Entertainment can be a troubling profession these days, with temptation,
pornography and immorality more rampant than ever before. Probably few
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know that
better than Donny Osmond.
However, his membership in the Mormon church isn't just his religion, it's his
very lifestyle, he told the Deseret News during a recent 30-minute
telephone interview from Las Vegas.
"I would never do anything that would compromise my membership or
standing in the church. Because it's more
than just a religion to me. It's my way of life. In my opinion, it's
what's been able to keep my family stable in this crazy business called
show business."
"Donny" is at a pinnacle in his lifelong entertainment career, having
just come off a victory late last year in "Dancing With the Stars." He
also boasts a regular Las Vegas show with his sister, Marie, and is a
guest host on some TV magazine entertainment programs.
__IMAGE1__He also has a new syndicated radio show that airs on more than 60 U.S.
radio stations, including weekdays, 3-7 p.m., on KBEE (FM-98.7) in Salt
Lake City.
"We're so fortunate," Donny said of his family's blessings.
However, he said not all his life has been smooth sailing.
When Donny was 25 years old, newly married and with two children, he
said he was very confused what to do with his life.
The "Donny and Marie Show" had just ended and he said his career was "in
the toilet" and on a downward spiral.
"I didn't know where to go. Everybody and their dog were giving me
advice and information on what I should do."
He traveled to Hawaii, where his parents were on a full-time church
mission.
He told his father, "I need a father's blessing and I need direction
basically," as he recounted some very personal experiences.
"We fasted and prayed for a couple of weeks prior to that moment." He
keeps that father's blessing, as well as his patriarchal blessing, in
his BlackBerry.
"It's my road map. It's my guideline ... that's what I live by," Donny
said.
When questionable offers in show business come along, he said he
regularly consults the two blessings for advice.
One of the most relevant parts in that father's blessing regarding show
business is this:
"Never do a show or an appearance that you wouldn't do in front of a
general authority. That's my guideline," Donny said of one of the
cornerstones of his entertainment standards.
"There are certain things I won't endorse."
He said his parents' wisdom and examples still live on in his life, too.
"My parents, they walked the walk and talked the talk," he said. "They
were great examples of what a marriage should be like, what membership
in the church should be like, what commitment should be like, integrity
and honesty."
__IMAGE2__Donny ponders on how much he wanted to quit "Dancing With the Stars,"
before he eventually became its oldest winner ever.
His father used to say, "If there's anything worth doing, it's worth
doing well."
His mother also had a common saying: "In tough times, this, too, shall
pass."
And Donny said, "That is the only thing that got me through 'Dancing
With the Stars,'" he said, laughing. "Because I wanted to quit so many
times ... My body ached so bad. ... Those two sayings got me through the
whole ordeal."
His Las Vegas show has been going on almost 18 months now, and Donny
said there's talk of it being renewed into October 2012, or beyond. (The
show was originally only going to be a six-month run.)
"I love this gig in Vegas. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's fulfilling."
He says the show's success is proof that good, clean entertainment can
thrive — even in racy Las Vegas.
What about the undesirable aspects of Vegas?
"Yeah, they call it 'Sin City' for a reason, but it's not all sin city,"
he said, stressing that there's great entertainment there; and that it
is not just the "Strip," there are great neighborhoods there, too.
"The church is very, very strong here in Vegas, a lot of LDS people. So,
it's really a slanted or skewed view on Vegas, if that's what you think
Vegas is, is just the Strip, because it's not."
He said he has a long history with Vegas.
"When I was 7, I started working Vegas, so I've been here since the '60s
and I've seen so many different incarnations of this city. ... If you let
your guard down, I mean there's pornography everywhere you look, if you
walk down the street on the Strip. You just don't go there. You don't
indulge."
Donny said he strives to avoid being judgmental and mingles freely with
others.
"Don't put yourself above anyone else," he stressed. "We as Latter-day
Saints need to be very careful. ... Yes, we have the truth. We have the
restored gospel. But what you don't want to do is condemn anybody for
not believing."
He noted, too, that pride was a recurring problem for the ancient
residents of the Americas, which the Book of Mormon chronicles.
Yet, Donny also stressed not being too serious.
"Sometimes Mormons need to lighten up," he said. "Enjoy life, put a
smile on your face and just represent the fact that Mormons are happy
people. And sometimes we as LDS people get so caught up in the
seriousness of our religion that we forget to enjoy life."
__IMAGE3__He said there's a fine line there, being in the world, but not of the
world, but if you are committed to the gospel, he believes you can walk
that fine line without any problem.
Donny paraphrased what President Gordon B. Hinckley said just before the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake: "Be yourself, don't try to convert
everybody. Just be who you are."
Donny said he still hears of some church conversion stories, where he,
or his family, were a part of the introduction process.
"I don't force it," he said of missionary opportunities.
He said President Hinckley's TV interview with Mike Wallace was a great
example to him of how to act, too.
Donny also said he realizes church membership alone won't necessarily
create a better life — "Yeah, you can be Mormon and still screw your
life up big time."
He stressed that his official Web site, www.donny.com, contains a "My
beliefs" section and that one portion of his Web site itself attracts
millions of hits a year. Questions about the church can be asked there,
and Donny said he gets help from another person to answer the questions
raised.
"It is amazing how many inquiries I have received over the years as to
what is a Mormon," he said. "... There's been some very inspiring
conversion stories that I've read over the years, But I don't force it.
... I get a lot of inquiries about the church," he said, explaining that
he always reiterates what the prophets have said.
Despite all his fame, Donny still prefers to see himself as a regular
person who just happens to mingle with celebrities.
He said like many others, he's a husband, father, grandfather, brother,
a regular person.
"I'm not just not a show business person," Donny said. "I'm a real guy ...
I do everyday things ... yet I mingle right there in Hollywood."
Donny comes home to Utah many weekends to be with his family and to
attend his own ward.
"I got a plane so I can be home early Sunday morning, and thank goodness
we went to the 1 o'clock sacrament schedule earlier this year."
While he's been serving as an alternate instructor in his ward's priests
quorum, he's now switching to be a secretary in the Young Men
organization, as his youngest son is becoming a deacon. Donny is also a
home teacher.
He recently took his wife to Hawaii for a vacation. He has one son in
the MTC, headed for Belgium. Once the last two sons are on their own, he
and his wife will be empty nesters.
Regarding the late Elvis Presley's keen interest in the Book of Mormon,
Donny said that definitely happened.
"He was very interested in the Mormon faith, at the very end there
before he passed away, not that he was going to join the church, but he
was extremely intrigued by the whole concept of a restoration."
Donny has his own copy of the Book of Mormon that Elvis read and marked.
"It's very fun to read through, because you read all of his hand-written
notes on each page and things that he underlined or marked down."
"My mom used to talk to him all the time about religion, because he was
going to be a preacher, instead of a singer, at one time," Donny said.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com