Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
Show name	Will & Grace
Format	Sitcom
Runtime	22 minutes
Creator	David KohanMax Mutchnick
Director	James Burrows
Starring	Eric McCormackDebra MessingSean HayesMegan MullallyShelley MorrisonMichael AngaranoGary Grubbs
Theme music composer	Jonathan Wolff
Country	United States
Network	NBC
picture format	480i (SDTV)(1998-2003)1080i (HDTV)(2004-2006)
audio format	Stereo(1998-2003)Dolby Digital 5.1(2004-2006)
Location	Los Angeles
First aired
Last aired
Num seasons	8
Num episodes	194
executive producer	Max Mutchnick David Kohan James Burrows Jhoni Marchinko Jeff Greenstein Jon Kinnally Tracy Poust David Flebotte Alex Herschlag
List episodes	List of Will & Grace episodes
Website	http://www.nbc.com/Will_&_Grace_Finale/ }}

''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006, for a total of eight seasons. ''Will & Grace'' remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters. Despite initial criticism for its particular portrayal of homosexuals, it went on to become a staple of NBC's Must See TV Thursday night lineup, where it was ensconced in the Nielsen Top 20 for half of its network run. Throughout its eight-year run, ''Will & Grace'' earned 16 Emmy Awards and 83 nominations.

''Will & Grace'' was filmed in front of a live studio audience (most episodes and scenes) on Tuesday nights, at Stage 17 in CBS Studio Center, a space that totals . Will and Grace's apartment is on display at the Emerson College Library, having been donated by series creator Max Mutchnick.

Premise

Will & Grace takes place in New York City and focuses on Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a Jewish woman who runs her own interior design firm. Also featured are their friends Karen Walker, a rich socialite, and Jack McFarland, a struggling actor/singer/dancer who also has had brief careers as an acting teacher, back-up dancer, cater-waiter, talk-show host and student nurse.

Cast

Main characters

Eric McCormack as Will Truman

: A gay lawyer, he studied at Columbia University, where he met Grace. They have been best friends ever since. He has a very neurotic side, especially when it comes to cleaning. Several characters have commented that his relationship with Grace is more like that of a romantic couple than of two friends.

Debra Messing as Grace Adler

: An interior designer with an apparent obsession with food, who has been Will's best friend since college. Selfish, messy and neurotic, she often plays as a counter-balance for Will's more uptight nature.

Megan Mullally as Karen Walker

: The bisexual wife of the wealthy (but never seen) Stan Walker. She "works" as Grace's assistant making "Grace Adler Designs" more popular among her social contacts. Known for abusing alcohol and pills, she can be quite insensitive, but is close to Grace and Jack, and occasionally Will.

Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland

: One of Will's best friends, he is flamboyant and superficial. He plays a more stereotypical gay role than Will. Jack drifts from boyfriend to boyfriend and job to job, including struggling actor, retail associate and student nurse. Early on in the show he establishes a close friendship with Karen.

Supporting characters

Shelley Morrison as Rosario Salazar (Seasons 3-8, recurring previously)

:Karen's maid, Rosario was working as a cigarette lady when Karen hired her in 1985. She was briefly married to Jack so she would not be deported. Rosario and Karen had a love/hate relationship where sometimes they would yell and argue with each other but when the fight was over it would usually end with a light-hearted exchange between them.

Gary Grubbs as Harlin Polk (Season 1)

: Will's Texan client when he had his own law firm, until Harlin fired him.

Michael Angarano as Elliot (Season 4, recurring afterwards)

: Jack's biological son from a donation to a sperm bank.

Recurring characters

Bobbi Adler (Debbie Reynolds) – Grace's entertainer mother.

George Truman (Sydney Pollack) – Will's father, who later dies of a heart attack after a fight with Will

Marilyn Truman (Blythe Danner) – Will's mother.

Tina (Lesley Ann Warren) – Will's father's mistress.

Rob (Tom Gallop) and Ellen (Leigh-Allyn Baker) – two of Grace and Will's closest friends from college and regular charades buddies, a married couple with three children.

Joe (Jerry Levine) and Larry (Tim Bagley) – two of Will and Grace's close friends, a homosexual married couple with an adopted daughter, Hannah

Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver) – the feisty British mistress who stole Stan from Karen and caused their divorce. She and Karen then become enemies.

Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) – a closeted homosexual, staunchly Republican, very short and very wealthy socialite whose relationship with Karen constantly changes from friend to enemy.

Dr. Marvin "Leo" Markus (Harry Connick, Jr.) – Grace's boyfriend and eventual husband; their marriage ended after he cheated on her. He is also the father of her child and ended up raising her too, after they reconciled.

Val Bassett (Molly Shannon) – a slightly crazy, alcoholic, divorced woman who lives in the same building as Will, Grace, and Jack; Val tends to get into fights with Grace, and has been known to stalk Jack.

Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale) – Will's first long-term boyfriend (after Michael), with whom he eventually raises his son, Ben.

Ben Doucette (Gregory Hines) – Will's boss at the law firm Doucette and Stein, who briefly dates Grace.

Mr. Stein (Gene Wilder) – Will's neurotic other boss at Doucette and Stein.

Zandra (Eileen Brennan) - Jack's (and, for one episode, Will's) elderly acting teacher who frequently tells Jack he's one of the worst students she has ever had.

Will & Grace's relationship

The Early Years

Will and Grace first met at Columbia University in 1985, living across the hall from one another in a co-ed dorm. They instantly connected and soon began dating. Will then threw a Dorm Party which Jack crashed, and after the party was over Jack accused Will of being in denial about his sexual orientation. After proposing marriage to Grace (as a way to postpone sleeping with her) Will finally came out to her. Grace threw him out of her family's house and they did not speak for a year (Grace having moved off campus), but they accidentally ran into each other again on Thanksgiving the following year (1986) at D'Agostino's supermarket. This meeting spurred a reconciliation and they became best friends. (These events are seen as flashbacks during the third season of the show).

As roommates

In the pilot episode of the show, Grace was about to get married to her boyfriend Danny. When Will disapproved, she became angry and planned to get married secretly anyway. However on the way to the wedding she realizes that Will was right, and she leaves Danny. Needing an apartment, she moved in with Will in his apartment on the Upper West Side. Will and Grace spend a lot of time with one another as well as with friends Jack McFarland and Karen Walker.

Jack is a flamboyant, gay, struggling stage actor-singer-dancer who, over the course of the show, has a range of jobs including cater waiter, acting teacher, student nurse, retail sales (working for Banana Republic and Barneys), back-up dancer for singers such as Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson and TV producer. Karen, an alcoholic multimillionaire, works as Grace's assistant, a job she took to have time away from the home she shares with her husband Stan and his kids, Mason and Olivia. Another character who factored into the early episodes of Will & Grace was Will's client Harlin Polk, played by Gary Grubbs. At first he was given billing in the opening credits with the other four cast members, but interest in his storyline waned, and he was written out of the show early in the second season (Harlin, rather reluctantly, fired Will and hired another lawyer).

The show follows both Will and Grace's attempts to establish romantic relationships without sacrificing their often co-dependent reliance on one another for emotional support. A common joke finds Jack and Karen referring to Will and Grace as married, "non-romantic life partners", or "sexless lovers". At the beginning of the second season Grace moved into her own apartment (across the hall from Will's) in an attempt to put some distance between herself and Will, but then ended up moving back at the beginning of the third season. She moved out again after getting married early in the fifth season, but she moved back in with Will after separating from her husband during Season 6.

Relationships

Grace had several lovers on the show, portrayed by actors such as Woody Harrelson and Edward Burns. Frequently, her lovers feel frustrated by her relationship with Will, jealous of their closeness, personal jokes, and ability to finish each other's sentences. Eventually she married Leo, played by musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr.. Leo was unusual in that Grace's friendship with Will seemed not to bother him, despite Will's initial dislike of him. Leo in fact often looked to Will in order to help him deal with Grace's neurotic behavior. Furthermore, at one point, when Grace was extremely upset about Leo's upcoming six-month absence, she asked if Will could sleep (platonically) with them, and Leo responded with good humor, saying, "I knew this was going to happen one day." They split in the finale of the show's sixth season after Grace discovered that Leo had had an adulterous affair while working with Doctors Without Borders in Cambodia. In the final season, on a flight to London, Grace meets Leo on the plane where they have sex, resulting in Grace becoming pregnant, which she keeps a secret from him, upon finding that he plans to remarry. In the series finale (May 2006), however, Leo tells a heavily pregnant Grace that he loves her and broke off his engagement. They subsequently raise their daughter, Lila, together having gotten remarried.

