Stars From Married... With Children You Didn't Know Died

Let's face it, any sitcom about a family sharing a surname with a notorious serial killer is going to be dark. But for those craving that type of humor, "Married... With Children," which chronicled the uncouth lives of the morally impoverished Bundys, was the perfect antidote for the more wholesome family fare of "Full House" and "Growing Pains." That irreverence, injected with heavy doses of rapier wit, worked well enough to give the still-nascent Fox Network one of its first hit shows, while delivering tons of toxicity to eager fans for 11 seasons starting in 1987. 

Often veering dangerously close to R-rated territory for its sexually-suggestive and politically-incorrect content, "Married... with Children" starred Ed O'Neill as Al, a bitter shoe salesman, Katey Sagal as his sardonic wife Peg, Christina Applegate as promiscuous airhead daughter Kelly, and David Faustino as wisecracking potential failure-to-launch son Bud. Long after the show ended, much of the cast have since prospered in other ventures and are still alive today, although fans were shocked after hearing Applegate was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. 

The majority of the guest stars seen on the show over the years are also still around. But some of them have since passed on, from veteran actors in the twilight of their careers to upstarts who grabbed the spotlight in later years. Here's a look at some of the more popular personalities no longer with us who briefly shared the screen with a family that put the "fun" into "dysfunctional."

Sometimes, "Married... with Children" would bring on a major star just to provide that guest celebrity an opportunity to play against type. So when the show handed former "Diff'rent Strokes" child star Gary Coleman that proverbial football, he gleefully ran with it. Playing a building inspector, he shared one hilarious scene with Al, about to mention his resemblance to Arnold Jackson, the "Diff'rent Strokes"character Coleman had played. "Don't even ask, I'm not him," he coldly replied on the show. "I've never been him. I can't even stand the little creep."

Coleman literally couldn't outgrow the role that made him famous. An autoimmunity disability at birth limited his height to four feet, eight inches, and required constant medical treatment, including heart surgery and two kidney transplants. His short, child-like stature, even when he became an adult, limited his acting potential, rendering him to cameo appearances on shows like "The Simpsons" and "The Drew Carey Show." 

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Coleman was making $2.5 million annually at the height of his fame, but lost a fair chunk of it to taxes, medical bills, lawyers and a trust issue with his parents and other handlers whom he accused of misappropriating his assets. He won some of his earnings back in a lawsuit, but still worked as a security guard to make ends meet. In the end, the 42-year-old actor was worth $75,000 when he died of a brain hemorrhage.

Probably one of the more restrained projects ever taken by Dom DeLuise was providing the voice for Floyd the Dog in one episode of "Married... with Children." It's a marked contrast to the star's reputation for going out of control on a movie set, with the cast and crew bent over in hysterical guffaws with such regularity that production usually went behind schedule. Said producer Mel Brooks (best known for groundbreaking movie comedies from "The Producers" to "Blazing Saddles") to The Los Angeles Times, "[He] created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn't get your work done. So every time I made a movie with Dom, I would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter."

Folks would be hard-pressed to find a DeLuise appearance on TV or the big screen where he wasn't loud, vibrant, and over the top, especially on a Brooks set or both "Cannonball Run" comedies starring Burt Reynolds, one of DeLuise's best friends. Fans would have to go back to the early '60s to find those rarities, such as a minor role he had in the Cold War drama "Fail Safe." He showed more of his hilarious colors when a producer of "The Dean Martin Show" told him not to hold back on his penchant for improv. "I was allowed to ad-lib a great deal with Dean," said DeLuise in an earlier interview with the Los Angeles Times. He died at 75 of kidney failure.

Despite its success, "Married... with Children" still bore a pariah stigma among TV sitcoms, so it made sense that the show would open its doors to folks with similar outlaw reputations. Few carried that designation more vividly than country singer Waylon Jennings, whose hits "I've Always Been Crazy" and "Honky Tonk Heroes," dominated radio in the '60s and '70s. With a grizzled scowl, Jennings played local music hero Ironhead Haynes in one episode. As evidence of his defiant demeanor, he played one tune: a five-second, one-chord ditty with him singing "Darlings," the only lyric in the piece. That was his only appearance on the show, although the fictitious country act The Wanker Triplets did sing one of his hits, "Good Hearted Woman" in another installment.

Despite recording 15 number-one hits, Jennings was legendary for thumbing his nose at the Nashville establishment. "It was all formula," he said on NPR about country music's commercial mentality. "It was like cookie cutters, you know, everything you did." He seldom worked on TV, aside from voicing his animated likeness in "Family Guy" and narrating for the southern-fried drama "The Dukes of Hazzard," which used his tune "Good Ol' Boys" as its theme song. 

Unlike most folkloric outlaws, Jennings passed away peacefully at the age of 64 from a diabetes-related illness. Labels issued several live shows recorded posthumously for television, including "American Revolutions: The Highwaymen" featuring Jennings in a country supergroup with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.

