Katey Sagal

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Katey Sagal (born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peg Bundy on Married... with Children (1987–1997) for which she was thrice nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, Turanga Leela on Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), Cate Hennessy on 8 Simple Rules (2002–2005), Gemma Teller Morrow on the FX series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2011 and was nominated for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2010 and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2012, and Louise Goldufski-Conner on The Conners (2018–2025).

Early life

Sagal was born on January 19, 1954, in Los Angeles to a show business family with five children.<ref name=nyt-cathcart>Template:Cite news</ref> Her mother, Sara Zwilling, was a singer (stage name Sara Macon),Template:Citation needed producer, and television writer who died of heart disease in 1975, and Sagal's father, Boris Sagal, worked as a television director.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Bsn Her mother had Amish ancestors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1977, Sagal's father married dancer/actress Marge Champion, a few years before his accidental death on the set of the miniseries World War III in 1981.<ref name=nyt-cathcart /><ref name="Miller">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Katey Sagal Biography">Template:Cite web</ref> Three of Sagal's four siblings are actors: her younger twin sisters, Jean and Liz Sagal and brother Joey Sagal; her other brother David Sagal is an attorney married to actress McNally Sagal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sagal and her siblings grew up in Brentwood.<ref name=nyt-cathcart />

Her godfather was sitcom producer and writer Norman Lear.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2016, both Sagal and Lear acknowledged that she was not only his goddaughter, but that he also introduced her parents to each other.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Citation needed Sagal has described herself as "culturally Jewish" but with no "formal religious experience."<ref name="Miller"/><ref name="Katey Sagal Biography"/>

Sagal graduated from Palisades High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After graduation, she attended the California Institute of the Arts until 1972.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Musical career

Sagal began her career in show business as a singer and songwriter. In 1973, she worked as a backing vocalist for various singers, including Bob Dylan, Etta James, and Tanya Tucker. In 1976, while a member of The Group with No Name, she contributed to the album Moon over Brooklyn (on which she was credited as "Katie Sagal"). She performed backing vocals on the self-titled Gene Simmons solo album (1978), the Molly Hatchet album Take No Prisoners (1981), and on Olivia Newton-John's 1985 single "Soul Kiss."

She was a member of the music group the Harlettes, Bette Midler's backup singers, in 1978, and again from 1982 to 1983.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She performed the song "It's the Time for Love" that appears in the film Silent Rage (1982) featuring Chuck Norris. During the filming of 1983's Valley Girl, Sagal was scheduled to sing at The Central. Her name can be seen in the schedule of upcoming acts, posted inside the door. Sagal also provided the vocals for "Loose Cannons," the theme song for the 1990 film of the same name featuring Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd.

On April 19, 1994, Sagal released her first solo album, Well.... On June 1, 2004, she released her second album, Room.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She has also contributed to the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack in the early 2010s,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> working with its house band The Forest Rangers (Davey Faragher/bass, John Philipe Shenale (Phil Shenale)/keyboards, Billy Harvey/guitar-vocals, Michael Urbano/drums, Bob Thiele Jr./vocals-guitar) with songs that became part of its soundtrack albums (Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1–4, Sons of Anarchy: Songs of Anarchy Vol. 2, Sons of Anarchy: Songs of Anarchy Vol. 3, and Sons of Anarchy: Songs of Anarchy Vol. 4) and singles.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She worked with the band for her album Covered (2013).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> For their live performances The Forest Rangers have occasionally used the name The Reluctant Apostles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 2019 single "Mayans MC: Black is Black" from Mayans M.C. was performed by Sagal and The Forest Rangers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acting career

Early roles and success with Married... with Children

Sagal at the 1989 Emmy Awards

One of Sagal's early roles was as a receptionist in the Columbo instalment "Candidate for Crime" (1973), which was directed by her father Boris. She also briefly appeared in the 1986 music video for Debbie Harry's song "French Kissin (in the USA)". Sagal's first major role was as a newspaper columnist in the series Mary (1985–86) starring Mary Tyler Moore.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This led to her being castTemplate:Citation needed as Peggy Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997); she portrayed the lower-class, sex-starved, lazy and free-spending wife of shoe salesman Al Bundy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series ran for 11 years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Reportedly Sagal brought her own red bouffant wig to audition for the role, and with the producers' approval the look transitioned into the show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, Sagal later explained that she had initially styled her own hair, then once the show took off, the producers began to invest in a wig.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Continued career