Will was usually less successful romantically, having the occasional one-episode fling, but never a long-term relationship. This eventually drew some criticism from those who noted that Grace was often shown being affectionate with her dates and boyfriends, while Will rarely was. In the first season, it is mentioned that Will had a seven-year relationship with a man named Michael, but this partnership ended before the series began. During the early seasons Will only had one relationship that could be constituted as 'long-term', with a sports broadcaster, Matthew played by Patrick Dempsey. Their relationship was portrayed in a total of three episodes, before Will ended it over Matthew's refusal to come out, particularly to his homophobic boss. There is a brief moment at the end of season 5 where Will and Jack wake up together naked in the same bed on Karen's Yacht after a night of drinking, at the beginning of season 6 they go through a whole episode of freaking out until Karen reveals to them that the security camera for their room showed that they didn't do anything. Will does not have any more serious long-term love interests until the spring of 2004 when the character of Vince, an Italian American New York City Police Department officer played by Bobby Cannavale, was introduced. Their relationship lasted until the spring of 2005, when Vince lost his job and the two decided to "take a break" resulting in an unofficial but obvious break-up. Will then met James, supposedly by fate, at a movie theater and again in Los Angeles. Just as they started to get close, however, James discovered he was going to be deported. To give Will and James a chance, Grace agreed to marry James to help him avoid deportation. This plan, along with James' relationship with Will, was short-lived when it was revealed he was a major jerk, who seemed completely cruel towards other people. He was played by ''Rent'' star Taye Diggs. However in the final season, Will was reunited with Vince, and the two would eventually get married and raise a son together, named Ben.

Jack, whose floundering one-person show and acting career has been established as a hopeless dream, eventually finds work in retail sales and married (and later divorced) Karen's maid and longtime friend Rosario Salazar to help her gain U.S. residency (green card). It was also revealed that he had a teenage biological son named Elliott, played by Michael Angarano. Elliott was conceived through artificial insemination and mothered by Bonnie, a lesbian played by Rosie O'Donnell. Jack unlike the others, does not attempt to stay in long-term relationships, but instead shallowly jumps from boyfriend to boyfriend. Jack's longest relationship is with Stuart Lamarack (Dave Foley), which lasts several months during the sixth season, during which Jack sees him at the movies with another man and assumes that Stuart is cheating on him. Jack finds out later that the other man was actually Stuart's son. Ironically, their relationship ends when Jack cheats on Stuart, who is not seen again. He ends up spending the rest of his life living with Karen, in a purely platonic relationship that ironically is similar to Will and Grace, who they both mocked for living together.

Karen is the only member of the cast to be in a married relationship at the start of the series. Her husband, Stanley Walker, is described as an extremely wealthy and overweight man with some unusual sexual tastes, who gives a lot of business to Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Although Karen often insults Stan and implies she married him for his money, the truth is she was hopelessly devoted and in love with Stan. Jailed during season four for tax fraud, Stan was released in season five, but Karen soon caught him cheating on her with his British mistress Lorraine Finster (played by Minnie Driver), whom he met when she worked in the prison cafeteria. During Stan and Karen's divorce proceedings at the end of season five, Stan dropped dead, and season six saw Karen begin dating again, culminating in her 20-minute-long marriage to Lorraine's father, Lyle (played by John Cleese, who went uncredited). At the end of the seventh season, it was revealed that Stan had faked his death, and, in season eight, he and Karen reconciled after her brief affair with a government agent (played by Alec Baldwin). However, by the end of the show, Karen finds that she had fallen out of love with Stan and leaves him for good, at which point it is revealed that everything he owned was on loan, rendering Karen's huge divorce settlement worthless. However, she gets Jack to be "company" to Beverly Leslie, who was left a huge amount of money from his late wife, Crystal. When Beverly accidentally is swept off the balcony in a strong wind, he leaves Jack all his money, which he uses to support Karen and himself in luxury.

Conflicts

In season five, Will and Grace experience their first big fight since the series began. Will and Grace decided to have a child together via artificial insemination. However, she meets and falls in love with Dr. Leo Markus and becomes unsure about continuing with the plan. Will and Grace argue about if she still wants to have the baby and she eventually decides she is against the idea. Will then accuses Grace of being a flake. Joe and Larry's daughter, Hanna, has a birthday party at which Jack and Karen force and lock them into a moonwalk; after much arguing and bouncing, they do make up. In season eight, Grace is pregnant with Leo's baby from their mile-high adventure, but she never has a chance to tell Leo as he is getting married. Will was going to help raise her child and act as the father until the finale where Grace does tell Leo she's pregnant, it is his and then we, the audience, see Will open the door to the apartment. Though it isn't shown on screen, its very well implied that they had some major words with each other, deciding to end their friendship. Cut to the future; they go two years without speaking until Karen and Jack come up with a scheme to make Will and Grace friends again. Eventually they reconcile, but being too busy raising their children, they find it hard to find time for one another until many years later when their children meet and fall in love in college.

Reception

Critical response

The show garnered a fair amount of criticism and negative reviews upon its debut in 1998, most of which compared the show to the recently canceled ABC sitcom ''Ellen''. One such review said, "If ''Will & Grace'' can somehow survive a brutal time period opposite football and ''Ally McBeal'', it could grow into a reasonably entertaining little anomaly -- that is, a series about a man and a woman who have no sexual interest in one another. But don't bet on it. If it's doomed relationships viewers want, they'll probably opt for ''Ally''." ''Ally McBeal'' had its final episode in 2002, four years before ''Will & Grace'' ended. As much as the show's eventual appeal disproved much of its initial criticism, the show continually dealt with the criticism for having a limited view of the gay community and for reinforcing stereotypes when some felt it should have torn them down.

The series finale was heavily promoted by NBC, and McCormack, Messing, Mullally and Hayes appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and ''The Today Show'' to bid farewell, on May 10 and May 18, respectively. NBC devoted a two-hour block in its primetime schedule on May 18, 2006, for the ''Will & Grace'' send-off. An hour-long series retrospective, "Say Goodnight, Gracie", featuring interviews with the cast, crew, and guest stars, preceded the hour-long series finale. Series creators and executive producers Kohan and Mutchnick, who had not served as writers since the season 4 finale, penned the script for "The Finale." Regarding the finale, Mutchnick stated, "We wrote about what you want to have happen with people you love... All the things that matter in life, they end up having."

Awards and nominations

''Will & Grace'' had been nominated for 83 and won 16 Emmys. From 2001–2005, ''Will & Grace'' was the highest-rated sitcom among adults 18–49. It has also been heralded as responsible for opening the door to a string of gay-themed television programs, such as ''Queer as Folk'', ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' and ''Boy Meets Boy''. ''Will & Grace'' has won several GLAAD Media Awards for its advocacy of the gay community. Despite more than two dozen nominations, ''Will & Grace'' never won a Golden Globe Award.

In the summer of 2005, ''Will & Grace'' was nominated for 15 Emmys, tied with ''Desperate Housewives'' as the series receiving the most nominations. This was almost an all time record, the two shows were second behind The Larry Sanders Show, with 16 nominations in 1996. Unlike ''Housewives'', however, ''Will & Grace'' received many of its nominations during the 2004–2005 season for its guest actors and actresses. From these nominations, the series won two awards for the season. One of the two awards was for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, won by Bobby Cannavale for his role as Vince, Will's boyfriend. For almost every season, Will & Grace was the most nominated Comedy Series at the Emmys.

In the summer of 2006, ''Will & Grace'' was nominated for 10 Emmys for its final season, including a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for Debra Messing, Outstanding Supporting Actor for Sean Hayes, and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Megan Mullally. Mullally won the award for her category (her second win out of seven nominations), and Leslie Jordan won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his recurring role as Beverley Leslie. For the second-time, the show wasn't nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series (the first in 1999 for season 1) after 6 consecutive years of nominations.

''Will & Grace'' is one of only three sitcoms in which all actors playing the main characters (McCormack, Messing, Hayes, and Mullally) have each won at least one acting Emmy. The other two sitcoms to have achieved the same feat are ''All in the Family'' and ''The Golden Girls''.

With three each, both Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally held the record of winning the most Screen Actors Guild Awards for the categories Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series and Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively, for their roles in ''Will & Grace''; however, Tina Fey went on to tie with Mullally and Alec Baldwin went on to surpass Hayes, both for their roles on the series ''30 Rock''.

Ratings

The show debuted on Mondays beginning on September 21, 1998 and steadily gained in popularity, culminating when it moved to Thursday night as part of NBC's Must See TV line-up. The show ultimately became a highly rated television show in the United States, earning a top-twenty rating during four of its eight seasons, including one season at # 9. However, when the show lost ''Friends'' as its lead-in after the 2003–04 season, gained the disappointing ''Friends'' spin-off ''Joey'' as its lead-in, and competition from CBS's Thursday night line-up increased, ''Will & Grace'' began shedding viewers and slipped out of the top 20 during its last two seasons.

