Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Married With Children?
When viewers tuned into the Fox series "Married... With Children" they learned that the Bundy family was nothing like the lovable Huxtables on "The Cosby Show." In fact, the show was originally called "Not the Cosbys." It focused on a dysfunctional family living in the Chicago suburbs that consisted of patriarch and shoe salesman Al Bundy, who often hilariously degraded his family, his wife Peggy, a housewife who doesn't care to cook or clean and has expensive taste, and their two misfit children, Kelly and Bud.
"Married... With Children" premiered in April 1987 and ran for 11 seasons, concluding in 1997. It has become a huge part of '90s culture with those old enough to remember its catchy opening song, "Love and Marriage." The characters on the show and the actors who portrayed them were quite memorable and have gone on to work in numerous acting projects, including work in film, other television shows, and Broadway productions. Take a look at what happened to the cast of "Married... With Children" and what they have been up to since the show ended.
Katey Sagal
In "Married... With Children" actor Katey Sagal portrayed Al Bundy's wife, Peggy Bundy, a character that was few and far between in '90s television shows. Not many shows portrayed a wife as a couch potato, watching "The Oprah Show" and eating bonbons while stealing her husband's money to buy whatever she pleases.
For the show's 30th anniversary in 2017, Sagal shared with ABC News that she never believed "Married... With Children" would become such a hit. "I remember reading the script and thinking, 'This is hysterically funny, but no one will watch it because it's just too outside the box. We'll get canceled immediately,'" she shared. Not knowing the future of the show, it ended up lasting eleven seasons, which, at the time, was the longest-running show on television until it was canceled in 1997, per the Los Angeles Times.
Sagal's most recent work has been starring in 2021's "Rebel" as lead character Annie 'Rebel' Bello. Her most notable roles include Cate Hennessy on "8 Simple Rules," Leela on the animated show "Futurama," and Gemma Teller Morrow on FX's "Son of Anarchy," for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Sagal has been married to her third husband Kurt Sutter since 2004. He is best known for creating "Sons of Anarchy" and starring alongside Sagal in the popular series. The couple welcomed a daughter named Esme via surrogate in 2007 and Sagal is also the mother of two more children from her second marriage to Jack White, per People.
David Faustino
David Faustino starred as Al and Peggy Bundy's son Bud Bundy in "Married... With Children," and unlike the rest of the family, Bud was smart and excelled in school but his straight A's didn't help him with the ladies. Faustino got his big break thanks to the sitcom and landed multiple acting gigs, making appearances in "The X-Files," The Bernie Mac Show," "The Help," and "Bad Samaritans." In 2009, he created the web series "Star-ving," in which he portrayed himself as a struggling actor. Faustino has also done voice-over work and is best known for voicing the animated Nickelodeon character Mako on "The Legend of Korra" and Helia on the revival of "Winx Club."
He's also been on board for a "Married... With Children" reboot, and in 2016, told E! that the cast was all in but that some legal difficulties were in the way. Faustino talked about pushing the boundaries even more on a potential reboot, stating, "I think in ways it did push the envelope, but in ways, we've become less – some of the jokes we couldn't get away with today ... There's a rumor that it could end up on Netflix, and I just think how fun 'Married... With Children' would be on Netflix because you could really have some fun then. You could tell Kelly to f*** off, a lot of fun things like that."
In 2015, Faustino welcomed a daughter named Ava Marie with his fiance Lindsay Bronson. As of this writing, a reboot of the beloved show has yet to happen.
Christina Applegate
"Married... With Children" portrayed Kelly Bundy, the teenage daughter of Al and Peggy as a promiscuous "dumb blonde" whose lack of intelligence was often mocked by her family. Portrayed by actor Christina Applegate, her character would be heavily criticized today, especially with a live audience of men known to hoot and holler at Applegate every time she entered a scene in barely-there clothing.
Applegate has had one of the most thriving careers out of her "Married... With Children" cast. Her most notable roles include starring in television shows like "Friends," where she portrayed Rachel Green's sister, Amy, "Samantha Who?," "Up All Night," and her most recent work in Netflix's "Dead to Me" where she starred as Jen Harding. Her most recognized movie roles include "The Sweetest Thing," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," and "Bad Moms."
Applegate married musician Martyn LeNoble in 2013, with People reporting that the couple welcomed a daughter named Sadie Grace two years prior. Unlike her "Married... With Children" castmate David Faustino, when asked about a potential reboot reunion she told Variety at the SAG Awards red carpet in 2020, "No one wants to see us do that. Look, no, I'm like, 20 pounds bigger and 40 years older than I was. I'm not going to put a Lycra dress on me at this point. No, it's not going to happen." In 2021, Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has often tweeted about her experience with her fans.
Ed O'Neill
There hasn't been a television show character quite like Al Bundy. Actor Ed O'Neill played the grumpy and misogynistic shoe salesman who objectified women, was a regular at a local strip club, and even created an anti-feminist group called NO MA'AM (National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood) all while raising two teenagers and married to his wife, Peggy. Although Al wasn't portrayed as the perfect father or husband like his TV show peers at the time, it just made "Married... With Children" that much more of a hit with viewers.
