William Jennings Bryan Osborne Jr. was born on September 21, 1943, in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas.
Osborne graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, with a B.A. in business and a minor in biology. He worked for a number of hospitals, including St. Edward's in Fort Smith and St. Vincent's in Little Rock. In 1968 Osborne and his wife, Mitzi, founded the Arkansas Research Medical Testing Center, a company that specialized in conducting clinical drug trials for FDA approval.
As a philanthropist, he regularly hosted charity barbecues and sponsored fireworks shows around the state. He was well known for elaborate Christmas lights displays at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition he decorated numerous locations across the country with Christmas lights, including Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1995 he donated his personal displays to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, which established the annual Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
Osborne passed away on July 27, 2011.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Jennings Osborne and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Courtesy of the Jennings family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#2: Jennings Osborne birth announcement September 21, 1943
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#3: Jennings Osborne with his sister, Carolyn
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#4: Jennings Osborne as a toddler
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#5: Jennings Osborne with his father and sister, 1951
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#6: Jennings Osborne school portrait
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#7: Jennings Osborne, St. Anne's Academy senior high school portrait, May 1961
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#8: Jennings and Mitzi Osborne, wedding photo, 1965
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#9: Jennings Osborne in his office, 1979
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#10: Jennings Osborne with his wife, Mitzi, and daughter, Breezy
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#11: Jennings Osborne in front of Christmas light display at his home in 1992; photo by Rick McFarland
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#12: Jennings Osborne with Hillary Rodham Clinton
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#13: From right: Jennings Osborne, Breezy Osborne, Bill Clinton, Mitzi Osborne, unknown, Blanche Lincoln
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#14: Jennings Osborne with George W. Bush
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#15: Jennings Osborne with his wife, Mitzi (left), and Lady Bird Johnson, 2000
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#16: Jennings Osborne with Lisa Marie Presley, ca. 2005
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#17: Jennings Osborne serving barbecue with his wife, Mitzi, and Bill Clinton
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#18: Breezy Osborne, Jimmy Carter, Jennings Osborne, and Mitzi Osborne
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#19: Jennings Osborne with Mickey Mouse at the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in Orlando, Florida
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#20: Jennings Osborne with his daughter, Breezy, and wife, Mitzi
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#21: Jennings Osborne with Frank Broyles
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#22: Jennings Osborne with his daughter, Breezy, and wife, Mitzi
© Courtesy of the Osborne family; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennings-Osborne/223719354333000
#23: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Jennings Osborne; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Jennings Osborne; Little Rock, Arkansas; 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