"The Finale" drew over 18 million viewers, ranking # 8 for the week, easily making it the most watched episode of the final two seasons. While the series finale is considered a ratings success, it is far from being the most watched episode of ''Will & Grace''—that accolade remains with the season four episode "A Chorus Lie", which aired on February 7, 2002 and ranked #8 for the week. When the show was at the height of its popularity (seasons 3–5), ranking in the Top 10 was a common occurrence, but the finale's Top 10 rank was the only such rank for season 8 and the first such rank since the season 7 premiere "FYI: I Hurt, Too".

Average seasonal ratings

Season	Time slot	Premiere	Finale	TV season	Season rank	Viewers (millions)
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Monday 9:30 P.M. (September 21, 1998 – November 30, 1998) Tuesday 9:30 P.M. (December 15, 1998 – March 23, 1999) Thursday 8:30 P.M. (April 8, 1999 – May 13, 1999)	September 21, 1998	May 13, 1999	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#40	12.3
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Tuesday 9:00 P.M.	September 21, 1999	May 23, 2000	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#44	12.0
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Thursday 9:00 P.M.	October 12, 2000	May 17, 2001	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#14	17.3
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"		September 27, 2001	May 16, 2002	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#9	17.3
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"		September 26, 2002	May 15, 2003	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#11	16.8
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Thursday 9:00 P.M. (September 25, 2003 – January 22, 2004) Thursday 8:32 P.M. (February 10, 2004 – April 8, 2004) Thursday 9:00 P.M. (April 22, 2004 – April 29, 2004)	September 25, 2003	April 29, 2004	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#16	15.2
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Thursday 8:30 P.M. (September 16, 2004 - May 5, 2005) Tuesday 8:00 P.M.(May 10, 2005) Thursday 8:30 P.M. (May 19, 2005)	September 16, 2004	May 19, 2005	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#44	10.0
! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	Thursday 8:30 P.M. (September 29, 2005 – December 8, 2005) Thursday 8:00 P.M. (January 5, 2006 – May 18, 2006)	September 29, 2005	May 18, 2006	! style="background:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-weight:normal"	#61	8.7

Spin-offs

Karen: The Musical

It has been announced that Megan Mullally will be starring in a new Broadway musical entitled ''Karen: The Musical''. This musical will have Mullally reprising her role of Karen Walker. She stated in an interview that the show may also involve recurring guest star Leslie Jordan in his role as Beverley Leslie.

Jack & Karen

There had been talk in 2008 that a spin-off was being developed by NBC entitled ''Jack & Karen'', featuring Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally reprising their roles. Hayes initially showed interest in the spin-off but was ultimately put off by the short-lived ''Friends'' spin-off, ''Joey''. Furthermore, Mullally's new work schedule in the form of her talk show, which was canceled several months later, didn't allow her to pursue the spin-off at the time.

Lawsuit

In December 2003, in the midst of the series' sixth season, executive producers and creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick sued NBC and NBC studios. Alleging that the network sold the rights to the series in an attempt to keep profits within the NBC family, Kohan and Mutchnick felt that they were cheated out of considerable profits by the network's shopping of the show to the highest bidder. Another allegation against the network was that during the first four seasons of the series, the studio licensed the rights for amounts that were insufficient for covering production costs, thus leading to extraordinarily large production deficits. Three months later, NBC filed a countersuit against Kohan and Mutchnick stating that the co-creators were expected to act as an independent third party in the negotiations between NBC and its subsidiary, NBC Studios.

With a pending lawsuit and production beginning on other projects, Kohan and Mutchnick were absent on the ''Will & Grace'' set for most of its final seasons. They wrote the season 4 episode, "A Buncha White Chicks Sittin' Around Talkin'" and did not return to the writers' seat until the series finale four years later. Three years after NBC's countersuit and one year after the series ended, the legal battle between NBC and Kohan and Mutchnick ended in 2007 when all parties agreed on a settlement, with the series creators being awarded $49 million, of their original $65 million lawsuit.

DVD distribution

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released all 8 seasons of ''Will & Grace'' on DVD in Region one, two and four. !1 ! March 23, 2004 September 7, 2004 August 16, 2005 August 29, 2006 May 1, 2007 December 4, 2007 September 16, 2008 May 30, 2006 September 16, 2008

Season

Ep#

Discs

Release dates

Notes

2 !!4

1

22

4

August 12, 2003

August 30, 2004

All 22 episodes included in their entirety.

2

24

4

|

August 30, 2004

September 5, 2007

*"Ben?Her?" appears as the syndicated version

*Episode listing on box does not match episode listing on discs

*Episodes on the fourth disc appear out of sequence

3

25

4

|

August 30, 2004

October 3, 2007

*The "super-size" episode, "Cheaters", appears as the original version, without the extra footage later added for syndication

*"Cheaters" is incorrectly labeled as "Cheaters, part 1"

4

27

4

|

August 30, 2004

October 3, 2007

All 27 episodes included in their entirety.

5

24

4

|

March 7, 2005

October 3, 2007

*The "super-size" episode, "Board Room and a Parked Place," and the one-hour 100th episode, "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" appear as the full versions

*The "super-size" episodes, "Women and Children First", "Dolls and Dolls", "May Divorce Be With You", "23", and the season finale "24", appear as the syndicated versions

6

24

4

|

August 15, 2005

November 21, 2007

*The "super-size" episodes, "Dames at Sea" and "Ice Cream Balls", appear as the syndicated versions

7

24

4

|

January 30, 2006

November 21, 2007

All 24 episodes included in their entirety.

8

24

4

|

August 7, 2006

November 21, 2007

All 24 episodes included in their entirety.

Finale

1

1

|

—

—

One-hour series finale included in its entirety.

1–8

194

33

|

August 7, 2006

April 30, 2008

Re-packaged discs from the previous releases with a bonus disk containing:

*A re-hashing of season 8's themed featurettes

*Eric's favorite episode with commentary by him and Debra Messing

*Debra's favorite episode with commentary by her and Eric McCormack

*The Pilot Episode with commentary by Max Mutchinck, David Kohan, and James Burrows

*A slideshow of stills from over the series' run.

International Broadcasting

Arab World – Super Comedy

Australia – Seven Network (2000–2007), Network Ten (2008), Arena (2002–2008), 111 Hits (November 2008 – July 2009), TV1 (August 2009 -)

Austria – ATV

Argentina – Sony

Belgium – 2 BE

Bosnia and Herzegovina – OBN

Brazil – Sony, Play TV

Bulgaria – Nova Television (Seasons 1 and 2), Fox Life (Repeats of seasons 1 and 2, season 3-)

Canada – OnTV (1998–99), Global (1999–2006), W Network (Syndication)

Chile – Sony

Colombia – Sony

Croatia – Nova TV

Czech Republic – TV Prima, Prima COOL

Denmark – Kanal 4

Ecuador - Sony

Egypt - ShowComedy

El Salvador – Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America)

Estonia – Sony Entertainment Television (Baltic)

Finland – MTV3, Sub

France – Canal+, Canal Jimmy, TF1, France 4

Germany – Pro 7 Season 1–7, Sat.1 Season 8, Comedy Central Deutschland Season 5-8

Greece – Star Channel, Fox life

Guatemala – Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America)

Hungary – Viasat 3

India – Zee Café

Ireland – TV3

Israel – Channel 3, yes+, HOT3, yes stars 3

Italy– Italia 1 (Mediaset), Fox, Fox Life

Japan– NHK, Fox

Kazakhstan – Sony Entertainment Television

Kenya - Kenya Television Network

Latin America – Sony

Latvia – TV6, Sony Entertainment Television (Baltic)

Lebanon – ShowComedy

Lithuania – TV6

Macedonia – Sitel TV

Mexico – Sony, Canal 5 Televisa

Nepal – Zee Café, ETC

Netherlands – NET 5, Veronica

New Zealand – Comedy Central

Nigeria - DSTV, HITV, Sony Entertainment Television

Norway – TVNorge

Pakistan – Super Comedy, Paramount Comedy 1

Peru – Sony

Philippines – Studio 23, Velvet, ETC

Poland – Fox Life, HBO, Wizja Jeden, TV Puls

Portugal – TVI, Fox, Fox Life, SIC Mulher

Romania – Naţional TV

Russian Federation – Sony Entertainment Television

Serbia – FOX Life

Slovenia – Kanal A

South Africa – SABC 3, M-Net Series, Sony Entertainment Television

South Korea – GTV (1998–2001), On Style (2002–2003), Fox (2004–2006)

Spain – TVE2, Fox, SET en VEO (TDT)

Sweden – TV4

Switzerland – SF zwei

Thailand – True Series

Turkey – ComedyMax, TNT

United Kingdom – Living TV, Channel 4

United States – First broadcast on NBC, now in syndication on Lifetime.

