Entertainment

Marie Osmond Keeps "Dancing" Despite Loss

November 7, 2007 / 3:01 AM EST / CBS/AP

Marie Osmond may have lost her father George Osmond, but she's not ready to lose her place on "Dancing With the Stars."

The 48-year-old singer, who missed Tuesday's results show after the death of father George Osmond, will continue to compete on the top-rated dance competition, ABC publicist Aime Wolfe said Wednesday.

George Osmond, patriarch to the family's singing group, The Osmond Brothers, died Tuesday. He was 90.

Family spokesman Kevin Sasaki said Osmond died at his home in Provo, Utah. Because he had not been ill, he likely died from natural causes, Sasaki said.

In addition to continuing to compete on "Dancing with the Stars" Marie Osmond will also appear with family members -- including brother Donny -- on Oprah Winfrey's talk show Friday, said Don Halcombe, a publicist at Harpo, Winfrey's production company. Besides showing off her dance moves, she will perform the theme song from "The Donny and Marie Show" with her brother, Donny, as a tribute to their father, the "Entertainment Tonight" Web site reported.

More than 100 family members will reunite on the show, Oprah's Web site said.

2Osmond skipped Tuesday's live broadcast of "Dancing" to be in Utah with her family. Actress Jane Seymour, who also missed an elimination show last month after the death of her mother, was eliminated.

Marie Osmond, who fainted following a live performance of "Dancing with the Stars" two weeks ago, had been scheduled to appear on Tuesday night's results segment, but instead boarded a plane in Los Angeles with her brother for Utah.

Photos: Dancing With The Stars

"He was the best man I've ever known," Donny Osmond told the "Entertainment Tonight" Web site.

3The death was first reported on the "Entertainment Tonight" Web site and confirmed by The Associated Press through a spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Osmond was a member.

Photos: Yo, Bro!

George Osmond married his wife, Olive, on Dec. 1, 1944. She died in 2004. The couple were the parents of nine children, many of whom became singing stars. Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond first became famous as The Osmond Brothers, a barbershop quartet singing at Disneyland and on "The Andy Williams Show."

4Donny Osmond joined the group at age 6 and later hosted "The Donny and Marie Show" with his sister. The youngest son, Jimmy Osmond, is also a performer.

George Osmond had 55 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren.

A World War II veteran, Osmond also served missions for the Mormon church in Hawaii and the United Kingdom. In his professional life, he worked in real estate, insurance sales and was once the postmaster for the city of Ogden. He gave up his work to manage the singing careers of his children.

Together, Osmond and his wife formed the Osmond Foundation, which later became the Children's Miracle Network, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals.