Editing Rosie O'Donnell (section)

==Early life==
O'Donnell was born on March 21, 1962, in [[Commack, New York]],<ref name=PeopleBio>{{cite web|title=Rosie O'Donnell|url=http://www.people.com/people/rosie_odonnell/0,,,00.html|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|access-date=February 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213203747/http://www.people.com/people/rosie_odonnell/0%2C%2C%2C00.html|archive-date=December 13, 2013}}</ref> the third of five children of Roseann Teresa (née Murtha; 1934–1973) and Edward Joseph O'Donnell (1933–2015).<ref name="usa">{{cite web |title=Rosie O'Donnell was sexually abused by her father, new book 'Ladies Who Punch' reveals |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2019/03/13/rosie-odonnell-sexual-abuse-father-book/3154028002/ |website=USA Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028105556/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2019/03/13/rosie-odonnell-sexual-abuse-father-book/3154028002/ |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |date=March 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her father immigrated from [[County Donegal, Ireland]] during his childhood, and her mother was Irish American.<ref name="bookbiography" /> 

O'Donnell and her siblings were sexually abused by their father as children and stated that her family has a history of "generational abuse and alcoholism."<ref name="sexual abuse">Sources:
* {{cite web |title=Rosie O'Donnell says father molested her |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/entertainment/rosie-odonnell-sex-abuse/index.html |website=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190317024606/https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/entertainment/rosie-odonnell-sex-abuse/index.html |archive-date=March 17, 2019 |date=March 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |title=Where in the World Is Rosie O'Donnell? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/style/rosie-odonnell-ireland-trump.html |website=NY Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250415040000/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/style/rosie-odonnell-ireland-trump.html |archive-date=April 15, 2025 |date=April 14, 2025 |quote=She and her siblings had been molested by their father. |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |title=Rosie O'Donnell: Knowing the Menendez brothers has been 'healing' |url=https://www.newsnationnow.com/cuomo-show/rosie-odonnell-knowing-menendez-brothers-healing/ |website=News Nation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250410081156/https://www.newsnationnow.com/cuomo-show/rosie-odonnell-knowing-menendez-brothers-healing/ |archive-date=April 10, 2025 |date=October 3, 2024 |quote=I was a kid who grew up [with] generational abuse and alcoholism in an Irish Catholic family. |url-status=live}}
* {{cite podcast |date=May 9, 2023 |title=Rosie O'Donnell: Love People Back to Life |website=Mayim Bialik's Breakdown |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlXY0S2Ulj4&t=723s |time=12:03 |quote=My father's one of ten kids and there were a lot of tragic deaths, early deaths and alcoholism. There was a lot of abuse in his family, you know, his father was run out of Ireland for interfering with the local children.}}</ref> "There were a lot of tragic deaths, early deaths and alcoholism. There was a lot of abuse," she said of her father's family.<ref name="sexual abuse" /> She was raised [[Roman Catholic]].<ref name="bookbiography">{{cite book|last=Parish|first=James Robert|title=Rosie: The Rosie O'Donnell Story|publisher=[[Carroll & Graf Publishers]]|date=January 1998|page=12|isbn=0-7867-0542-6}}</ref><ref name="actors">{{cite episode|title=Rosie O'Donnell|series=Inside the Actors Studio|series-link=Inside the Actors Studio|first=James (host)|last=Lipton|network=[[Bravo (U.S. TV channel)|Bravo]]|date=October 23, 2005|season=11|number=20}}</ref> Her brother is [[Daniel J. O'Donnell]], the first openly gay man elected to the [[New York State Assembly]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Peters|first1=Jeremy|title=Assemblyman Makes Gay Marriage Bill Personal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/nyregion/12odonnell.html|access-date=March 23, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 11, 2009}}</ref> On March 17, 1973, four days before O'Donnell's 11th birthday, her mother died from breast cancer.<ref name="bookbiography" /> 

While O'Donnell attended [[Commack High School]], she was voted [[homecoming]] queen, [[prom]] queen, senior class president, and class clown.<ref name=PeopleBio/> During high school, 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 Roseannadanna]].<ref name="fox">{{cite web |title=Rosie O'Donnell Biography |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/rosie-odonnell-biography |website=Fox News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250424223827/https://www.foxnews.com/story/rosie-odonnell-biography |archive-date=April 24, 2025 |date=February 5, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> After graduating in 1980, O'Donnell briefly attended [[Dickinson College]], later transferring to [[Boston University]] before ultimately dropping out of college.<ref name=PeopleBio/>