family in Utah. In addition to being a producer on The West Wing, O'Donnell also played President Josiah Bartlet's father in a flashback sequence of the episode "Two Cathedrals".{{cite web |title=The West Wing Weekly 2.22: "Two Cathedrals" (Part 1, with Mary Graham and Lawrence O'Donnell) |url=http://thewestwingweekly.com/episodes/222-part1 |website=The West Wing Weekly |access-date=August 29, 2019 |date=March 14, 2017}} O'Donnell portrayed Judge Lawrence Barr in two episodes of Monk{{cite web |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lawrence-odonnell/credits/211629/ |title=Lawrence O'Donnell |work=TV Guide |access-date=August 29, 2019 }} and played himself on an episode of Showtime's Homeland.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1988309/characters/nm0640713 |title=Lawrence O'Donnell |work=IMDb |access-date=August 29, 2019 }}

Controversies

File:Lawrence O'Donnell.jpg]]

= Comments about religion and slavery =

In 2007, O'Donnell criticized Mitt Romney's speech on religion, stating: "Romney comes from a religion that was founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMFnxUathQ |title=Lawrence O'Donnell Attacks Mormonism in 2007 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=June 20, 2014}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/09/lawrence-odonnell-loses-h_1_n_75987.html | work=The Huffington Post | first=Jason | last=Linkins | title=Lawrence O'Donnell Loses His Ever-Loving Mind on McLaughlin | date=December 9, 2007}} In the April 3, 2012, broadcast of The Last Word, O'Donnell made comments regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), saying it was an "invented religion," which was "created by a guy in upstate New York in 1830 when he got caught having sex with the maid and explained to his wife that God told him to do it."{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/04/04/lawrence_odonnell_mormonism_is_an_invented_religion.html |title=Lawrence O'Donnell: Mormonism Is An "Invented Religion" |publisher=RealClearPolitics |date=April 4, 2012 |access-date=June 20, 2014}} During the April 11, 2012, broadcast of The Last Word, O'Donnell apologized for the April{{nbsp}}3 comments, stating that they had offended many, including some of the show's most supportive fans.{{cite web|url=http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/47024790#47024790 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416054053/http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/47024790#47024790 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 16, 2012 |title=Rewrite on the politics of religion - Video on NBCNews.com |publisher=MSNBC |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}

In late 2010, O’Donnell showed a taped October 2010 interview with RNC Chairman Michael Steele. In O'Donnell’s introduction to the taped interview, he said, "Michael Steele is dancing as fast as he can, trying to charm independent voters and Tea Partiers while never losing sight of his real master and paycheck provider, the Republican National Committee." After these remarks drew criticism from Steele and talk-radio host Larry Elder, who both characterized them as racially insensitive, O'Donnell apologized for them.{{cite news|url=http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/tv/2010/10/08/15624286.html|title=MSNBC host sorry for slavery gaffe|author=Bond, Paul|date=October 8, 2010|newspaper=Toronto Sun|access-date=October 12, 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/night-watch-talk-of-witches-and-an-apology/|title=Night Watch: Talk of Witches and an Apology|author=Stelter, Brian|date=October 7, 2010|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 12, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/1010/Lawrence_ODonnell_apologizes_to_Michael_Steele.html?showall|title=Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes to Michael Steele|author=Hagey, Keach|date=October 7, 2010|publisher=Politico|access-date=October 12, 2010}}

= Controversial interviews and stories =

O'Donnell also drew criticism for an October 2010 interview with Congressman Ron Paul, when Paul accused him of breaking an agreement not to ask him about other political candidates.{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Morning-Vid-Ron-Paul-Scolds-Discourteous-MSNBC-Host-5350|title=Morning Vid: Ron Paul Scolds 'Discourteous' MSNBC Host|author=Hayden, Eric|date=October 12, 2010|publisher=The Atlantic|access-date=October 12, 2010}} O'Donnell said he had not been part of any agreement, but an MSNBC spokeswoman stated, "We told Representative Paul's office that the focus would be on the tea party movement, not on specific candidates."{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/1010/Ron_Paul_accuses_Lawrence_ODonnell_of_breaking_agreement.html#|title=Ron Paul accuses Lawrence O'Donnell of breaking "agreement"|author=Hagey, Keach|date=October 12, 2010|publisher=Politico|access-date=October 12, 2010}}

