Lawrence O'Donnell

Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American progressive television pundit, actor, and host of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, an MSNBC opinion and news program on Monday through Friday evenings. Before getting his own show on the cable network, O'Donnell frequently filled in as host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. O'Donnell has also appeared as a political analyst on The McLaughlin Group, The Al Franken Show, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He was a producer and writer for the NBC series The West Wing (and played the role of the President's father in flashbacks) and creator and executive producer of the NBC series Mister Sterling. He is also an occasional actor and film producer, appearing as a recurring supporting character on the HBO series Big Love portraying an attorney. O'Donnell began his political career as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and was Staff Director for the Senate Finance Committee. He has described himself a "practical European socialist." 2Early life and education O'Donnell was born in Boston, on November 7, 1951, the son of Frances Marie (née Buckley), an office manager, and Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Sr., an attorney. He is of Irish descent and grew up Catholic. He attended St. Sebastian's School (class of 1970), where he was captain of his baseball team and wide receiver on their undefeated football team, and graduated from Harvard College (class of 1974) with a major in economics in 197