Marie Osmond: 'Showbiz isn't for eternity. Marriage is'

She is president and CEO of Marie Osmond Collector Dolls. In 1991, her first sculpture, a toddler doll named “Olive May” after her mother, set a collectible record on QVC. She is also co-founder of the Children’s Miracle Network, a project that has raised in excess of $3.4 billion since 1983 for children’s hospitals throughout the United States and Canada.

But domestic life has been a challenging road for the showgirl who said, “Showbiz isn’t for eternity. Marriage is.” She has been married and divorced twice. Last week, she remarried her first husband, Stephen Craig. She is the mother of eight children — five adopted — from these marriages. One biographer wrote, “So joyfully has Marie taken to adoptive motherhood that she insists she doesn’t know which child is of her flesh.” As to eternal marriage, she insists, “I have had many good examples of what marriage can be, and I see all the happiness in my parents’ lives, in my brothers’ lives, and I want the same. There are scars, however, and you just need to work through them and get on with life and learn to trust again.”

In 1999, Osmond revealed that she suffered from severe postpartum depression. She co-authored the book "Behind the Smile" that chronicles her experience with depression. “I guess God never gives us anything we can’t handle,” she writes, “and through all of it, I keep saying there’s got to be a reason you go though it. ... When you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong, and you finally see the truth that a hero lies in you.”

Since the book’s release, Osmond has starred in an exercise video, published a beauty book and designed a line of clothing. In 2006, she launched a machine-embroidery line with Bernina and promoted the Nutri-system brand of weight loss. In August 2007, she danced on ABC network’s "Dancing with the Stars." She joked, “There are worse habits I could take up going through a midlife crisis.”

What’s next? For this legend in the entertainment industry, happiness is the hope. She and her family were recognized as one of the most prolific entertainment families in the world when a star was placed in their honor on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At that time, the Osmonds had 47 gold and platinum records and had sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Yet Marie hopes for something more. Amid her ups and downs, she believes that her faith in God will bring her the happiness that she desires.

Sources: Fred Robbins, “Marie Osmond: Doing What I Want Now,” "McCalls," July 1988, page 14; Oskar Garcia, “Marie Osmond: My Mormon Faith Got Me Through Son’s Death,” The Huffington Post, May 12, 2010; “Marie Osmond: about my family that TV didn’t tell,” Star, May 4, 1982; Larry King Live: Marie Osmond Discusses Her Battle with Depression and Her Work with Children, May 30, 2000 (viewed July 2, 2010). “Marie Osmond Biography,” (viewed July 2, 2010).