Venezuela – First on Venevisión, then on Sony

Zimbabwe- M-Net Series

See also

''List of television shows with LGBT characters''

References

External links

Category:1998 television series debuts Category:2006 American television series endings Category:1990s American comedy television series Category:2000s American comedy television series Category:American LGBT-related television programs Category:American television sitcoms Category:English-language television series Category:Fictional duos Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:NBC network shows Category:Television series by NBC Universal Television Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Category:Television shows set in New York City

ar:ويل وغريس bg:Уил и Грейс ca:Will & Grace cs:Will a Grace cy:Will & Grace da:Will & Grace de:Will & Grace es:Will & Grace fr:Will et Grace gl:Will & Grace it:Will & Grace he:ויל וגרייס hu:Will és Grace mk:Вил и Грејс nl:Will & Grace ja:ふたりは友達? ウィル&グレイス no:Will & Grace pl:Will & Grace pt:Will & Grace ro:Will & Grace ru:Уилл и Грейс simple:Will & Grace sr:Вил и Грејс sh:Will & Grace fi:Will & Grace sv:Will & Grace th:เจ๊วิล คุณนายเกรซ เพื่อนกันไม่มีวันจบ tr:Will & Grace zh:威尔与格蕾丝

Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
birth name	Roseann O'Donnell
birth date	March 21, 1962
birth place	Bayside, Queens, New York City, United States
occupation	TV personality, comedienne, actress, singer, author
years active	1979–present
spouse	Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell (2004–2007)
website	Rosie.com }}

Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American stand-up comedienne, actress, singer, author and media personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family Vacations.

Raised Roman Catholic, O'Donnell lost her mother to cancer as a pre-teen and has stressed the importance of protecting children and supporting families throughout her career. O'Donnell started her comedy career while still a teenager and her big break was on the talent show ''Star Search'' when she was twenty years old. A TV sitcom and a series of movies introduced her to a larger national audience and in 1996 she started hosting ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' which won multiple Emmy awards.

During her years on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' she wrote her first book, a memoir called ''Find Me'' and developed the nickname "Queen Of Nice" as well as a reputation for philanthropic efforts. She used the book's $3 million advance to establish her own For All Kids foundation and promoted other charity projects encouraging other celebrities on her show to also take part. O'Donnell came out stating "I'm a dyke!" two months before finishing her talk show run, saying that her primary reason was to bring attention to gay adoption issues. O'Donnell is a foster—and adoptive—mother. She has since continued to support many LGBT causes and issues.

In 2006 O'Donnell became the new moderator on ''The View'' boosting ratings and attracting controversies with her liberal views, and strong personality, dominating many of the conversations. She became a polarizing figure to many and her strong opinions resulted in several notable controversies including an on-air dispute regarding the Bush administration's policies with the war in Iraq resulting in a mutual agreement to cancel her contract. In 2007 O'Donnell also released her second memoir, ''Celebrity Detox'', which focuses on her struggles with fame and her time at ''The View''. She continues to do charity work and remains involved with LGBT and family-related issues. In 2008 O'Donnell starred in and executive produced ''America (2009 film)'', a Lifetime channel original movie in which she plays the therapist of the title character, a 16-year-old boy aging out of the foster care system. The film is based on the E.R. Frank book of the same name.

In October 2009, she appeared in the original cast of ''Love, Loss, and What I Wore''. In November 2009 "Rosie Radio", a daily two-hour show with O'Donnell discussing news and events on Sirius XM Radio, premiered. O'Donnell said she was approached by the company after she appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show''. O'Donnell has signed on with the Oprah Winfrey Network OWN to return to daytime TV with a talk show in Fall 2011.

Early life

O'Donnell, the third of five children, was born in Bayside, Queens, New York and raised in Commack, Long Island, New York. She is the daughter of Roseann Teresa (née Murtha), a homemaker, and Edward Joseph O'Donnell, an electrical engineer who worked in the defense industry. O'Donnell's father had immigrated from County Donegal, Ireland during his childhood, and her mother was Irish American; O'Donnell was raised Catholic. Four days before her 11th birthday, on March 17, 1973, O'Donnell's mother died of breast cancer. While she attended Commack High School, O'Donnell was voted homecoming queen, prom queen, senior class president and class clown. It was during high school that she began exploring her interest in comedy, beginning with a skit performed in front of the school in which she imitated Gilda Radner's character Roseanne Rosannadanna. After graduating in 1980, O'Donnell briefly attended Dickinson College, later transferring to Boston University, before ultimately dropping out of college.

Career

Early work

O'Donnell toured as a stand-up comedian in clubs from 1979 to 1984. She got her first big break on ''Star Search'', explaining on ''Larry King Live'': After this success, she moved on to television sitcom comedy, making her series debut as Nell Carter's neighbor on ''Gimme a Break!'' in 1986. In 1988, she joined music video station VH1's lineup of veejays. She started hosting a series for VH1, ''Stand-up Spotlight'', a showcase for up-and-coming comedians and comediennes. In 1992 she starred in ''Stand By Your Man'', a Fox Network sitcom co-starring Melissa Gilbert. The show bombed, just as O'Donnell's movie career took off. O'Donnell made her feature film debut in ''A League Of Their Own'' alongside Tom Hanks and Madonna. Throughout her career, she has taken on an eclectic range of roles: she appeared in ''Sleepless in Seattle'' as Meg Ryan's best friend; as Betty Rubble in the live-action film adaptation of The Flintstones with John Goodman; as one of Timothy Hutton's co-stars in ''Beautiful Girls''; as a federal agent comedically paired with Dan Aykroyd in ''Exit to Eden''; as the voice of a tomboyish female gorilla named Terk in Disney's ''Tarzan''; and as a baseball-loving nun in M. Night Shyamalan's ''Wide Awake''.

''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

In 1996, she began hosting a daytime talk show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''. The show proved very successful, winning multiple Emmy awards, and earning O'Donnell the title of "The Queen of Nice" for her style of light-hearted banter with her guests and interactions with the audience. As part of her playful banter with her studio audience, O'Donnell often launched koosh balls at the crowd and camera. She also professed an infatuation with Tom Cruise.

With New York City as the show's homebase, O'Donnell displayed her love of Broadway musicals and plays by having cast members as guests, encouraging the audience to see shows, premiering production numbers as well as promoting shows with ticket give-aways.

After the Columbine shootings, O'Donnell became an outspoken supporter of gun control and a major figure in the Million Mom March. During the April 19, 1999, broadcast of her talk show, she stated, "You are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun, I think you should go to prison." O'Donnell previously had remarked, "I don't personally own a gun, but if you are qualified, licensed and registered, I have no problem." In May 1999, a month after the Columbine shootings, O'Donnell interviewed Tom Selleck, who was promoting ''The Love Letter''. O'Donnell confronted him about his recent commercial for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and challenged him about the NRA's position on the use of "assault weapons." She said at the end of the segment the conversation had "not gone the way I had hoped" and added "if you feel insulted by my questions, I apologize, because it was not a personal attack. It was meant to bring up the subject as it is in the consciousness of so many today." Around the same time, the cast from ''Annie Get Your Gun'' was to appear on the show but refused O'Donnell's request to remove the line "I can shoot a partridge with a single cartridge" from the song "Anything You Can Do" and agreed to perform "My Defenses Are Down" instead. Later in 1999, O'Donnell discontinued her contract with Kmart as their spokeswoman, as gun enthusiasts complained that she shouldn't be the spokesperson for the largest gun retailer. O'Donnell countered that Kmart sells hunting rifles, not handguns or assault weapons and does so legally which she supports. Both Kmart and O'Donnell denied publicly that Kmart had terminated the contract. In May 2000, O'Donnell's bodyguard applied for a concealed firearm permit. O'Donnell stated that the security firm contracted by Warner Brothers requested the gun. O'Donnell stated that because of threats, she and her family need protection, which she attributes to her "tough gun-control rhetoric".

After the September 11, 2001 attacks Broadway and tourism in New York City was down and many shows were in danger of closing. O'Donnell was among many in the entertainment field who encouraged viewers to visit and support the performing arts. She announced that she would donate $1 million dollars for aid in the rescue efforts and encouraged other celebrities and citizens alike to "give till it hurts". In 2002, she left her talk show. The show was then replaced by ''The Caroline Rhea Show'', with comedienne Caroline Rhea and ran for one additional season.

''The View''

In September 2006, O'Donnell replaced Meredith Vieira as a co-host and moderator of the ''The View'', a daytime women-oriented talkshow. Star Jones, a co-host on the show, quit with some speculating Jones's conservative views would be in constant tension with O'Donnell's more liberal counterpoint. O'Donnell had also disputed Jones's route of rapid weight loss, alluding that it must have been gastric bypass surgery rather than dieting and exercise alone as Star had insisted which also fed speculation about certain tension between the two, Jones later confirmed it was surgery. As a big-name talent O'Donnell drew criticism for her opinions while keeping the show's "buzz factor up". O'Donnell is credited with helping the show be more news-focused while still embracing the "fluff" of daytime TV talkshows (celebrities, fashion and food). Despite the overall downward trend for most daytime broadcast shows, ratings rose by 27%. The show was the fourth most watched in all of daytime in the key demographic of women ages 18–49, and scored record ratings in the total viewer category with an average of 3.4 million viewers—up 15% versus the same time in 2005. O'Donnell adapted to the multi-personality forum in contrast to her anchoring her own talkshows in the past and moderated the opening "Hot Topics" portion of the show where newsworthy items were discussed. Unlike previous years, politics and taboo subjects were readily explored with O'Donnell and fellow-comic Joy Behar often giving strong opinions against former President Bush's domestic and foreign policies including the Iraq war. As a conservative counterpoint, Elisabeth Hasselbeck would support the Bush Administration's issues and the two would get into an adversarial give-and-take.

