SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations

As primetime host and anchor of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Robert Osborne brought viewers out of their living rooms and into the world of classic Hollywood , providing insider information, facts and trivia on TCM movie presentations. Osborne was also a columnist-critic for The Hollywood Reporter, the daily show business trade paper. He was known as the official biographer of Oscar®, thanks to a series of books he wrote on the subject of Hollywood ’s annual Academy Awards®. His book, 80 Years Of the Oscar, written at the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been called “the most comprehensive and definitive book ever done on the subject.” Osborne was born in Colfax, Wash., and graduated from the University of Washington ’s School of Journalism, appearing in local plays in his non-study hours. He eventually went to Hollywood as an actor under contract to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It was Lucy who encouraged him to pursue writing, which he considered “the best advice at the best