After the end of Married... with Children, several more television films followed; Sagal also guest starred on the children's cartoon Recess as the voice of Spinelli's mother. In 1998, Matt Groening chose her to provide the character voice of the purple-haired mutant spaceship captain, Leela, in his science-fiction animated comedy Futurama. The show developed a cult following, but was canceled after four seasons. However, syndication on Adult Swim<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Comedy Central<ref name=variety>Template:Cite journal</ref> increased the show's popularity and led Comedy Central to commission a season of Futurama direct-to-DVD films, which the network later retransmitted as a 16-episode fifth season.<ref name=reuters>Template:Cite web</ref> She reprised her role as Leela in the films, and in the sixth season that began airing June 24, 2010. The series ended its run on Comedy Central in 2013.<ref name="TorontoStar2009">Template:Cite news</ref> Taking a break from animation, she went on to star in the critically acclaimed movie Smart House.

Sagal guest-starred as Edna Hyde, Steven Hyde's mother, in three episodes of That '70s Show. She starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Tucker in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Sagal was cast as the wife of John Ritter in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in 2002. Ritter had completed only three episodes of the second season before his death,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the show was canceled in 2005 after its third season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2005 and 2006, Sagal made four appearances on Lost as Helen Norwood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2007, she had a role in the season finale of The Winner as Glen Abbot's former teacher, with whom Glen has his first sexual experience.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sons of Anarchy and Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Sagal in 2011

From 2008 to 2014, Sagal starred as Gemma Teller Morrow on the TV show Sons of Anarchy, whose creator, Kurt Sutter, she had married in 2004, four years before the series premiered. In January 2009, Sagal reunited with David Faustino (who had played her son Bud Bundy in Married... with Children) for an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, she appeared twice more on Lost. In 2009, she starred in the film House Broken with Danny DeVito. In 2010, she returned to the stage in Randy Newman's musical Harps & Angels.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2013, Sagal had a cameo on Glee as Nancy Abrams, Artie Abrams' mother.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She co-starred in Pitch Perfect 2, released in 2015, as the mother of Hailee Steinfeld's character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Next she appeared in the biography drama film Bleed for This, as the mother of Vinny Pazienza.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 9, 2014, Sagal received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the Married... with Children cast – Ed O'Neill, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino – were present to celebrate the actor's recognition.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Recent roles

