Irish producer of The Osbournes pays tribute to late trailblazer Ozzy

Dubliner Marcus Fox won an Emmy for The Osbournes TV series which ran for three years on MTV from 2002 to 2005. From left to right, producer JT Taylor, director CB Harding, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, and Marcus Fox. Picture: Marcus Fox

The Irish producer of the hit TV series The Osbournes has paid tribute to the late trailblazer Ozzy Osbourne, who he described as a “down to earth man who loved the Irish.” 

The heavy metal pioneer died on Tuesday at the age of 76 just weeks after performing with Black Sabbath at a big farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham.

Dubliner Marcus Fox won an Emmy for The Osbournes, which ran for three years on MTV from 2002 to 2005 and went on to become the biggest rating show on American TV at the time.

He formed a close relationship with the family during that time and said Ozzy had a “particular fondness for the Irish.” 

“He was a very simple man, a really kind person,” said Mr Fox. “He had a soft spot for the Irish; he loved to hang out with us in the shed at the back of his house.

“There were cameras rolling 24 hours a day, there was a day crew and night crew, and Ozzy would sneak out and have a can of Guinness with us. He had so much time for the Irish, there were four Irish lads working on the show, he got on well with all of us.

“He was very nice to the crew, very easy to work with, easy going, not easy to direct or produce, but easygoing.

“We had 24-hour coverage, with two shifts for the crew, night and day, you had to be prepared because the kids were only teenagers at the time, and they would often come in from a night out and you didn’t want to miss that.

“Their house was really nice, but it wasn’t a mansion or anything like that, it was a five-bedroom house in Beverley Hills," but is did have crucifixes all over the house and they were used as “doorknobs and handles.” 

“They were all around the bath and toilet too,” he said “I don’t now if he was religious, maybe it was beat into him growing up."

Mr Fox was living in the US in the early 2000s and had been working on the Anna Nicole Smith reality show, when he pitched the idea of a reality TV show of the Osbourne family to their agents.

“We went to the Osbournes with the idea of a reality show and they were interested.

“We met the family and then we did a pilot and went on to make the show.

“It was the early 2000s but we got three seasons out of it, and then we did a couple of specials. We talked a few times about going back to another season, but it never happened."

He describes Sharon Osbourne as "the boss", saying "she was very caring and protective of Ozzy.”

Mr Fox said he stayed in touch with the Osbournes and described Sharon and Ozzy as a “couple very much in love”.

“I know they had tough times,” he said. “He met her through her father; he was on her dad’s label. She went on to become his manager and they were just madly in love”.

The couple made no secret of their challenges. They were married for four decades and during that time Ozzy battled with alcohol and drug addiction and became violent to Sharon before he was arrested for attempted murder.

“She stuck with him,” said Mr Fox. “Love prevails and they were like two teenagers together; they were really in love”.

He said Ozzy spent most of his days painting and lived a very simple life.

“He was incredibly talented, and his music was a soundtrack to many people’s lives, he did around 19 albums and was a prolific song writer and a poet and an artist. He was always painting in the house.

After The Osbournes wrapped up, Mr Fox did another show — Battle for Ozzfest.

Also a reality show, Ozzfest aired on MTV in 2004 and saw eight bands “battling” it out in a series of challenges to win a spot on the stage at the heavy metal festival, Ozzfest.

Marcus said he hopes to attend Ozzy’s funeral to pay his respects.

“I would like to go, there hasn’t been a memorial for him yet, the family is just in bits now over him. They all adored him”.