Roseanne Barr ethnic group Jewish people
Early life
Barr was born on November 3, 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a Jewish family. She is the oldest of four children born to Helen (née Davis), a bookkeeper and cashier, and Jerome Hershel "Jerry" Barr, who worked as a salesman. Her father's family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, and her maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Austria-Hungary and Lithuania. Her paternal grandfather changed his surname from "Borisofsky" to "Barr" upon entering the United States.Her Jewish upbringing was influenced by her devoutly Orthodox Jewish maternal grandmother. Barr's parents kept their Jewish heritage secret from their neighbors and were partially involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Barr has stated, "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons."When Barr was three years old, she got Bell's palsy on the left side of her face. Barr said, "[so] my mother called in a rabbi to pray for me, but nothing happened. Then my mother got a Mormon preacher, he prayed, and I was miraculously cured". Years later, Barr learned that Bell's palsy was usually temporary and that the Mormon elder came "exactly at the right time".Barr has stated that she is on the autism spectrum. At six years old, she discovered her first public stage by lecturing at LDS churches around Utah and was elected president of a Mormon youth group.At age 16, Barr was hit by a car, and the car's hood ornament impaled her skull; the incident left her with a traumatic brain injury. Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for eight months at Utah State Hospital.In 1970, when Barr was 18 years old, she moved out by informing her parents she was going to visit a friend in Colorado for two weeks, but never returned.The following year, Barr had a baby, whom she put up for adoption. Seventeen years later, they reunited amicably.Controversies
Hitler photoshoot
Barr elicited criticism in July 2009 when she posed as Adolf Hitler in a feature for the satirical Jewish publication Heeb magazine called "That Oven Feelin'". The Nazi theme was her suggestion, and featured her with a Hitler mustache and swastika arm-band, holding a tray of burnt gingerbread man cookies the article referred to as "burnt Jew cookies". The magazine's publisher, Josh Neuman, said the photos were taken for satire and were not done for shock value. Barr, who is Jewish, said she was "making fun of Hitler, not his victims". Fox News TV host Bill O'Reilly was highly critical of her for "mocking the Holocaust" and Extra's Mario Lopez stated "Come on, Roseanne. Hitler jokes are never funny." The revival of her show in March 2018 caused the photos to resurface on social media and renewed mentions of the incident in the Jewish magazine The Forward and the Los Angeles Times, among others.
ethnicity race cultural group people group nationality