On September 20, 2016, Sagal appeared on The Big Bang Theory as Susan, the mother of Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Sagal and Cuoco had played mother and daughter before, on 8 Simple Rules. Sagal was also a series regular on the CBS sitcom Superior Donuts from 2017 to 2018. She also appeared on Shameless as Frank's latest, crazy lover. She appeared in a recurring role as Dan Conner's love interest, Louise Goldufski, in The Conners after Roseanne Barr was fired by ABC over controversial tweets on Twitter about Valerie Jarrett. She had a cameo appearance in the Netflix series Dead to Me in season 2, episodes 9 and 10< as Judy Hale's (Linda Cardellini) estranged, emotionally abusive mother Eleanor Hale who was incarcerated. Sagal's co-star on Married...with Children, Christina Applegate, also stars in Dead to Me. In 2018 she had a cameo appearance in the crime drama series Mayans M.C. as Gemma Tellor Morrow reprising her role from the Sons of Anarchy series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, Sagal played the lead role of Annie "Rebel" Bello in the ABC drama series Rebel, which was written by Krista Vernoff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Due to low ratings, ABC cancelled Rebel after airing five episodes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On February 9, 2022, Hulu announced that they would be reviving Futurama for a 20-episode 11th season run set to premiere in 2023 with Sagal returning as the voice of Leela.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2023, Sagal appeared live off-broadway in The Gospel According to Heather, which was written by Paul Gordon, directed by Rachel Klein and produced by Amas Musical Theatre and Jim Kierstead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Sagal was married to musician Freddie Beckmeier from 1978 to 1981, and to drummer<ref name=drummerdies /> and actor Jack White from 1993 to 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=drummerdies>Template:Cite news</ref> She married writer-producer Kurt Sutter in a private ceremony on October 2, 2004, at their home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz. They have a daughter, Esmé Louise, born in 2007 through a surrogate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1991, while working on Married... with Children, Sagal discovered that she was pregnant. This was unexpected and the pregnancy was written into the storyline of the show. In October 1991, however, she had to have an emergency caesarean section in her seventh month of pregnancy, ending in the stillbirth of a daughter. The showrunners did not want to subject a grieving Sagal to further stress by interacting with an infant during filming, so the pregnancy on the show (as well as the pregnancy of co-star Amanda Bearse's character) was then treated as a "dream sequence," which was mentioned only briefly at the end of the episode "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick." Sagal and White eventually had two children—a daughter, Sarah Grace, in 1994, and a son, Jackson James White, in 1996. The writers of Married... with Children purposely did not write Sagal's two later pregnancies into the show due to the stillbirth, opting instead to write off her absences in a subplot in which Peg is traveling the world to reunite her parents. In scenes where Peg was shown, Sagal had her midsection obscured, such as when she was sitting in a taxi or at a craps table in Las Vegas and was often seen or heard talking to family members over the phone.<ref>E! True Hollywood Story Married... with Children</ref>

The loss of her stillborn daughter Ruby<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was the inspiration to write the lyrics for "(You) Can't Hurry the Harvest". Sagal recorded this song on her debut album, Well..., which was released in April 1994.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting; in the video, Sagal and others told the stories of the people killed there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She was the subject of an episode of the television genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? in 2016.

