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Jack Osbourne

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Jack Osbourne
Osbourne at his autobiography signing in London, 2006.
Born
Jack Joseph Osbourne
Years active2001- present

Jack Joseph Osbourne (born 8 November 1985) is an English television personality, known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Kelly Osbourne.

Biography

Early life and family

Osbourne was born in City of Westminster, London.[1] He has two older sisters, Aimee Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne, and also two elder half-siblings; Jessica Hobbs and Louis John Osbourne, both of whom are from Ozzy's previous marriage to Thelma Riley. Osbourne also has an adopted brother Robert Mercato, a long-time friend of the Osbourne family who was adopted after his mother died of colon cancer in 2002. The Osbournes have many pets, and Jack owns a female bulldog named Lola. Jack says that his childhood years were "perfectly happy and contented".[2] For the first six years of his life he lived in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. When he was six, Sharon and Ozzy decided to move the family to L.A., but a year later the family moved back to Buckinghamshire. When Jack was eleven, the family moved back to Southern California but this time to Beverly Hills. In spite of moving so many times at a young age, Jack claims "he didn't find it too disruptive".[3]

Education

The only aspect of his life that constant moving did affect was his school life, and Jack soon despised going to school, which was not helped by the fact that when he was eight he was diagnosed with a form of dyslexia,[4][5] and when he was ten he was diagnosed with ADHD. At the time, Jack was studying at a Christian school in L.A., but their attitude was "pray hard and you'll get better"[6] and Jack returned to England again for a year, before returning to L.A. This time Jack did not return to the Christian school, but was enrolled into a special needs school (Park Century School), and was prescribed Ritalin to combat his ADHD. Jack had been on the road with Ozzy throughout much of his childhood, and when he was fourteen he was offered an internship at Virgin Records while Sharon was managing The Smashing Pumpkins on this label.

A&R and music management

After Sharon stopped managing The Smashing Pumpkins, Jack soon started A&R scouting for Epic Records as Ozzy had been on Epic for many years. Jack also helped Sharon in managing his father's annual touring festival, Ozzfest, through advising her about up-and-coming bands.[7]

Television

The Osbournes

Jack shot to fame in 2002 after appearing in his family's reality television show The Osbournes, which was aired on MTV and won an Emmy Award in 2002.[8] When inititally approached about the idea of the show, Jack said to Sharon "I don't want to be famous."[9] In the show Jack was mostly shown as a rebellious teenager who liked to party and fight with Kelly. In a song advertising The Osbournes.[10] Jack Black sings the line "and he's got a big 'fro on his head", describing Jack's curly hair that grew longer until he eventually shaved it off in the third series of the show.

The Osbournes opened many doors for Jack, as in 2002 he briefly appeared in Goldmember along with the rest of his family, and subsequently he also appeared in an advertisement for Pepsi Twist with Kelly during the Super Bowl 2003. In 2002 Jack also appeared in Season 6 of Dawson's Creek in the episode "The Kid's Are Alright Part 1" as Audrey's drug-taking friend, and in 2003 he appeared in That 70s Show. In more recent years Jack appeared in an episode of The X Factor as a joke under the guise of a 'goth rapper'[11] in which he sang Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

Post-rehab, Osbourne went on in 2003 to star in his own show on Channel 4 entitled Union Jack. In 2004 he hit the big screen for a second time to play a small role in New York Minute, a film starring the Olsen twins in which he plays a music promoter named Justin. In 2005 Jack started to show more of an interest in fitness through co-hosting the ITV2 show, Celebrity Wrestling:Bring It On!. In February 2005 Jack appeared in Extreme Celebrity Detox in which he took part in T'ai Chi and climbing exercises, which possibly inspired him[12] to appear in his own programme Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie, which was produced by the same production company (Ginger Productions) as Extreme Celebrity Detox'.