Encouraged by the show to be outspoken, O'Donnell sometimes provoked debate, one time stating "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam" or criticizing fellow TV personalities. O'Donnell, who was raised Roman Catholic was accused of "serial anti-Catholicism" and called a bigot by the Catholic League's president Bill Donohue for what he claimed "relentless and profoundly ignorant attacks on the Roman Catholic Church and its teachings." She had compared the Republican Party's cover-up of the Mark Foley congressional page incident, where he sent sexually suggestive messages to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congressional pages, to the cover-up of child sexual abuse by Catholic Church officials who actively concealed perpetrators by moving them from parish to parish as detailed in Amy Berg's ''Deliver Us from Evil'' about abuse within the Catholic Church (Berg was a guest on the show). O'Donnell's outspokeness and spontaneousness sometimes led to her views being recirculated by other media outlets, often surprising ''The View'' co-hosts including O'Donnell. Frequently portrayed unfavorably by conservative media outlets and what she deemed as Republican pundits, O'Donnell lamented that they were focusing on her comments instead of more important national and world issues.

On December 5, 2006, O'Donnell used a series of ''ching chong''s to imitate newscasters in China. She was criticized for her use of the term, and there was disappointment of her perceived insensitivity when she had fought for gay and lesbian rights and spoken out against homophobia. On December 14, O'Donnell apologized to "those who felt hurt" explaining that "Some people have told me it's as bad as the n-word. I was like, really? I didn't know that." O'Donnell warned that "there's a good chance I'll do something like that again, probably in the next week, not on purpose. Only 'cause it's how my brain works." ''Time'' called it a "pseudo-apology". O'Donnell later wrote in ''Celebrity Detox'' that "I wish I had been a bit more pure in my public apology."

Also in December 2006, O'Donnell criticized billionaire Donald Trump for holding a press conference to reinstate Miss USA Tara Conner, accusing him of using her scandal to "generate publicity for the Miss USA Pageant" (to which he owns the rights) by announcing he was giving her a second chance. O'Donnell commented that due to Trump's multiple marital affairs and questionable business bankruptcies, he was not a moral authority for young people in America. She stated, "Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second wife, had an affair – but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America!" In response, Trump began a "vicious" mass media blitz in which he appeared on various television shows, either in person or by phone, threatening to sue O'Donnell (he never did). He called her names, threatened to take away her partner Kelli, and claimed that Barbara Walters regretted hiring her. Walters was stuck in the middle as a social acquaintance of Trump's, and said O'Donnell didn't feel like she defended her enough which led to what both women agreed was an unfortunate confrontation in one of the dressing rooms. "I had pain and hurt and rejection," O'Donnell said, "sometimes [my emotions] overwhelm me. Sometimes I get flooded." Walters responded that both Trump and O'Donnell are highly opinionated people and that Trump has never filed for bankruptcy, but several of his casino companies did but are now out of bankruptcy. She also denied that she was unhappy with O'Donnell, saying, "I have never regretted, nor do I now, the hiring of Rosie O'Donnell."

O'Donnell condemned many of the Bush administration's policies, especially the war in Iraq and the resulting occupation. She consistently brought up recent military deaths and news about the war, and criticized the US media for its lack of attention to these issues compared to media coverage throughout the world. This led to a series of heated exchanges with co-host Hasselbeck and conservative media recycling unfavorable comments towards O'Donnell as well as "the most-discussed moment of her professional life." On May 17, 2007, O'Donnell rhetorically asked, "655,000 Iraqi civilians dead. Who are the terrorists? ... if you were in Iraq and another country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?" Conservative commentators responded by claiming O'Donnell was comparing American soldiers to terrorists. On May 23, 2007, a heated discussion ensued, in part, because of what O'Donnell perceived as Elisabeth Hasselbeck's unwillingness to defend O'Donnell as not against the troops with O'Donnell asking her "Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists?" Hasselbeck answered in the negative but also stated "Defend your own insinuations." O'Donnell was hurt and felt Hasselbeck had betrayed her friendship, "there's something about somebody being different on TV toward you than they are in the dressing room. It didn't really ring true for me." O'Donnell stated that Republican pundits were mischaracterising her statements and the right-wing media would portray her as a bully attacking "innocent pure Christian Elisabeth" whenever they disagreed. O'Donnell said that she knew her time on the show was over when she saw on the studio monitor that the director had made a decision to cut to a split screen effect showing her and Hasselbeck on either side. The argument was not why she left the show after that day. "I didn't want to argue for a living," she told Oprah Winfrey in an hour-long special, "I didn't come back because the director and the producer did a split screen, and they had to prepare that in advance [...] I felt there was setup egging me into that position. The executive producer and I did not gel. O'Donnell and ABC agreed to cut short her contract agreement on May 25, 2007, as a result of this issue. ABC News reported that her arguments with Hasselbeck brought the show its best ratings ever.

On the April 30, 2007, show Walters announced that O'Donnell would be listed by ''Time'' magazine as one of their 100 most influential people. On May 25, 2007, it was announced by ABC and O'Donnell that she would not stay until the end of her contract (which was supposed to end in June). "[The producers] encouraged me to speak my feelings — and I did. And some of those, at the time I spoke them, were controversial. They seem to have come more into favor." O'Donnell was named "The Most Annoying Celebrity of 2007" by a ''PARADE'' reader's poll, in response she said, "Frankly, most celebrities are annoying ... and I suppose I am the most annoying, but, whatever." In 2008, ''The View'' won an Emmy for "Outstanding Special Class Writing" for a specially themed Autism episode she helped create. Janette Barber, O'Donnell's longtime friend and producer/writer of the ''Rosie O'Donnell Show'', accepted the award on behalf of herself and the other two winners, Christian McKiernan and Andrew Smith.

2007–present

In March 2007, O'Donnell started a video blog, ''Jahero'', on her website Rosie.com answering fans questions, giving behind the scenes information and serving as a video diary. Originally featuring only O'Donnell and her hair and make-up artist Helene Macaulay they were soon joined by her writer from ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', Janette Barber. Called ''Jahero'', which has each of their first name's letters in it, they occasionally had short cameo appearances by ''View'' co-hosts Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbara Walters. Jenny McCarthy appeared once briefly, as has Hasselbeck's mother-in-law and O'Donnell's mother-in-law, her wife Kelli's mother. Kathy Griffin also appeared, where she read some of the questions. It became so popular that O'Donnell and her creative team considered an "on the road" version of the video blog utilizing fan-submitted suggestions. O'Donnell was the front runner for the "best celebrity blogger" category in the 2007 Blogger's Choice Awards which she won.

O'Donnell expressed interest in replacing long-time host Bob Barker when he retired from CBS's game show ''The Price Is Right''. Barker was a frequent guest on her talk show and told reporters that she "would make a fine host." Although it was reported he had "endorsed" her as a "possible successor", Barker said that he had no role in choosing his replacement. In June 2007, she announced on her blog it was not going to happen and noted she was reluctant to uproot her family to move to California.

In November 2009 "Rosie Radio", a daily two-hour show with O'Donnell discussing news and events on Sirius XM Radio, premiered. The show is on Stars channel 102 from 10am to 12noon Eastern time, with replays in the afternoon, premiered. O'Donnell said she was approached by the company after she appeared on Howard Stern's Sirius XM show. The radio show will end in June, 2011, as O'Donnell begins full time work on her show for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Other ventures

''Rosie'' magazine

In 2000, O'Donnell partnered with the publishers of ''McCall's'' to revamp the magazine as ''Rosie's McCall's'' (or, more commonly, ''Rosie''). The magazine was launched as a competitor to fellow talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey's monthly magazine. ''Rosie'' covered issues including breast cancer, foster care and other matters of concern to O'Donnell. In the September 2000 issue she shared that "she has struggled with depression her entire life" and decided to start medications when she realized her fears were affecting her family. With a strong start and a circulation close to 3.5 million things looked promising but the magazine stumbled as conflicts emerged between O'Donnell and the editors. The contract gave O'Donnell control over editorial process and editorial staff but veto power remained with publisher Gruner+Jahr USA. O'Donnell quit the magazine in September 2002 following a dispute over editorial control. "If I'm going to have my name and my brand on the corner of a magazine, it has to be my vision" she told People. Rosie magazine folded in 2003. In late 2003, O'Donnell and the publishers each sued the other for breach of contract. The publishers claimed that, by removing herself from the magazine's publication, she was in breach of contract. The trial received considerable press coverage. O'Donnell would often give brief press interviews outside of the courtroom responding to various allegations. Of note was a former magazine colleague and breast cancer survivor who testified that O'Donnell said to her on the phone that people who lie "get sick and they get cancer. If they keep lying, they get it again". O'Donnell apologized the next day and stated "I'm sorry I hurt her the way I did, that was not my intention." The judge ruled against both sides and dismissed the case. In 2006, O'Donnell responded to a question on the "Ask Ro" section of her website in which she stated that she would love to do another magazine.