Filmography

Sagal's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Maid to Order	Louise
1988	The Good Mother	Ursula
1999	Smart House	PAT
2000	Dropping Out	Wendy
2001	Recess: School's Out	Mrs. Flo Spinelli	Voice
2002	Following Tildy	Connie St. John	Short film
2006	I'm Reed Fish	Maureen
2007	Futurama: Bender's Big Score	Turanga Leela	Voice Direct to video
2008	Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
	Futurama: Bender's Game	Turanga Leela/Leegola
2009	Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder	Turanga Leela
	House Broken	Mary Cathkart
	Jack and the Beanstalk	Mrs. Thatcher
2014	There's Always Woodstock	Lee Ann
2015	Pitch Perfect 2	Katherine Junk
2016	Bleed for This	Louise Pazienza
2022	Torn Hearts	Harper Dutch
2025	Trust		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Failing of Raymond	Girl patient	Credited as Catherine Louise Sagal
1972	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Young nurse	Credited as Katie Sagal
1973	Columbo	Secretary	Episode: "Candidate for Crime" (credited as Katie Sagal)
1974	Larry	Cashier	TV film
1975	The Dream Makers	Unemployment manager
1985–1986	Mary	Jo Tucker	13 episodes
1987–1997	Married... with Children	Peggy Bundy	Main role
1990	Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme	Mary Quite Contrary	TV movie
	Tales from the Crypt	Ms. Kilbasser	Episode: "For Cryin' Out Loud"
	The Earth Day Special	Peggy Bundy
1991	She Says She's Innocent (Violation of Trust)	Susan Essex	TV movie
1995	Trail of Tears	Annie Cook
	Nachtshow		Episode: "February 10th, 1995"
	Duckman	Ivana Duckman	Voice, episode: "The Germ Turns"
1996	Space Cases	Ma	Voice, episode: "Mother Knows Best"
1997–2001	Recess	Flo Spinelli	Voice, 3 episodes
1998	Rugrats	Additional voices	1 episodeTemplate:Which
	Chance of a Lifetime	Irene Dunbar	TV movie
	Mr. Headmistress	Harriet Magnum
1999	No Higher Love	Ellen Young
	Smart House	Pat
	That '70s Show	Edna Hyde	3 episodes
1999–present	Futurama	Turanga Leela	Voice, main role
2000	Tucker	Claire Wennick	13 episodes
2001	The Geena Davis Show	Ashley	Episode: "Girls' Night Out"
2002	Imagine That	Barb Thompson	2 episodes
2002–2005	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter	Cate S. Hennessy	76 episodes
2004	When Angels Come to Town	Jo	TV movie
2004–2006	Higglytown Heroes	Monica the Police Officer	3 episodes
2005	Three Wise Guys	Shirley Crown	TV movie
	Campus Confidential	Naomi Jacobs
	Ghost Whisperer	Francie Lewis	Episode: "Undead Comic"
2005–2007	The Shield	Nancy Gilroy	2 episodes
2005–2010	Lost	Helen Norwood	4 episodes
2006	Boston Legal	Barbara Little	5 episodes
	The Search for the Funniest Mom in America	Host	Reality show
2007	The Winner	Lydia Berko	Episode: "Hot for Teacher"
2008	Eli Stone	Marci Klein	2 episodes
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Annabelle Bundt/Natasha Steele	Episode: "Two and a Half Deaths"
2008–2014	Sons of Anarchy	Gemma Teller Morrow	92 episodes
2010	Chadam	Sandy	Web series
2013	Glee	Nancy Abrams	Episode: "Wonder-ful"
2014	The Simpsons	Turanga Leela	Voice, episode: "Simpsorama"
2014–2015	Regular Show	Mordecai's Mom, Aunt Maxine	Voice, 2 episodes<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
	A to Z	Narrator	Voice, 13 episodes
2015	The Bastard Executioner	Annora of the Alders	10 episodes
2016	The Big Bang Theory	Susan	Episode: "The Conjugal Conjecture"
	This Is Us	Lanie Schultz	Episode: "The Big Three"
2016–2017	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Karen Peralta	2 episodes
2017	Dirty Dancing	Vivian Pressman	TV movie
2017–2018	Superior Donuts	Randy DeLuca	Main role
2018	Spirit Riding Free	Butch LePray	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Mayans M.C.	Gemma Teller-Morrow	Episode: "Perro/Oc"
2018–2019	Shameless	Dr. Ingrid Jones	7 episodes
2018–2025	The Conners	Louise Goldufski-Conner	Recurring role
2019	Grand Hotel	Teresa Williams	3 episodes
2020–2022	Dead to Me	Eleanor Hale
2021	Rebel	Annie "Rebel" Bello	Main role
2022	Tell Me Lies	Nora (Stephen's mom)	2 episodes
2025	One Piece	Dr. Kureha	Season 2; Filming

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
1976	The Group with No Name - Moon Over Brooklyn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Released: 1976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Label: Casablanca Records	—
1978	Gene Simmons - Gene Simmons Backing Vocals Released: September 18, 1978 Label: Casablanca Records	Billboard 200 Albums – 22
1994	Well... Released: April 19, 1994 Label: Virgin/EMI Records	Billboard Top Heatseekers – 33<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2004	Room June 1, 2004 Label: Valley Entertainment	—
2009	Sons of Anarchy: Shelter – EP November 24, 2009 Label: 20th Century Fox	Top Independent Albums — 33<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Top Soundtracks — 23
2013	Covered<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> November 11, 2013 Label: E1 Music	—

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film or series	Result
1989	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series	Married... with Children	rowspan=6 Template:Nom
1991	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
1992
1993
	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series
1994	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
2005	Prism Awards	Performance in a Comedy Series	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter	rowspan=2 Template:Won
2009	TV Land Awards	Innovation Award (Shared with: Christina Applegate, David Faustino, Ted McGinley, Ed O'Neill)	Married... with Children
2010	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama	Sons of Anarchy	rowspan=2 Template:Nom
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress – Television Series Drama
2011	Golden Globe Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>			Template:Won
	Prism Awards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>			rowspan=4 Template:Nom
	Satellite Awards
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Drama Series
2012
2013	Prism Awards	Female Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline		Template:Won
2014	Hollywood Walk of Fame	Star on the Walk of Fame		Template:N/a

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Katey Sagal at Rotten Tomatoes