Katey Sagal - Acting Career

Acting Career

Sagal began her acting career in Hollywood, appearing in several made for TV movies between 1971 and 1975, including a small role as a receptionist in the Columbo installment Candidate for Crime (directed by her father). Sagal's first major role was as a newspaper columnist in the series Mary 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 wife of shoe salesman Al Bundy. Sagal brought her own red bouffant wig to audition for the role, and with the producers' approval, the look transitioned into the show. As Peg, she wore the wig, capri-length leggings with a large belt, and high slip-on heels, which were all fashion styles from the 1960s. The series ran for eleven years.

After the end of Married With Children, several more television films followed; she also contributed to the children's cartoon Recess as the voice of Spinelli's mother. In 1999, Matt Groening cast her as the purple-haired, cyclopian spaceship captain, Leela, in his science fiction cartoon comedy Futurama. The show developed a cult following but was cancelled after four seasons. However, airings in syndication on Adult Swim and Comedy Central increased the show's popularity and led Comedy Central to commission a series of Futurama direct-to-DVD films, which the network later rebroadcast as 16 episodes, season five. She reprised her role as Leela in these films, and in the new season that began airing June 24, 2010.

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 the following year.

She 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, and the show was cancelled in 2005 after its third season.

In 2005, 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. The following year, she appeared in four episodes of the short-lived 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.

She currently stars as Gemma Teller Morrow on the TV show Sons of Anarchy, created by her husband, Kurt Sutter.