Early life

Sagal was born in Los Angeles to a show business family with five children, including younger twin sisters, Jean and Liz Sagal, and brother, Joe Sagal, all three of whom are actors, and David Sagal, an attorney married to actress McNally Sagal. Sagal's mother, Sara Zwilling, was a singer (stage name Sara Macon) who died of heart disease in 1975; her father, Boris Sagal, was a Ukrainian-born director who died in 1981 in an accident on the set of the television movie World War III. Sagal and her siblings grew up in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Her godfather is prominent sitcom producer Norman Lear. Both Katey and Norman also acknowledged when Norman received the 2016 Achievement in Television Excellence award that she was not only his goddaughter, but that he was also the one who had introduced her parents. Sagal's father was Jewish, and Sagal has described herself as "culturally Jewish" but with no "formal religious experience".

Acting career

Sagal attended California Institute of the Arts to study singing and acting; she began her acting career in Hollywood, appearing in several made-for-TV movies between 1971 and 1975. One role was as a receptionist in the Columbo installment "Candidate for Crime", which was directed by her father. Sagal's first major role was as a newspaper columnist in the series Mary (1985-86) starring Mary Tyler Moore. This led to her being cast as Peggy Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children (1987-1997); she portrayed the lower-class, sex-starved, free-spending wife of shoe salesman Al Bundy. The series ran for ten years. Sagal brought her own red bouffant wig to audition for the role, and with the producers' approval, the look transitioned into the show.

After the end of Married... with Children, several more television films followed; she 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 cancelled after four seasons. However, transissions in syndication on Adult Swim and Comedy Central 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 season five. She reprised her role as Leela in these films, and in the sixth season that began airing June 24, 2010. The series ended in 2013. On April 2017, she and the rest of cast will be reunite for the 17th anniversary of "Futurama".

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.

Sagal was cast as the wife of John Ritter in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in 2002. (Kaley Cuoco acted out the daughter in the series.) Ritter had completed only three episodes of the second season before his death, and the show was cancelled in 2005 after its third season.

In 2005 and 2006, she made two appearances on Lost as Helen Norwood. In 2007, she had a role in the season finale of The Winner as Glen Abbot's former, and Josh's current, teacher, with whom Glen has his first sexual experience. In 2008, she appeared in four episodes of the short-lived comedy-drama series Eli Stone.

In January 2009, Sagal reunited with her TV son David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married... with Children) for an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving. 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.

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 2013, Sagal had a cameo on Glee as Nancy Abrams, Artie Abrams's mother. She co-starred in Pitch Perfect 2, released in 2015, as the mother of Hailee Steinfeld's character. She next appeared in the biography drama film Bleed for This, as the mother of Vinny Pazienza.

On September 9, 2014, Sagal received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on which most of the Married ... with Children cast - including Ed O'Neill, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino - were present to celebrate the actor's recognition.

Sagal had a guest-starring role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Karen Peralta, Jake's mother.

On September 20, 2016, Sagal appeared as Susan, Penny's mother, on The Big Bang Theory. (She had, as stated above, previously played the mother of Kaley Cuoco's character on 8 Simple Rules.)

Musical career

Sagal started her career in show business as a singer and songwriter. In 1973, she worked as a backing vocalist for various singers, including Bob Dylan 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 was a member of Bette Midler's backup group The Harlettes in 1978, and again from 1982-83. She performed backing vocals on the self-titled Gene Simmons solo album, the Molly Hatchet album Take No Prisoners, and on Olivia Newton-John's 1985 single "Soul Kiss". She performed the song "It's the Time for Love" that appears in the movie Silent Rage featuring Chuck Norris, music and lyrics by Morgan Stoddard. Sagal also provided the vocals for "Loose Cannons", the theme song for the movie featuring Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd in 1990. The song featured her singing most of the song, while Aykroyd sang the chorus and did some background impersonations from the movie.

On April 19, 1994, she released her first solo album, Well.... On June 1, 2004, she released her second album, Room. She has also contributed to the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack.

Activism

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting; in the video, Sagal and others told the stories of the people killed there.

Personal life

Sagal was married to musician Freddie Beckmeier from 1978 to 1981 and drummer Jack White from 1993 to 2000. In 2004, she married Kurt Sutter.

In 1991, while working on Married... with Children, Sagal learned that she was pregnant. This was unexpected, so 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 pregnancy on the show was then regarded as a "dream", 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, in 1996. The writers of Married... with Children deliberately did not write Sagal's two later pregnancies into the show due to the earlier stillbirth, opting instead to write off her absences in a subplot in which Peg is traveling the world to reunite her redneck parents. In scenes where Peg was shown, Sagal had her midsection obscured, such as in a taxicab or at a craps table in Las Vegas, and was often seen or heard talking to family members over the phone.

One after effect of Sagal's having lost her stillborn daughter was that the tragedy inspired her to write the lyrics for "(You) Can't Hurry the Harvest". She recorded this selection on her debut album, Well..., which was released in April 1994.