When it came to delivering sexual innuendo for the sake of a few titters, "Married... with Children" ensured all its comedic reservoirs were overflowing with double entendres and scantily-clad characters galore. And few guest stars came equipped to dog paddle in those proverbial tanks than Tawny Kitaen. Her sole appearance was as a lingerie model who finagles a free pair of shoes from Al's store, only to fracture her leg on live television when the footwear's heel inexplicably breaks off. Kitaen delivered no zinger lines in that episode, but then, she didn't have to.

The San Diego native got into showbiz via modeling, leading to bit parts in tawdry made-for-TV beach movies before landing roles in the daytime drama "Santa Barbara" and a '90s reboot of the classic radio sitcom "WKRP In Cincinnati." She also found work in movies like "Happy Hour" and "Witchboard," but her biggest flick had to be the 1984 comedy "Bachelor Party," playing a fiancée betrothed to Tom Hanks in what was his first big movie. 

However, '80s metal fans would remember Kitaen differently, since she posed on album covers and became eye candy fodder in videos by hair-farming acts like RATT and Whitesnake. The latter band was no accident, since at the time she was married to lead singer David Coverdale. Kitaen died at 59, although the cause wasn't known until months later. According to People, a heart ailment known as dilated cardiomyopathy was responsible for her death.

Japanese-American actor Noriyuki "Pat" Morita set the bar for Asian representation in Hollywood, but one appearance on "Married... with Children" contrasted his reputation for playing wise and dignified characters. In the episode, Morita played a stern bank executive, whom his subordinate and Bundy neighbor Marcy D'Arcy wanted to impress for the sake of a promotion. The role was certainly a far cry from his more familiar portrayals from fast food proprietor Arnold from the sitcom "Happy Days" to martial arts guru Kesuke Miyagi in two "Karate Kid" movies, one of which earned him an Oscar nomination.

All of that success sounds like just desserts for California native Morita, who endured a difficult childhood, first diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis and then spending part of his childhood in an internment camp during the Second World War. A computer employee for a time, Morita switched to showbiz, first landing a part in the Japanese movie "Car Thieves" and eventually scoring small roles on primetime shows from "Green Acres" to "Columbo." 

Recurring portrayals on sitcoms "M*A*S*H" and "Sanford and Son" led to more secure stints as Arnold and Miyagi, after which played the lead in a short-lived cop show called "Ohara" and scored dozens of TV appearances and video game voice-overs. At 73, Morita died from what People reported as "complications from alcoholism."

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

It's hard to say whether anyone's ever kept records on some of the more arcane achievements of "Married... with Children" guest star characters. Chances are, however, that Alan Thicke is probably the only celebrity invitee to have dated both Peg and Kelly Bundy.  Thicke first wound up with Kelly after an ill-fated double date; his involvement with Peg occurred a season later in a three-parter when the Bundys were going through a separation.

Thicke is best known for being the patriarch in the family sitcom "Growing Pains," and an actor frequently seen in other programs, from a brief story arc in "The Bold and the Beautiful" to a recurring role playing himself in "How I Met Your Mother." But behind the scenes, he was one of the industry's busiest movers and shakers. An accomplished musician, he composed themes for such shows as "The Facts of Life" and "The Joker's Wild." He was also prolific as a writer, penning scripts for several outings from the groundbreaking fake talk show "Fernwood 2 Night" to specials hosted by such luminaries as Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, and Richard Pryor. 

A native Canadian who first cut his teeth on the state-run CBC network, Thicke also enjoyed playing hockey, an activity he was enjoying with his son Carter when he suddenly died from a ruptured aorta at the age of 69. "He was the best man I ever knew," wrote son Robin Thicke in a social media post that's no longer available.

Regardless of where they stood on the merits of "Married... with Children," at least fans and critics alike would agree that life with the Bundys would be anything but idyllic. Still, that pales in comparison to one guest star whose own life was like a hard-done-by country song. Enter Tammy Wynette, whose own tales of hardship were preserved in controversial songs like "Stand By Your Man" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." At least when she played herself as manager of hack duo The Juggs (consisting of Peg and Kelly) in one episode, the tearjerker queen demonstrated she had a sense of humor.

Despite her success as a legendary country music singer, her life was marked with one instance of despair after another. Writer Jimmy McDonough, who penned her biography "Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen," said that the recording artist's true talent was in transferring all that anguish into music. "In terms of a slow, sad song, nobody could rip it up like Tammy," McDonough said to NPR. "She is just unrelenting." 

During her career, Wynette scored 20 major hits and is recognized as the first country star to score a platinum record. But she also endured five marriages, including one tempestuous relationship with fellow legend George Jones. Several health issues also surfaced in later years. Her cameo in "Married... with Children" would mark the last time she'd be seen on television during her lifetime. Months later, Wynette died at 55 from a blood clot in the lungs.