She is the oldest of four children born to Helen (née Davis), a bookkeeper and cashier, and Jerome Hershel "Jerry" Barr,[3] a salesman.

In 1987, The Cosby Show executive producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner wanted to bring a "no-perks family comedy" to television.

They hired Cosby writer Matt Williams to write a script about factory workers and signed Barr to play Roseanne Conner.

Barr had crafted a "fierce working-class domestic goddess" persona in the eight years preceding her sitcom and wanted to do a realistic show about a strong mother "who was not a victim of patriarchal consumerism.

"[15] For the final two seasons, Barr earned $40 million, making her the second-highest-paid woman in show business at the time, after Oprah Winfrey.

[16] On July 25, 1990, Barr performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" off-key before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Barr later said that the Padres had suggested she "bring humor to the song", but many criticized the episode, including President George H. W. Bush, who called her rendition "disgraceful".

[18][19] Barbara Ehrenreich called Barr a working-class spokesperson representing "the hopeless underclass of the female sex: polyester-clad, overweight occupants of the slow track; fast-food waitresses, factory workers, housewives, members of the invisible pink-collar army; the despised, the jilted, the underpaid",[20] but a master of "the kind of class-militant populism that the Democrats, most of them anyway, never seem to get right.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave her a positive review saying, "Barr could have made an easy, predictable and dumb comedy at any point in the last couple of years.

Two nights earlier, Barr had returned to primetime network TV with a guest spot on NBC's My Name Is Earl, playing a crazy trailer park manager.

[51] Barr and Tom Werner later came to an agreement on relinquishing her producer's stake in a spin-off titled The Conners, which ABC ordered for the fall season soon after.

[2][54] On November 30, 2023, it was announced that Barr would star in an adult animated comedy series for The Daily Wire, titled Mr Birchum.

[59] Barr filed for divorce from Arnold on April 18, 1994 in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, citing irreconcilable differences.

[60] On February 14, 1995, Barr married Ben Thomas, her one-time personal security guard, at Caesars Tahoe with a reception at Planet Hollywood.

[62] In 2002, Barr met Johnny Argent online after running a writing competition on her blog and began dating him in 2003, after a year of phone conversations.

She said Barr promised her half the earnings from the Roseanne show as recompense for helping invent the "domestic goddess" character in 1981, and for serving as "writer, organizer, accountant, bookkeeper and confidante".

[69] In a 1991 interview with People, Barr described herself as an incest survivor, accusing both of her parents of physical and sexual abuse,[71] claims which they and Geraldine publicly denied.

[78] Barr elicited criticism in July 2009 when she posed as Adolf Hitler in a feature for the satirical Jewish publication Heeb magazine called "That Oven Feelin'".

[82] Fox News TV host Bill O'Reilly was highly critical of her for "mocking the Holocaust" and Extra's Mario Lopez stated "Come on, Roseanne.

"[83][84] The revival of her show in March 2018 caused the photos to resurface on social media and renewed mentions of the incident in the Jewish magazine The Forward and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

[80][85][84] In 2014, the parents of George Zimmerman, the man known for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, filed a lawsuit against Barr for tweeting their home address and phone number in 2012.

[89] In late March 2018, Barr tweeted about a conspiracy theory involving David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

[90] Replying to @MARS0411 @385parkplace @SGTreport muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj On May 29, 2018, Barr responded to a thread on Twitter about Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to former President Obama.

"[51] She disputed allegations of racism, tweeting she believed Jarrett was Saudi, Jewish, and Persian,[95] and released a video where she claims she "thought the bitch was white", and that she was being labelled a racist for having voted for Donald Trump.

[98] The cancellation announcement from ABC president Channing Dungey, the first African-American woman to head the network, called Barr's remark "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.

[105] The segment in which she talked about the Holocaust was subsequently spread on Twitter, misleadingly edited to remove the context which made it clear that her remarks were sarcastic, sparking controversy.

[109] Jonathan Greenblatt, Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), tweeted in response to the clip, "sarcasm or not, Roseanne Barr's comments about Jews and the Holocaust are reprehensible and irresponsible.

[110] On August 5, 2011, Barr appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and announced her candidacy for president in the 2012 presidential election, running on the self-created "Green Tea Party" ticket.

[114] "She stated any 'guilty' Wall Street bankers should be forced to give up any income over $100 million, and if they are unable to live on that, be sent to re-education camps, and if that doesn't help be beheaded".

[143] Barr is featured in rapper Tom MacDonald's single "Daddy's Home", released on January 17, 2025; the song's name references the second inauguration of Donald Trump.