Books

In 2002, O'Donnell wrote ''Find Me,'' a combination of memoir, mystery and detective story with an underlying interest in re-uniting birth mothers with their children. In addition to cataloging her childhood and early adulthood, the book delved into O'Donnell's relationship with a woman with multiple personality disorder who posed as an under-aged teen who had become pregnant by rape. The book reached number two on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list.

In October 2007, she released ''Celebrity Detox'', her second memoir which focuses on the struggles with leaving fame behind, noting her exits from ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' and ''The View''.

R Family Vacations

In 2003 O'Donnell and Carpenter partnered with travel entrepreneur Gregg Kaminsky to launch R Family Vacations catering to LGBT families, "the very first all gay and lesbian family vacation packages" where "gays and lesbians can bring their kids, their friends, and their parents." Although O'Donnell is not involved on a day-to-day basis, she does contribute to the creative aspects of "advertising and marketing materials" and initiated the idea for the company when she filled in as a last-minute replacement headliner on one of Kaminsky's Atlantis Events gay cruises and also came up with the name "R Family Vacations." On July 11, 2004, the first cruise was held with 1600 passengers including 600 children. In addition to traditional entertainment and recreational activities, the company partnered with Provincetown's Family Pride, a 25-year-old Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for GLBT families to host discussions on "adoption, insemination, surrogacy, and everything else that would be helpful to gay parenting." ''All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise'', a documentary film about the trip debuted on HBO on April 6, 2006, and was nominated for three Emmy Awards. Of the experience O'Donnell stated "we didn't really realize the magic that was going to take place. People who had never met another gay family met other families and it was powerful."

Charitable work

Over her career O'Donnell has developed a reputation for raising funds and her own philanthropy to charitable causes. In May 1996, Warner Books advanced O'Donnell $3 million to write a memoir. She used the money to seed her For All Kids foundation to help institute national standards for day care across the country. Her memoir, ''Find Me'', was released in April 2002 and became the second highest on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller List.

Since 1997, Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, overseen by Elizabeth Birch, has awarded more than $22 million in Early Childhood Care and Education program grants to over 900 nonprofit organizations. On October 30, 2006, she was honored by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. "It's our privilege to be honoring and hosting Rosie," said NYSPCC president David Stack in a statement. "Her Rosie's for All Kids Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in grants to over 1,400 child-related organizations, and that's just one of her many impressive activities on behalf of children." In November 2006 ''Nightline'' aired a video report about the opening of The Children's Plaza and Family Center in Renaissance Village, a FEMA trailer park in Louisiana. This was an emergency response initiative of Rosie's For All Kids Foundation with the help of many local nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, all efforts were to assist the families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

San Francisco public relations firm Fineman Associates awarded top prize to Procter & Gamble Co.'s designation of O'Donnell as "unkissable" in a promotion for Scope mouthwash on the 1997 annual list of the nation's worst public relations blunders. In response to the promotion, the "unkissable" O'Donnell partnered with Warner Lambert's competitor Listerine who donated bottles of mouthwash to the studio audience and donated $1,000 to charity every time a hosted guest would kiss her in exchange for O'Donnell promoting their product. On occasion, the guests would offer multiple kisses and ''People'' reported O'Donnell "smooched her way to more than $350,000."

In 2003, Rosie and Kelli O'Donnell collaborated with Artistic Director Lori Klinger to create "Rosie's Broadway Kids", dedicated to providing free instruction in music and dance to New York City public schools or students. Rosie's Broadway Kids serves more than 4,500 teachers, students, and their family members at 21 schools. Currently programs are in Harlem, Midtown West, Chelsea, Lower East Side, East Village, and Chinatown. All net profits from O'Donnell's 2007 book ''Celebrity Detox'' are also being donated to Rosie's Broadway Kids.

In December 2006, at a one-night charity event on the Norwegian Pearl cruiseship, Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director for the Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, confirmed that $50 million from O'Donnell's five-year contract were donated in an irrevocable trust to charity. She is also reported to have contributed several hundred thousand dollars for rehabilitation therapies for war veterans who have lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. On ''The Tyra Banks Show'', Tyra brought up to O'Donnell that people don't realize that Rosie has given more than $100 million to charity. In May 2007 O'Donnell and Pogo Games announced a joint-effort to raise money for Rosie's All Kids Foundation. EA, which owns Pogo, committed $30,000 and more money can be raised based on the amount of playing time people spend on certain games. They also held a sweepstakes in which winners get to fly to New York and meet Rosie and attend a charity function as her guest.

During the summer of 2007 Rosie was a guest on the multi-artist True Colors Tour, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the gay cable channel Logo, began on June 8, 2007. Hosted by comedienne Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included Debbie Harry, Erasure, The Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Indigo Girls, The Cliks and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human Rights Campaign as well as P-FLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation. She appeared again on True Colors Tour 2008.

Personal life

Coming out

In her January 31, 2002, appearance on the sitcom ''Will & Grace'', she played a lesbian mom. A month later as part of her act at the Ovarian Cancer Research benefit at Caroline's Comedy Club O'Donnell came out as a lesbian, announcing "I'm a dyke!" "I don't know why people make such a big deal about the gay thing. ... People are confused, they're shocked, like this is a big revelation to somebody." The announcement came two months before the end of the hosting of her talk show. Although she also cited the need to put a face to gays and lesbians her primary reason was to bring attention to the gay adoption issue. O'Donnell is a foster and adoptive mother. She protested against adoption agencies, particularly in Florida, that refused adoptive rights to gay and lesbian parents. Diane Sawyer interviewed O'Donnell in a March 14, 2002, episode of ''PrimeTime Thursday'', telling ''USA Today'' she chose to talk to Sawyer because she wanted an investigative piece on Florida's ban on gay adoption. She told Sawyer if that was done, "I would like to talk about my life and how (the case) pertains to me." She spoke about the two gay men in Florida who face having a foster child they raised removed from their home. State law won't let them adopt because Florida bans gay or bisexual people from adopting. O'Donnell's coming out drew criticism from some LGBT activists who cited her repeated references to being enamored of Tom Cruise on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' as deceptive. She responded in her act stating, "I said I wanted him to mow my lawn and bring me a lemonade. I never said I wanted to blow him." After leaving her show and coming out, O'Donnell returned to stand-up comedy, and cut her hair. O'Donnell told the press that her haircut was meant to mimic the haircut of former Culture Club backup singer Helen Terry. She subsequently attributed the haircut as a way to emulate Boy George, in hopes that he would allow her to produce his stage show ''Taboo''. O'Donnell did invest in and produce the show, but it was an expensive failure on Broadway.

Marriage and children

On February 26, 2004, O'Donnell married Kelli Carpenter, a former Nickelodeon marketing executive, in San Francisco two weeks after SF's Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the granting of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Her decision to go to San Francisco to marry Carpenter was seen as a show of defiance against then-President George W. Bush over his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment. }} The couple were married by San Francisco Treasurer Susan Leal, one of the city's highest ranking lesbian officials and they were serenaded by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. O'Donnell and Carpenter are parents to adopted children Parker Jaren (born 1995), Chelsea Belle (born 1997), and Blake Christopher (born 1999). Their fourth child, Vivienne Rose (who was conceived through artificial insemination), was born in 2002 to Carpenter. In 2000 the family took in a foster child Mia (born in 1997), and announced intentions to adopt her. In 2001 the state of Florida removed Mia from their home, and Rosie has since worked extensively to bring an end to the Florida law prohibiting same-sex family adoption. As of 2010 O'Donnell and her family currently reside in Nyack, New York, a suburb of New York City that is located in Rockland County and in Miami's Star Island. O'Donnell's brother Daniel, who is also gay, represents the Upper West Side of Manhattan as a member of the New York State Assembly.

