“I’m a little bit country.” “And I’m a little bit rock ‘n’ roll.” For three and a half seasons, that playful back-and-forth between a toothy teenage Donny Osmond and his sister Marie was one of the most quoted lines on American television. Donny & Marie premiered on ABC on January 23, 1976, when Donny was 18, and Marie was just 16. Created by Sid and Marty Krofft, the hour opened with a lavish ice skating number and closed every week with the siblings singing “May Tomorrow Be a Perfect Day,” a song written by their older brother Alan.
The show ran until May 1979 and produced 78 episodes. In late 1977, the family moved production from Los Angeles to their own new studio in Orem, Utah, so the whole operation could stay close to home. The Osmond Brothers sang and played in nearly every episode, and comedy legends Paul Lynde and Ruth Buzzi stopped by often enough to count as semi-regulars. Nearly five decades later, the family that filled those Friday nights has known real loss. Here is where the stars of Donny & Marie are today.
Is Paul Lynde still alive?
Paul Lynde was already one of the most recognizable comic voices in America when he began popping up on Donny & Marie. His sly delivery made him the beloved “center square” on Hollywood Squares. Families also knew him as the prankster Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and as the voice of Templeton the rat in the 1973 animated Charlotte’s Web. On the Osmond show he traded barbs with the squeaky-clean siblings, and the contrast was a big part of the fun.
Sadly, Lynde is no longer with us. He died on January 10, 1982, at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 55. According to a 1982 report from UPI, the Los Angeles County coroner said he died of a massive heart attack. Biography.com also lists a heart attack as the cause. His final years were quieter, but his reruns never stopped finding new fans.
Is Wayne Osmond still alive?
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Wayne Osmond was the second-oldest member of the original Osmond Brothers quartet. On the show, he was the grinning guitarist and baritone in the brothers’ musical segments, and he helped write some of the group’s harder-rocking material. After the series ended, Wayne kept touring with his brothers for decades. In the 1990s, he survived a brain tumor, though the treatment cost him most of his hearing. A stroke in 2012 later left him unable to play guitar.
Wayne died on January 1, 2025, at University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. He was 73. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter and the Boston Globe, brother Merrill said Wayne had suffered a massive stroke. His family said he “passed away peacefully” with his wife and five children at his side.
Is Ruth Buzzi still alive?
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Ruth Buzzi arrived on Donny & Marie as a bona fide star. She had spent five seasons on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, where her hairnetted spinster Gladys Ormphby swung a purse at anyone who got fresh with her. That role earned her a Golden Globe. As a semi-regular on the Osmond hour, she brought the same rubber-faced physical comedy to sketches with the siblings.
Her career rolled on for decades afterward. She appeared on Sesame Street and did steady voice work for cartoons. Later she settled on a Texas ranch with her husband, Kent Perkins, whom she married in 1978. Buzzi died on May 1, 2025, at her home in Texas. She was 88. The Associated Press and Fox Television Stations, including FOX 5 New York, reported that she had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and was in hospice care. Shortly before she died, her husband told fans that she probably had more fun doing those shows than they had watching them.
Is Alan Osmond still alive?
As the eldest of the performing brothers, Alan Osmond was the group’s leader and a guiding creative force on Donny & Marie. He served as an executive producer alongside his brothers and wrote the show’s beloved closing song. In the final season the brothers took on bigger roles in front of the camera too. Alan also co-wrote the Osmonds’ 1972 rock hit “Crazy Horses.”
Alan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987. He eventually stopped performing but never stopped working. He co-founded Provo’s Stadium of Fire celebration and spoke publicly about faith and resilience. With his wife, Suzanne, he raised eight sons.
Alan died on the evening of April 20, 2026. He was 76. The Boston Globe and East Idaho News both reported that his wife and children were at his bedside. The family did not release a cause of death, though both outlets noted his long battle with MS. Marie later shared a moving tribute that included Alan’s final words to her.
