Lawrence O'Donnell

Infobox_Person
name = Lawrence O'Donnell
caption =


birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts
nationality = American
field = Journalism
work_institutions = MSNBC Lawrence Francis O'Donnell, Jr. (born November 7, 1955) is an MSNBC political analyst who has appeared on "The McLaughlin Group" and "The Al Franken Show". He was also an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer for the NBC series "The West Wing" and creator and executive producer of the late NBC series, "Mister Sterling". He also appears as a recurring supporting character on the HBO series "Big Love", portraying an attorney.

Biography

Personal life

O'Donnell was born in Boston, the son of Frances Marie (née Buckley), an office manager, and Lawrence Francis O'Donnell, Sr., an attorney.http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/Lawrence-O-Donnell.html] Since 1994, O'Donnell has been married to television and movie actress Kathryn Harrold, best known for playing movie legend Lauren Bacall in the 1980 made-for-TV movie "Bogie".

Career and controversies

O'Donnell is widely known as an outspoken television political commentator, and was the Democratic Chief of Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Finance from 1993 through 1995. In 1992, he was Chief of Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. O'Donnell made himself a key figure in the coverage of the Valerie Plame scandal by naming Karl Rove as the primary source for Matt Cooper's story. He is well known for his strong dislike of California's current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He calls himself a "practical European socialist." [cite web | url = http://caglecartoons.com/column.asp?columnID=%7B3C798B88-CC34-4D12-865C-B7E91A29F0CE%7D | title = A liberal who loves markets: 'The West Wing's' Lawrence O'Donnell | work = Newsmaker Interviews | first = Bill | last = Steigerwald | date = 2005-11-11 | accessdate = 2006-09-20 ] In October 2004, while a guest on the MSNBC show, "Scarborough Country", O'Donnell shouted "liar" over and over again at fellow guest Swift Boat Spokesperson John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran, making it diffcult for O'Neill to speak. [ [http://michellemalkin.com/2004/10/22/lawrence-odonnell-and-liberals-unhinged/ Michelle Malkin » Lawrence O’Donnell and liberals unhinged ] ] This shout-down was peppered with variations such as "Creepy liar!" as well as "That's a lie! It's another lie! ... They lied! ... They're lying somewhere!" [ [http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110005804 The Wall Street Journal Online - Best of the Web Today ] ] In May 2005, while serving as a guest panelist the CNBC program, "Dennis Miller", O'Donnell began shouting at fellow panelist, the late Cathy Seipp, on the issue of public education and teachers. Siepp later dubbed him "Larry O'Scary". [ [http://cathyseipp.journalspace.com/?entryid=543 Cathy's World ] ] During an episode of "The McLaughlin Group" in December 2007, during a discussion of Mitt Romney's "Faith In America" speech, O'Donnell voiced criticisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that garnered a great deal of media attention, especially when he stated that Joseph Smith, the Mormon founder, was pro-slavery (Smith actually ran for president on an abolitionist platform). O'Donnell continued his comments about Mitt Romney and Mormonism during an in depth interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, wherein he criticized other religions including his own Catholic faith, but declined to publicly criticize Islamic fundamentalism because he said he was afraid for his life, to which Hewitt responded, "So you can be bigoted towards Mormons, because they’ll just send you a strudel." [ Transcripts of Hugh Hewitt Show December 11, 2007 - Theology 101 with Lawrence O'Donnell http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?ContentGuid=cb634a31-a45d-47fd-b285-d181b269d10c] Martin E. Marty, professor of religious history at the University of Chicago, said of O'Donnell's comments, "criticism is one thing; hate-speech and untruths are another." [Mormons and Idiosyncracy http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/47264.html]

Acting

O'Donnell plays Lee Hatcher, the Henrickson family attorney in the HBO series "Big Love", about a polygamous family in Utah.

In addition to being a producer on "The West Wing", O'Donnell also played President Josiah Bartlet's father.

References

External links

* [http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/10/breakdown.html Video of Scarborough Country Appearance]
* [http://cathyseipp.journalspace.com/?entryid=543 Dennis Miller Show]
* [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1336660059/bctid1336721556 Video of McLaughlin Group appearance]
* [http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2008/01/23/when-enough-rope-isnt/ Commentary by Mark Goldblatt]