Adrenaline Junkie

Osbourne got in shape and lost 50 pounds[13] in Thailand at a Muay Thai martial arts camp in Pattaya in order to be fit enough to climb El Capitan (which he achieved) whilst filming the first series of Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie . It is aired on ITV2 in the UK, the Travel Channel in the United States, The LifeStyle Channel in Australia, GOtv in South Africa and on MuchMusic in Canada. Adrenaline Junkie focuses on Osbourne's training for sports like rock climbing, mountaineering and a jungle trek in Belize from the Chiquibul Chamber through dense jungle ending at Caracol Ruins (Guided by the UK volunteer conservation organisation Trekforce). The effects of Jack's weight loss are clearly shown by the two semi-naked photo shoots he did for Cosmopolitan in 2005 to raise awareness of testicular cancer. The first, taken in June 2005, shows him sitting on a motor bike, with him claiming in the same issue that Cosmo are "chubby chasers for wanting to see him starkers". However, in the second photo shoot, which appeared in the December 2005 issue of Cosmo, he was noticeably more toned,[14] and Jack declared that the second shoot was a big "Ha! To everyone to who laughed at him before".

After the first series of Adrenaline Junkie he began filling in for Stephen Mulhern on CITV's Saturday morning kids' show Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown (the show has now ended). Jack took part in Sport Relief and faced former singer in the band S Club 7, Bradley McIntosh, in a boxing match of three one-minute rounds to raise money for the charity. Jack won by a unanimous decision.

He once claimed to be considering a career in law enforcement and was on reality television show Armed and Famous. The show was pulled from CBS in January 2007, and Jack is being sued by a woman from Muncie, Indiana whose house was accidentally raided during the filming on the show.[15]

Jack's recently filmed a programme for the BBC's Saving Planet Earth series. In it he travelled to Namibia to highlight the tensions between elephants and the local people, and what can be done so that both groups can live peacefully beside one another. Whilst filming, Jack had a near-miss when an elephant was threatening to charge at him, but luckily the elephant walked off.[16]

The fourth series of Adrenaline Junkie, which is currently airing on ITV2, shows Jack taking on a leadership role as he leads a group of celebrities through similar challenges to the ones he faced on the first two series of the programme.

After the end of the third series Jack took part in the Mongol Rally with News Corporation director Andrew Knights' daughter, Amaryllis Knight.[17] Their challenge was to drive a car with under 1000cc from London to Ulan bator, the capital of Mongolia, for charity.

Personal struggle

Drug addiction

On Jack's 13th Birthday he got drunk for the first time on whiskey and by the time he was fourteen, he was drinking regularly and had started smoking pot.[18] He started partying more, and made headlines on 21 April 2003 when he was admitted to a child psychiatric ward for an addiction to OxyContin.[19] Jack's drug addiction escalated after Sharon was diagnosed with cancer as well as battling with his own depression, but the final straw came when Jack attempted suicide[citation needed] by taking absinthe, Heroin and a cocktail of prescription pills and WD-40[citation needed] as well as cutting his hands with shards of glass after hearing his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend pick up her phone when he called her.[citation needed] Jack woke up twelve hours later, which he describes as "miraculous".[citation needed]

Rehabilitation

Jack continued with his drug use until he realised "I never want to feel this way ever again" and admitted himself into an adolescent psych ward, as that was the only place that could legally detox adolescents. After spending 10 days detoxing, he was then moved to an adolescent rehabilitation centre in Malibu, where he enrolled in the Twelve Step Program. Jack has been clean since he left rehab, apart from when he accidentally had a shot of vodka jelly, mistaking it for normal jelly.[20]

Public image

Personal life

He enjoys nu metal and his favourite bands include: Tool, Incubus, Faith No More, System of a Down, Tenacious D, Meshuggah, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, and Mudvayne. Osbourne is also a hardcore gamer and can frequently be seen playing video games on The Osbournes.