During an October 2011 interview, O'Donnell accused Republican primary candidate Herman Cain of not participating in protests during the 1960s civil rights movement and of avoiding the draft during the Vietnam War. The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf called O’Donnell’s questions during the interview "offensive," adding, "In this interview, O'Donnell goes to absurd lengths to use patriotism and jingoism as cudgels to attack his conservative guest, almost as if he is doing a Stephen Colbert-style parody of the tactics he imagines a right-wing blowhard might employ. Does he realize he's becoming what he claims to abhor?"[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/lawrence-odonnells-offensive-interview-with-herman-cain/246328/ Lawrence O'Donnell's offensive interview with Herman Cain], The Atlantic, October 2011. O'Donnell's interview with Cain was later defended by Reverend Al Sharpton.{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/08/lawrence-odonnell-defends-herman-cain_n_1001548.html | work=The Huffington Post | first=Jack | last=Mirkinson | title=Lawrence O'Donnell Defends Herman Cain Interview (VIDEO) | date=October 8, 2011}}

On August 27, 2019, O'Donnell reported that Deutsche Bank documents showed Russian oligarchs had cosigned loan applications for Trump. O'Donnell based this report on a single source that he did not identify, although he used the qualifier "if true," and acknowledged that it had not been verified by NBC News.{{cite news |last=Bauder |first=David |url=https://www.apnews.com/5f32c14a803e43359dff5e8151dade4c |title=MSNBC's O'Donnell retracts Trump story |work=AP News |date=August 29, 2019 |access-date=August 29, 2019 }} The next day, O'Donnell retracted the report, referring to his reporting of it as an "error in judgment."{{cite news |last=Wulfsohn |first=Joseph |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-lawrence-odonnell-apologizes-retracts-story |title=MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes for unverified Trump-Russia report: 'We are retracting the story' |work=Fox News |date=August 29, 2019 |access-date=August 29, 2019 }}

Political views

In a 2005 interview, O'Donnell called himself a "practical European socialist." O'Donnell also declared himself a "socialist" on the November 6, 2010, Morning Joe show, stating: "I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to 'progressive'. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals."{{cite news

|access-date=November 8, 2010

|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/06/lawrence-odonnell-calls-h_n_779909.html

|title= Lawrence O'Donnell Calls Himself A Socialist, Slams Glenn Greenwald On Morning Joe

|author=Jack Mirkinson

|work=The Huffington Post

|date=November 6, 2010}} On the August 1, 2011, episode of The Last Word, O'Donnell further explained: "I have been calling myself a socialist ever since I first read the definition of socialism in the first economics class I took in college".[https://web.archive.org/web/20130129090138/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/ O'Donnell, Lawrence, "Rewrite," The Last Word, ] NBC News, August 1, 2011. Video available at

Philanthropy

In 2010, O'Donnell made a trip to Malawi with the intent of providing schoolroom desks for female children, who had never seen desks.{{cite web |title=K.I.N.D Fund marks nearly $40 million raised since its launch, returns for 13th fundraising season Nov 28 |url=https://www.unicefusa.org/press/kind-fund-marks-nearly-40-million-raised-its-launch-returns-13th-fundraising-season-nov-28 |publisher=UNICEF USA |access-date=9 February 2024 |date=28 November 2023}} MSNBC and UNICEF partnered to create the K.I.N.D. Fund—Kids in Need of Desks—with a mission to deliver desks to Malawian schools. As of 2023, the K.I.N.D. Fund had raised $40 million for desks and scholarships to support the education of Malawian schoolgirls. Since its inception, the K.I.N.D. Fund has supplied 330,000 desks for 1.1 million students and scholarships for 27,600 girls.

Personal life

On February 14, 1994, Lawrence O'Donnell married Kathryn Harrold. The couple has one child, Elizabeth Buckley Harrold O'Donnell.{{cite web|url=http://www.mclaughlin.com/transcript.htm?id=264|title=The McLaughlin Group : Library}} O'Donnell and Harrold divorced in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://kathryn-harrold.com/index.php/about-me/|title=ABOUT ME – Kathryn-Harrold}}{{cite web|title=Lawrence Francis O'Donnell vs. Kathryn Harrold|access-date=January 11, 2011|url=http://www.nexis.com/publicrecords |date=January 11, 1999 |publisher=Los Angeles County Superior Court District West (Santa Monica) Civil Case Index divorce filing #SD15349}}

In April 2014, he and his brother Michael were injured in a traffic accident while vacationing in the British Virgin Islands.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/14/lawrence-odonnell-car-accident-taxi-vacation-msnbc-last-word_n_5148445.html|title=Lawrence O'Donnell Injured In Car Accident|author=Catherine Taibi|date=April 14, 2014|publisher=Huffington Post|access-date=June 20, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/20/lawrence-odonnell-car-accident-lucky-alive_n_5514613.html|title=Lawrence O'Donnell Says He's 'Lucky To Be Alive' After Horrifying Car Crash|last=Fung|first=Katherine|date=June 20, 2014|work=Huffington Post|access-date=June 20, 2014}} O'Donnell returned to his MSNBC show The Last Word in June after two months of recuperation.

He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Suffolk University in 2001.{{Cite web|url=https://www.codmanacademy.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=238434&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=470554|title=Codman Academy Charter Public School|website=www.codmanacademy.org}}