Works

;Television:

''Gimme a Break!'' NBC (cast member 1986–1987)

''Stand-Up Spotlight'' VH1 (1988–1991)

''Stand by Your Man'' FOX (1992)

''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' Syndicated (1996–2002) (also producer and executive producer)

''The Twilight of the Golds'' Showtime (1997)

''Jackie's Back!'' Lifetime (1999) (cameo)

''Will & Grace'' NBC (2002) (recurring role)

''Riding the Bus with My Sister'' CBS (2005 TV movie) (also executive producer)

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' HBO (2005)

''Queer as Folk'' Showtime (2005) (recurring role)

''All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise'' HBO (2006) (also documentary's producer and executive producer)

''The View'' ABC (September 5, 2006 – May 27, 2007's Moderator)

''Nip/Tuck'' FX (2006) (two episodes in Season 4, four episodes in Season 5)

''Little Britain USA'' HBO (2008) (Series 1, Episode 1)

''Rosie Live!'' NBC (2008) (also producer and executive producer)

''Christmas In Rockefeller Center 2008'' NBC (2008)

''America'' Lifetime (2009) (also executive producer and screenplay)

''Stalking Streisand'' HBO (2009)

''Drop Dead Diva'' (as Judge Madeline Summers) (2009–10)

;Award ceremonies:

''Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards'' (Host) (1997–2003)

''54th Annual Tony Awards'' (Host) (2000)

''42nd Annual Grammy Awards'' (Host) (2000)

;Radio:

''Rosie Radio'' SIRIUS XM (2009)

;Theater:

''Grease'' (1994) (as Betty Rizzo)

''Seussical'' (2001) (replacement for David Shiner)

''Fiddler on the Roof'' (2004) (replacement for Andrea Martin in 2005)

''Love, Loss, and What I Wore'' (2009)

;Filmography:

''A League of Their Own'' (1992)

''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993)

''Another Stakeout'' (1993)

''Fatal Instinct'' (1993)

''Car 54, Where Are You?'' (1994)

''I'll Do Anything'' (1994)

''The Flintstones'' (1994)

''Exit to Eden'' (1994)

''Now and Then'' (1995)

''Beautiful Girls'' (1995)

''Harriet the Spy'' (1996)

''A Very Brady Sequel'' (1996) (Cameo)

''Wide Awake'' (1998)

''Get Bruce'' (1999) (documentary about Bruce Vilanch)

''Tarzan'' (1999) (voice)

''Artists and Orphans: A True Drama'' (2001) (short subject) (narrator)

''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2001) (Archive footage)

''Last Party 2000'' (2001) (documentary)

''The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch'' (2005) (documentary)

''Show Business'' (2005) (documentary)

''Pursuit of Equality'' (2005) (documentary)

''All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise'' (2006) (documentary) (also executive producer)

;Bibliography:

''Find Me'' (2002)

''Celebrity Detox'' (2007)

''Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects The Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long'' (2008)

;Discography: {|class="wikitable" !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Album !colspan="3"| Chart positions |-style="font-size:smaller;" !width="50"|US Holiday !width="50"|US |- |1999 |''A Rosie Christmas'' |align="center"|1 |align="center"|20 |- |2000 |''Another Rosie Christmas'' |align="center"|3 |align="center"|45 |}

;Singles:

!Year	!Single	!width="50"	!Album
2000	"Santa on the Rooftop" (w/ Trisha Yearwood)		''A Rosie Christmas''

Nominations and awards

;Daytime Emmy Awards:

1997 Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell

1998 Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

1998 Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell (tied with Oprah Winfrey)

1999 Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

1999 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell

2000 Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

2000 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell

2001 Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

2001 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell (tied with Regis Philbin)

2002 Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''

2002 Outstanding Talk Show Host, Rosie O'Donnell

;Emmy Awards:

1999 Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, ''52nd Annual Tony Awards''

;Kids' Choice Awards:

2000 Hall of Fame Award

;Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards: 2002 Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.

Footnotes

References

External links

Official site

Rosie O'Donnell's personal photo gallery on Flickr

Category:1962 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American bloggers Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television personalities Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Dickinson College alumni Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Gun control advocates Category:Lesbian actors Category:Living people Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:AIDS activists Category:LGBT parents Category:LGBT television personalities Category:People from Long Island Category:People from Queens Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

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Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
name	Will Young
background	solo_singer
birth name	William Robert Young
born	January 20, 1979Wokingham, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom
genre	Pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, Actor
years active	2001–present
label	19 Recordings, Sony Music
website	www.WillYoung.co.uk }}

William Robert "Will" Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor. He rose to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural ''Pop Idol'' contest (February 2002), making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise. He has won multiple awards. Young has sold over eight million albums worldwide..

Early life

Young was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, with a fraternal twin, Rupert Maxwell Young. He also has an elder sister Emma. He had a pleasant childhood and has often spoken about his happy memories of this time. Young was educated at three independent schools: Horris Hill School near the village of Newtown in Berkshire and from the age of thirteen, at Wellington College in Crowthorne, also in Berkshire, and at D'Overbroeck's College in Oxford, Oxfordshire. He then studied at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, where he read Politics and graduated with a 2:2 honours degree. In September 2001, he became a student at the Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, London, starting a three-year course in musical theatre with a scholarship.

Music career

''Pop Idol''

In February 2002, Young came to national prominence by winning the ITV television programme contest ''Pop Idol''. Contrary to press claims of being the underdog, after having beaten the widely accepted front-runner Gareth Gates in the final show, it emerged that Young had in fact gained the most votes in six out of the nine rounds of public voting. This was published in the ''Pop Idol'' book, which was released shortly after the programme.

The songs Young sang on the show were:

!Week	!Theme	!Song performed	!Artist
Audition	Idol's Choice	"Blame It on the Boogie"	The Jacksons
London Rounds	Day 1 - Part 1		The Drifters
London Rounds	Day 1 - Part 2		O-Town
London Rounds	Day 2	"Fastlove"	George Michael
Top 50	Semi Finals	"Light My Fire"	The Doors
Top 10	Inspiring Artists	"Until You Come Back to Me"	Aretha Franklin
Top 9	Christmas Songs	"Winter Wonderland"	Perry Como
Top 8	Burt Bacharach Music	"Wives and Lovers"
Top 7	Movie Hits		Bill Withers/ Andy Williams
Top 6	Songs of ABBA	"The Name of the Game"	ABBA
Top 5	Big Band	"We Are in Love"	Harry Connick, Jr.
Top 4	No. 1 Hits	"Night Fever""There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)"	Bee GeesThe Eurythmics
Top 3	Judges' Choice		Bobby DarinJackie Wilson
Top 2	Idol Single A-SideIdol's FavouriteIdol Single AA-Side	"Anything Is Possible (Will Young song)	Will YoungThe Doors/Jose Feliciano[[Westlife

Post-''Idol'' career

2002-present: ''From Now On'', ''Friday's Child'' and further releases

Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife's song "Evergreen" and "Anything Is Possible", a new song written for the winner of the show by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis. In March 2002, this became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403 027 copies on its day of release (1 108 659 copies in its first week). It went on to sell over 1.7 million copies, and on the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it was ranked eleventh. In 2008, Official Charts Company released the Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the 21st Century (so far) in which Will's version of Evergreen topped the chart. On 31 December 2009, Radio 1 confirmed that "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen" was the biggest selling single of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom. "Anything is possible" won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

In October 2002, Young released his debut album, ''From Now On'', which included "Evergreen" nominated in the Best single category in 2003 at the BRIT Awards and "Anything Is Possible". It produced three singles: "Light My Fire", "The Long and Winding Road" (a duet with Gareth Gates, released as a double A-side with Gates's song "Suspicious Minds") and "Don't Let Me Down"/"You and I" (released in aid of Children in Need). He won his first BRIT Award in February 2003 as Best Breakthrough Artist.

Young's second album, ''Friday's Child'', was released in December 2003. It features the singles "Leave Right Now", nominated in the Best British single category of the past 25 years at the 2005 BRIT Awards and winner of the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 2004, "Your Game" (which won Young his second BRIT Award in 2005) and "Friday's Child" In November 2005, Young released his third album, ''Keep On'', which included the single "All Time Love", nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2007 BRIT Awards. Other singles from the album were "Switch It On" and "Who Am I".

On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, ''Let It Go'', was released. It peaked at Nº2 in the album charts, having been preceded by the single "Changes", which was released on 15 September and peaked at Nº10 in the UK Singles Chart. His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at Nº33 on the UK Singles Chart. The third single taken from the album, "Let It Go", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at Nº58 on the UK Singles Chart. The fourth and final single, "Tell Me the Worst", was released in the UK only, on 5 July, 2009 . It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes.

On an interview with Digital Spy, Will Young revealed that he was working on a Dance-Pop album, which might be released in late 2009. He also confirmed that he was working with British duo Groove Armada, Superbass, who remixed his UK Top 10 single "Changes", and Gregg Alexander, who has previously worked with British pop diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Geri Halliwell. He also confirmed that he is working on an album covering songs by Noel Coward, which is as yet in its very early stages and he "doesn't know if it will end up".

Young's greatest hits collection was released on 16 November 2009. It included two brand new songs, one of them the single "Hopes & Fears". The album was a success on the charts, being certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

In 2010 Will Young collaborated with Groove Armada on their album Black Light, singing vocals on the track 'History'.