In February 2005, Jack had a "high value amount" of jewellery stolen from his suitcase at LAX, and offered a £100,000 reward for any information that could lead to prosecution.[21]

Osbourne has been connected to many women, and claims that he is a "she-bitch man whore".[22] Although regarding romantic relationships, Osbourne is reported to have said that "having a girlfriend is like communism; on paper (it) sounds awesome; in reality (it) never really works out".[23] In the past, Osbourne has confirmed relationships with Kimberly Stewart (whose old breast implants remain nailed to his wall)[24] as well as model Kate Moss following a kiss L.A. nightclub Teddies, but when the media claimed that they were an item Jack replied "not the worst rumor, but a little off the mark".[25] Other love interests have included Brianne Cobain, half-sister of Kurt Cobain, dancer Lydia Worth[26] and Paris Hilton.[27]

Tattoos and Piercings

Osbourne is very interested in body modifications and has various tattoos all over his body. These include:

  • A tattoo across the whole of his back which includes a dragon
  • A tattoo saying "Mum" inside a heart in white ink on his left shoulderblade
  • A smiley face on each knee (his father, Ozzy Osbourne, also has this tattoo)
  • A skull and crossbones on the back of his neck
  • An intricate pattern on his right forearm including a fish and a wheel
  • A Buddhist symbol of a triangle within a circle on his left arm
  • The name "Kelly" on his inner left wrist (His sister, Kelly, has one that says "Jack")
  • A crucifix on the centre of his chest
  • The words 'Savage Times' across his right breastbone
  • A lobe piercing in each ear
  • A tiger on his lower left arm

Further reading

  • 21 Years Gone: The Autobiography (2006) ISBN 978-0230014329
  • Ordinary People: Our Story (31 Oct 2004) ISBN 978-0743462228

References

  1. ^ Births England and Wales 1984-2006
  2. ^ Osbourne, Jack, 21 Years Gone, (Macmillan 2006) pg 7.
  3. ^ Osbourne, Jack, 21 Years Gone, (Macmillan 2006) pg 36.
  4. ^ Jack Osbourne Biography |TVGuide.com
  5. ^ Jack Osbourne Biography
  6. ^ Osbourne, Jack, 21 Years Gone, (Macmillan 2006) pg 54.
  7. ^ Gold, Todd Officially Osbourne, (Simon & Schuster UK) pg 17.
  8. ^ BBC News Ozzy's Wife Collects Emmy Award.
  9. ^ Gold, Todd, Ordinary People, (Pocket Books 2004) pg 231.
  10. ^ Youtube The Osbournes by Tenacious D Retrieved 27 November 2007
  11. ^ M&C Jack Osbourne fooled Simon Cowell into believing he was a white rapper.
  12. ^ Jack's Diary about Extreme Celebrity Detox (Feb 2005), [1] Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  13. ^ Men's Fitness (Feb 2006), Rebourne. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  14. ^ TV Squad (16 Nov 2005), Jack Osbourne goes nude for Cosmo. Retrieved April 18 2007.
  15. ^ TV Squad (5 June 2007), CBS, Jack Osbourne sued over reality TV show. Retrieved June 20 2007.
  16. ^ The Sun Online (3 July 2007), Osbourne's elephant scare. Retrieved July 5 2007.
  17. ^ Amaryllis Knight
  18. ^ Osbourne, Jack, 21 Years Gone, (Macmillan 2006) pg 65.
  19. ^ BBC (24 May, 2004), Kelly Osbourne talks of drug hell. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  20. ^ Exposay (28 July, 2006), Jack Falls off the wagon at Princess Beatrice's Party Retrieved 21 April 2007
  21. ^ BBC News Jack Osbourne Jewellery is stolen Retrieved June 25 2007
  22. ^ The Osbournes, "My Big Fat Jewish Wedding" (2003)
  23. ^ Star Pulse , Jack Osbourne: 'Having a Girlfriend Is a Bit Like Communism'. Retrieved July 2007,
  24. ^ Female First , Osbourne has Rod's Daughter's Breast Implants On His Wall. Retrieved June 2007,
  25. ^ Osbourne, Jack, 21 Years Gone, (Macmillan 2006) pg 210.
  26. ^ Female First , Jack Osbourne dating dancer. Retrieved June 2007,
  27. ^ The Sun, Jack Had Sex With Paris Hilton Retrieved 20 June 2007,

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Jack Osbourne.
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