Person of the Week: Robert Osborne

Robert Osborne, courtesy Turner Classic Movies.

Though he’s best known as the host of Turner Classic Movies’ weekly evening line-up, Robert Osborne is, in fact, one of the foremost film historians in the industry. Born in 1932, Robert Jolin Osborne started his work in the entertainment industry with Desilu Studios where, in the late 1950’s, he worked as a contract actor. Lucille Ball took Osborne under her protective wing and added him to her special group of young performers—"Lucille Ball’s Desilu Workshop." Osborne’s first television appearance was opposite Hugh O’Brien in the Desilu Playhouse production of “Chain of Command.”


Ball noticed Osborne’s great love of cinema and suggested to her young friend that he combine his talents to work as an entertainment journalist. Taking his mentor’s advice, be began writing while still working as an actor. From 1982 until 2009, Osborne worked as a correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter, and, every decade since 1978, has written The Official History of the Academy Awards.

During this time period, Osborne also made frequent television appearances as a film historian, hosting films for The Movie Channel, and in 1994, joining the fledgling Turner Classic Movies as their host. 2005 saw the realization of one of Osborne’s dreams when he launched "The Robert Osborne Classic Film Festival" in Athens, Georgia.

Fans of TCM appreciate Osborne’s knowledge of the classic films he presents each evening as well as the charm and enthusiasm he brings to each introduction. Robert Osborne has worked for many years to preserve our classic cinema so that future generations can recognize the achievements of the early film pioneers. For his decades of work in keeping the spirit of thousands of artists alive, Robert Osborne is our person of the week.