In early 2011, Will tweeted teaser clips of tracks from his new album, 'Echoes', which was subsequently released on August 22, 2011 and entered the UK Album charts at No.1 on August 29th 2011. The first single is called 'Jealousy', and premiered on BBC Radio 2, between 9am-12pm, Monday 11 July 2011, as confirmed on Will's Facebook page. The single was released on August 21, 2011, preceding the album by 1 day.

Performing

In early 2002, Young joined his fellow ''Pop Idol'' contestants in a nationwide arena tour. The final concert at Wembley was in aid of The Prince's Trust, of which Young is an ambassador, together with Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh, the runner-up and third-placed contestant in ''Pop Idol''. In June 2002, Young performed at the Queen's Jubilee Concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, singing "We Are the Champions" with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor.

During July 2002, Young sang at two concerts with the renowned songwriter Burt Bacharach at Hammersmith Apollo and at the Liverpool Summerpops event. In August 2002, he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, singing "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" in the pouring rain. He was praised by the announcer, Grandmaster Flash, who said that it was not easy entering a talent show. November 2002 brought an appearance at the Royal Command Performance. In November 2003, Young performed the wartime song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", accompanied by The Squadronaires, at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Following a sell-out theatre tour in 2004, Young appeared at The Olympic Torch Concert, performing a duet of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with soul legend James Brown. Later that year, he embarked upon his first solo arena tour, another sell-out success. He toured again at outside festival venues in mid 2005. In July 2005, he performed at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live 8, a charity concert in Edinburgh to raise awareness of the plight of Africa, where he duetted with James Brown once again and also sang with One Giant Leap, Neneh Cherry and Maxi Jazz. In November 2005, Young appeared in his second Royal Command Performance.

In May 2006, he sang at The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday, which took place at the Tower of London. From 12 September until 2 October 2006, Young toured the UK with his ''Keep On Live'' tour, which included the songs taken from his album ''Keep On'' and a selection of past songs. The official merchandise range for the tour, highlighted by the press, included a "tip and strip" pen which, when turned over, reveals Young in his underpants. In October 2006, Young sang at Nitin Sawhney's concert in the BBC Electric Proms series of concerts. He followed this by performing in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's Unite of the Stars charity concerts.

In July 2007, he appeared at the Concert for Diana at the new Wembley Stadium. Young was the headline act at the Proms in the Park, which took place in Hyde Park in September 2007 as part of the Last Night of the Proms. In September 2007, Young performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young took part in the Little Noise Sessions, a series of intimate, acoustic gigs for the learning disability charity, Mencap. He performed in November 2007 with special guests at Islington's Union Chapel.

In April 2008, Young again appeared at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young is to perform at various festivals during mid 2008, including Glastonbury, T In the Park in Scotland and Bestival on the Isle of Wight.

On 24 August 2008 Young appeared at the Olympic Party which took place in The Mall, London. He performed his latest single Changes and I Can See Clearly Now, which was originally sung by Johnny Nash.

Young is also featured singing in trailers for the recording/film making group 1 Giant Leap's newest project "What About Me?"

Young was the featured singer on the X-Factor programme on ITV1 on Saturday 1 November 2008. He also mentored the remaining contestants.

Young performed in a sell-out theatre tour, commencing on 16 November 2008 and continuing until 13 December 2008 with two dates at The Roundhouse in Camden, London.

On 31 December 2008 Young was featured as a guest on Elton John's Live New Year show at the O2 Arena in London. He joined Sir Elton in the song Daniel.

Young will be performing at various festivals across the UK during the summer of 2009, starting with the Isle of Wight Festival on Saturday 13 June, including T4 On The Beach on Sunday 19 July.

Young was one of the performers at the BBC's "Live at Blackpool" programme on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 5 September 2009.

Young toured again in the UK at the end of 2009. He took to the stage at The Waterfront, Belfast on the opening night on 9 November, finishing up at the Brighton Centre on 6 December.

As part of his 2010 outdoor summer tour, it was announced that he would be a special guest and play on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor was his supporting act for his 2010 tour.

Recently his 2003 song Leave Right Now has been featured on American Idol as the "departing song". He also performed live on the programme on 25 May 2010. Young gave his first U.S. concert on May 26 at West Hollywood's Ultra Suede nightclub. He was also featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine ''Instinct''.

Other projects

Acting career

Young added acting to his repertoire when he accepted a role in the BBC film ''Mrs. Henderson Presents'', starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, in which he played Bertie. The film was released in the UK in November 2005 to excellent reviews—not least for Young's performance as both actor and singer in the film. The scene, in which Young appears naked, postdated his "absolutely thrilled" acceptance of the British male Rear of the Year Award 2005, an accolade to add to the Most Stylish Male Music Star, Best Bod, Sexiest Star, Best Dressed and Best Hair awards he had already won.

Young trod the boards in the Royal Exchange Theatre's production of ''The Vortex'' by Noel Coward. This production ran from January to March 2007 and Young played the leading role of Nicky Lancaster. Critics, including Nicholas de Jongh, were very positive.

In October 2007 Young narrated an audio version of the Roald Dahl novel ''Danny, the Champion of the World''.

Young also appeared in the Marple drama ''The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side'' and guest starred in an episode of ''Skins'' in 2010.

In 2011, he starred in a new drama series on Sky Living called ''Bedlam'', about supernatural happenings taking place at a disused asylum being converted into loft-style apartments. The £3 million six-part series began airing on 7 February 2011. It was distributed by BBC Worldwide.

Television documentaries

In November 2004, Young presented a documentary entitled ''Runaways'' as part of the Children in Need campaign, highlighting the problems facing distressed teens who run away from home, and the plight they were in being picked up off the streets and railway stations by pimps who offered them work and drugs. The children did not know where to go for immediate help unless they were picked up by the police and sent to a refuge centre.

During June 2007 a series of documentaries entitled ''Saving Planet Earth'' was shown on BBC Television. Young filmed an episode about saving the gorillas of West Africa during his visit to Africa earlier in the year.

In March 2009, ITV1 arts programme The South Bank Show presented an hour long fly on the wall documentary about Young that they had been filming over the course of the year as he returned to promote the ''Let It Go'' album. It showed him in Iceland filming the video for the ''Let It Go'' single, backstage before his performance on The X Factor and on his UK theatre tour from November 2008 amongst other segments.

Young has been made a "Companion" of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

Young was a guest on Top Gear during season 12 episode 2 and was the fastest wet lap around the track in the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Young is making a documentary about Ralph Fiennes production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus which is being filmed in Serbia. He also has a small role in the film as well as being Executive Producer.

In August 2011, ITV based an hour-long programme on Young, entitled "A night With Will Young". This was to promote the release of his most recent album, Echoes.

Debate

On 27 October 2008, Young spoke on Celebrity at the Oxford Union, where he showed an interest in forming a band named 'Will Young and the Credit Crunchers'. he was invited to appear on ''Question Time'' after he revealed he was a fan of the show. He participated in the edition from Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in February 2009.

Philanthropy

Young supports the charity Women's Aid, about which he wrote: "I am proud to put my name beside this cause, and hope that I might be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence, as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society."

Young also supports Mencap—about which he wrote, "I'm very much in this for the long term, and I'd like to help continue to break down peoples' misconceptions and prejudices"—, The Children's Society Safe and Sound Campaign, and Positive Action Southwest (PASW), for which he performed at his first solo concert, in July 2003, at Killerton House, Exeter.

Young has been an ambassador for The Prince's Trust since 2002, and performed at the 30th anniversary concert in the grounds of the Tower of London.

Together with Dame Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman, Young appeared in a series of advertisements during the Christmas period 2007 for Oxfam; "Oxfam Unwrapped".

Young is the ambassador for Mood Foundation, a charity which aims to build a database of private therapists and alternative therapies to treat various types of depressive conditions. It was set up by Young's twin brother Rupert Young.

Young is an ambassador for Catch22, a UK young people's charity, which supports young people in tough situations. The young people may come from tough upbringings or neighbourhoods, where poverty, crime and unemployment are common features. They may be leaving care, truanting, or have been excluded from school. Some of them have started getting into trouble with the police or may have got as far as custody.

Personal life

In March 2002, Young revealed that he is gay, pre-empting a tabloid newspaper that was preparing to out him. He also stated that he had never hidden and was comfortable with his sexuality.

Discography

''From Now On'' (2002)

''Friday's Child'' (2003)

''Keep On'' (2005)

''Let It Go'' (2008)

''Echoes'' (2011)

References

External links

Official website

Will Young discography at Discogs.

.

Will Young Tour Review on the Daily Music Guide, 6 November 2008.

Interview with Will Young on the Daily Music Guide, 8 November 2008.

Category:1979 births Category:People educated at the Arts Educational Schools Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English film actors Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English stage actors Category:Gay actors Category:Idol series winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from England Category:Living people Category:Old Wellingtonians Category:People from Hungerford Category:People from Reading, Berkshire Category:People from Wokingham Category:Pop Idol contestants Category:Sony BMG artists Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:Twin people from England

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