Sagal and White divorced in 2000.

Sagal 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 mother.

Filmography

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	Leela	Voice
2008	Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs	Leela	Voice
2008	Futurama: Bender's Game	Leela/Leegola	Voice
2009	Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder	Leela	Voice
2009	House Broken	Mom
2010	Jack and the Beanstalk	Jack's mother
2014	There's Always Woodstock	Lee Ann
2015	Pitch Perfect 2	Katherine
2016	Bleed for This	Louise Pazienza

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Failing of Raymond	Girl patient	Credited as "Catherine Louise Sagal;" TV film Directed by Boris Sagal, her father
1972	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Young nurse	Credited as "Katie Sagal"
1973	Columbo	Secretary	Episode: "Candidate for Crime"
1974	Larry	Cashier	TV film
1975	The Dream Makers	Unemployment manager	TV film
1985-1986	Mary	Jo Tucker	3 episodes
1987-1997	Married... with Children	Peggy Bundy	250 episodes
1990	Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme	Mary Quite Contrary	TV film
1990	Tales from the Crypt	Ms. Kilbasser	Episode: "For Cryin' Out Loud"
1990	The Earth Day Special	Peggy Bundy Reprise of her Married... with Children role
1991	She Says She's Innocent	Susan Essex	TV film
1995	Trail of Tears	Annie Cook	TV film
1995	Nachtshow		Episode: "February 10th, 1995"
1995	Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man	Duckman's mother	Episode: "The Germ Turns"
1996	Space Cases	Ma (voice)	Episode: "Mother Knows Best"
1997-2001	Recess	Flo Spinelli	3 episodes
1998	Rugrats	Additional Voices	1 episode
1998	Chance of a Lifetime	Irene Dunbar	TV film
1998	Mr. Headmistress	Harriet Magnum	TV film
1999	No Higher Love	Ellen Young	TV film
1999	Smart House	Pat	TV film
1999	That '70s Show	Edna Hyde	3 episodes
1999-2003, 2008-2013, 2017-2018	Futurama	Leela (voice only)	136 episodes / the 17th anniversary show
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 Co-stars included Kaley Cuoco
2004	When Angels Come to Town	Jo	TV film
2004-2006	Higglytown Heroes	Monica the Police Officer	3 episodes
2005	Three Wise Guys	Shirley Crown	TV film
2005	Campus Confidential	Naomi Jacobs	TV film
2005	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
2006	The Search for the Funniest Mom in America	Host	Reality series
2007	The Winner	Lydia Berko	Episode: "Hot for Teacher"
2008	Eli Stone	Marci Klein	2 episodes
2008	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Annabelle Bundt/Natasha Steele	Episode: "Two and a Half Deaths"
2008-2014	Sons of Anarchy	Gemma Teller Morrow	91 episodes Created by Kurt Sutter, her husband since 2004
2010	Chadam	Sandy (voice)	Web series
2013	Glee	Nancy Abrams	Episode: "Wonder-ful"
2013-present	Super Duper Rocket	Chrystal Findlee (voice)
2014-2015	Regular Show	Mordecai's Mom (voice)	2 episodes
2014-2015	A to Z	Narrator (voice)	13 episodes
2014	The Simpsons	Leela (voice)	Episode: "Simpsorama"
2015	The Bastard Executioner	Annora of the Alders	10 episodes
2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Karen Peralta	Episode: "Karen Peralta"
2016	The Big Bang Theory	Susan, Penny's mother	Episode: "The Conjugal Conjecture" Post-8 Simple Rules reunion with Kaley Cuoco
2016	This is Us	Lanie Schultz	Episode: "The Big Three"
2017-present	Superior Donuts	Randy	Series regular
2017	Dirty Dancing	Vivian Pressman	Television film

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
1976	Moon Over Brooklyn Released: 1976 Label: Casablanca Records	—
1994	Well... Released: April 19, 1994 Label: Virgin/EMI Records	Billboard Top Heatseekers - 33
2004	Room June 1, 2004 Label: Valley Entertainment	—
2009	Sons of Anarchy: Shelter - EP Nov 24, 2009 Label: 20th Century Fox	Top Independent Albums — 33 Top Soundtracks — 23
2013	Covered Nov 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	Nominated
1991	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Married... with Children	Nominated
1992	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Married... with Children	Nominated
1993	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Married... with Children	Nominated
1993	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series	Married... with Children	Nominated
1994	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Married... with Children	Nominated
2005	Prism Awards	Performance in a Comedy Series	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter	Won
2009	TV Land Awards	Innovation Award	Married... with Children	Won
2010	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2010	Ewwy Award	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2010	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2011	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Sons of Anarchy	Won
2011	Prism Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2011	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2011	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in Drama Series	Sons of Anarchy	Nominated
2013	Prism Awards	Female Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline	Sons of Anarchy	Won
2014	Hollywood Walk of Fame	Star on the Walk of Fame		Won

Charities

Katey Sagal supports the following charitable cause: Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]