Is Jimmy Osmond still alive?
Yes. Jimmy Osmond, the baby of the family, was born April 16, 1963, which makes him 63 today. He was a frequent guest on Donny & Marie, joining his siblings for songs and sketches. By then, he already had a place in the record books. In 1972 his single “Long Haired Lover from Liverpool” made him the youngest performer ever to top the UK singles chart, according to Guinness.
As an adult, Jimmy became the family’s business mind. In 2014, he took over the Andy Williams Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and he ran the venue until it closed in 2022. In December 2018, he suffered a stroke after playing Captain Hook in a pantomime of Peter Pan in Birmingham, England. He has since stepped away from show business. In 2024, his nephew Nathan described him as happily retired.
Is Jay Osmond still alive?
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Yes. Jay Osmond was born March 2, 1955, so he is 71 today. He was the brothers’ drummer on Donny & Marie and shared lead vocals on “Crazy Horses.” He later wrote the story for The Osmonds, a stage musical about his family that premiered at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, England, in February 2022.
These days Jay has a new microphone. According to East Idaho News, he moved to Idaho Falls and co-hosts a radio show there with his wife, Karina. Wikipedia lists the program as a midday shift on KQEO that began in late 2025. When Alan died in April, Jay paid tribute to his brother’s devotion to Suzanne and their eight boys. “Brother Alan has graduated, and he’s finally ‘Goin’ Home,'” he said, nodding to the brothers’ 1972 song.
Is Merrill Osmond still alive?
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Yes. Merrill Osmond was born April 30, 1953, which makes him 73 today. As the group’s lead vocalist and bassist, he sang lead on most of the Osmonds’ biggest records and co-wrote many of them with Alan. On Donny & Marie his powerful voice anchored the brothers’ musical numbers.
Merrill announced his retirement from full-time touring in 2022 and played his final scheduled show in England in January 2023. He still takes on a handful of special engagements each year, and his official website lists family events in 2026. His memoir, Black Bear: My Life Story, came out in 2025. In a recent interview with Yours magazine, he talked about his new solo album, Unbroken, and an album he is making with his grandchildren. When the family lost Wayne and then Alan, it was Merrill’s heartfelt posts that many fans read first.
Is Donny Osmond still alive?
Yes, and he is still singing nearly every night. Donny Osmond was born December 9, 1957, so he is 68 today. After Donny & Marie ended, he weathered some lean years before a comeback with the 1989 hit “Soldier of Love.” He went on to star in a long run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He also provided the singing voice of Shang in Disney’s Mulan and won Dancing with the Stars in 2009.
Donny has spent the past five years headlining his own show at Harrah’s Las Vegas. On August 27, 2026, The Music Universe and Caesars Entertainment announced that the residency would continue through June 2027. The newest version of the show even features an AI likeness of the teenage Donny singing a 1972 hit. Off the stage, he is a devoted grandfather many times over, and he and his wife, Debbie, have been married since 1978.
Is Marie Osmond still alive?
Yes. Marie Osmond was born October 13, 1959, and she just turned 67 this week. She was only 13 when “Paper Roses” made her a country star, and Donny & Marie made her a household name. In the years since, she has built a career as a singer, actress, author and businesswoman. She and Donny reunited for a daytime talk show from 1998 to 2000. The pair later headlined at the Flamingo Las Vegas for 11 years, a run that ended in 2019. Marie then spent a season as a co-host of CBS’s The Talk.
Today the girl who was a little bit country is a proud matriarch. On September 8, 2026, her son Matthew married his fiancée, Kaitlynn, in Utah. Hello! Magazine and TV Insider both covered the photos Marie shared from the day, which she called “such a beautiful wedding.” She and her husband, Steve Craig, then slipped away for a trip of their own. Of the nine Osmond siblings, seven survive today, and the two who sang that famous opening exchange are still making music half a century later.
