Comedian Rosie O’Donnell poses for a portrait during The Television Critics Association 2011 Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. on July 29, 2011.
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Rosie O’Donnell’s dad Edward Joseph O’Donnell has passed away at the age of 81 after battling cancer, People reports.
The actress and former View co-host’s Irish-born father worked as an electrical and aerospace electrical engineer in Long Island, New York, during the entertainer’s youth.
Rosie has admitted to having a strained relationship with her father after her mother, Roseann O’Donnell, died of breast cancer when she was just 10 years old.
However, the 53-year-old comedienne told Piers Morgan in 2012 that she had “reframed” the things that had happened and loved her dad no matter what. “He had a very tough childhood”.
O’Donnell, 53, explained that he distanced himself from the family following her mom’s death.
‘You get to be 50 years old you can’t still be angry at what your father did in 1970, ‘ she said. “You have to work it out for yourself”.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, the 17-year-old disappeared on August 11. Rosie cryptically tweeted Sunday afternoon with a mural that featured retro photos and the word “hurts”. She was found at the home of an alleged heroin addict, who was arrested Friday in New Jersey and charged with child endangerment and communication of obscenity.
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A reps for Rosie did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Access Hollywood.
