Katey Sagal - Jewish Actresses, Family and Childhood

Katey Sagal was born Catherine Louise Sagal on January 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California to Sara Zwilling and Boris Sagal. Her mother, stage name Sara Macon, was a singer of English, German and Scottish origin while her father was a director, born in Ukrain and of Jewish origin.

Her younger twin sisters, Jean and Liz Sagal are both actors and so is her brother Joe. Her other brother, David Sagal is an attorney and studio executive at Warner Brothers, married to actress McNally Sagal.

Her mother died of heart disease in 1975 and father later married renowned dancer-cum-choreographer Marge Champior. He died in an accident on the sets of the television movie ‘World War III’ in 1981. Katey’s godfather was famous sitcom producer, Norman Lear, who was also responsible for introducing her father to show business.

As a young girl she was encouraged by her mother and first performed at the age of five.

She studied singing and acting at the California Institute of Arts and started her acting career in Hollywood at an early age.

Between 1971 and 1975 she appeared in several movies made for television, including the role of a receptionist in the Columbo instalment ‘Candidate for Crime’, directed by her father.

She sang with the band called ‘The Group With No Name’ and started her career as a singer and song writer.

In 1973 she performed as a backing vocalist for Bob Dylan and Tanya Tucker. She continued doing backing vocalist to many known artist including Olivia Newton John and finally released her first solo album ‘Well...’ followed by ‘Room’ in June 2004.

Her first major acting role was as a newspaper journalist in a Chicago newspaper office in the serial, ‘Mary’, which ran from 1985 to 1986.

This success got her the role of ‘Peggy Bundy’ in the sitcom ‘Married... with Children’, where she plays the role of a lower class, sex starved, free spending wife of an obnoxious shoe salesman. In the serial the couple has two teenage children brought up in a crude environment. The serial ran for ten years (1987 – 1997) and Peg Bundy became a household name during this period.

After her initial success she acted in many more television films and also guest starred in the children’s animated movie, ‘Recess’, where she lent her voice as Spinelli’s mother. She also provided the voice for ‘Captain Leela’ in the science fiction comedy ‘Futurama’.

Sagal appeared as a guest artist in three episodes of ‘That ‘70’s Show’ and also starred in the sitcom ‘Tucker’ on NBC in the year 2000.

She played the role of the wife of John Ritter in the sitcom ‘8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter’ in 2002. The serial was about a caring couple with three children, much in variance to her earlier image in ‘Married... with Children’. Unfortunately, Ritter died after three episodes of the second season and the show had to be cancelled.

From 2005 to 2008 she appeared in the serials ‘Lost’, ‘The Winner’, and ‘Eli Stone’ in varied roles that showed how versatile an actor she was. Her career progressed with her roles in the film ‘House Broken’ and TV show ‘Sons of Anarchy’ where she plays the role of Gemma Teller Morrow in the environment of the California bike gangs.

In September 2014 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition for her contribution to show business.

In 2016, she joined the cast of the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ as the mother of Penny, played by actress Kaley Cuoco.

‘The Bastard Executioner’ is her latest collaboration with her husband, Kurt Sutter, which is a historic epic shot mainly in Wales. Her husband plays her on - screen lover and her daughter, Sarah White is also a part of the cast, in her first major role.

Her major films are ‘Made to Order’ where she plays Louise, ‘Smart House’, ‘Recess: School’s Out’ and ‘Futurama’ where she does a voiceover, ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ and ‘There’s Always Woodstock’.

Her television shows include ‘The Falling of Raymond’ directed by her father, Boris Sagal, the TV films ‘The Dream Makers’ and ‘No Higher Love’, sitcoms ‘Married.... with Children’, ‘The Geena Davis Show’ episode ‘Girls Night Out’ and ‘Ghost Whispers’.

She has also released the albums ‘Moon Over Brooklyn’, ‘Well...’ which was listed amongst Billboard Top Heatseekers , ‘Room’ and her Top Independent Album ‘Sons of Anarchy: Shelter – EP’.

She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and two American Comedy Awards for her performance in ‘Married with... Children’. She also won the TV Land Award for the same serial in 2009.

She won the Prism Award for her performance in the comedy series ‘8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter’.

Katey also won the Golden Globe Award and Prism Award for her performance in ‘Sons of Anarchy.

Her name was inducted in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014.

Katey Sagal married writer – producer, Kurt Sutter, in 2004. Prior to this she was married to musician Freddie Beckmeier from 1978 to 1981 and to drummer Jack White from 1993 to 2000.

She has a son and a daughter from White and a daughter from her present marriage. Her second daughter was born through a surrogate mother; she was 52.

In an interview Katey has said that she was relieved when her children took to acting and knew from the beginning that show business was in their blood.

Katey brought her own red bouffant wig for the audition for her role as Peggy Bundy in ‘Married.... with Children’ and prevailed upon the director to include it in her look for the serial.

Sagal learnt that she was pregnant while she was working on the sets of ‘Married... with Children’. This prompted the director to have the script of the serial amended to accommodate her condition. However, she had to end her pregnancy in the seventh month due to a medical emergency and the script of the serial was also adapted to portray a dream.

Her later two pregnancies during the same show were not incorporated in the script, and she was shown travelling to reunite with her parents.

She actively took part in the Human Rights Campaign video in tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting, where she tells the stories of the people killed in the massacre.