O'Neill enjoyed playing the role of Al and related to his character in certain aspects, sharing in an interview with the "Archive of American Television," "I came from a family that had kind of a mean sense of humor." O'Neill landed numerous roles after its cancellation. The actor is also best known for portraying Jay Pritchett on "Modern Family" in which he took home four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and has also starred in films like "Little Giants," "The Bone Collector," "Sun Dogs," and has done voice-overs for Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Finding Dory."
O'Neill has been married to his wife actor Catherine Rusoff since 1986, although they have been on-and-off-again throughout their marriage. They are also the parents of daughters Sophie and Claire.
Amanda Bearse
Amanda Bearse starred as the Bundy's next-door neighbor Marcy D'Arcy who is best pals with Peggy, but Al's biggest nemesis. In 1993, Bearse came out as a lesbian, becoming the first actor in primetime television to do so, telling The Advocate magazine at the time that coming out was "liberating." She added, "It was important for me to do this for myself and for our community because the more people who come out, the safer it will be for even more people to come out."
Before she starred in "Married... With Children," Bearse starred in "All My Children" and later landed roles in television shows like "Anger Management" and "Drop Dead Diva." According to Advocate, Bearse directed 31 episodes of "Married... With Children" and also directed popular shows like "Reba" and "The Jamie Foxx Show." At the time that she came out, Bearse had adopted a daughter with her partner Amy Shomer.
Bearse strayed away from acting, however, she made a return to the screen and, as of this writing, will star in 2022's "Bros" a film that will feature an entire cast of LGBTQ+ actors. She shared, "I'm just having a good time acting again. It's really been such a very long time, and I didn't realize how much I'd miss it." Bearse will also star in the comedy "Tapawingo" which stars "Napoleon Dynamite" actor Jon Heder. Currently, there is no set release date for the film.
Ted McGinley
Actor Ted McGinley starred as the pretty boy and next-door neighbor Jefferson D'Arcy in "Married... With Children," but he was already known as a top Hollywood star having had roles in popular television sitcoms including "Happy Days," "The Love Boat," and "Dynasty."
McGinley's acting resume is extensive having worked in several made-for-TV films and having guest appearances in multiple shows. In 2003, he landed the role of Charley Shanowski in "Hope & Faith" which also starred Kelly Ripa and Faith Ford, and said of his role to AV Club, "I was an integral part of the show, which was really exciting." In the same interview, McGinley called his "Married... With Children" role "one of the great gigs of all time" and added, "It was fun for me because I'd come from 'Happy Days' and 'The Love Boat' and kind of had one sort of audience, so when I went to 'Married... With Children,' it was, like, 'Whoa, what happened here?'"
McGinley has also acted in 2019's Netflix show "No Good Nick," 2019's "The Baxters," and stars as Webb in "Keeping Up With the Joneses" alongside Vivica A. Fox. The actor has been married to his wife actor Gigi Rice since 1991, with Rice sharing several throwback photos of her and her husband along with their two sons Beau and Quinn.
David Garrison
David Garrison portrayed Steve Rhoades, the Bundy's original neighbor for just four seasons of the sitcom, having left the Fox series to go back to his theater roots. He told Get TV about making the change, "I missed my life in Manhattan, as well as my theater career. The first rule of show business is 'leave them wanting more,' so after four seasons, I felt it was time to exercise some other muscles. I left on good terms, and returned as a guest on the show in subsequent seasons."
According to his website, Garrison's theater credits include "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in Ukraine," "Titanic," "Wicked," "The Visit," and several off-Broadway shows. However, Garrison didn't ditch television acting for good and starred in popular shows like "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "The Practice," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The West Wing," "Law & Order," and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
Garrison spoke proudly of "Married... With Children," also sharing with Get TV, "Any show that breaks the rules are re-invents a form is likely to have a lasting impact ... The show had (and continues to have) fans because the humor, although exaggerated, was fundamentally based in recognizable behavior and real, if dysfunctional, family dynamics."
Kevin Curran
"Married... With Children" wouldn't be complete without Buck the dog, the Bundy's family pet who would often express his disappointment (in his own mind) in Al and the rest of the family for usually neglecting him. Buck was voiced by Kevin Curran who also produced and wrote for the Fox sitcom. Mainly behind the scenes, Curran also produced and wrote for "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Good Life," "Hardball," "Unhappily Ever After," and "The Simpsons."
According to The New York Times, Curran won three Emmy Awards for "The Simpsons" and was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for Season 21's episode titled "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed," which showed the Simpson family on a pilgrimage to Israel.
Curran died in October 2016 at the age of 59 "after a long illness," with Al Jean, the producer and writer for "The Simpsons" telling The Wrap, "Kevin Curran was a sweet, brilliant man who said many hilarious things, some unprintable, others which will live forever in a children's cartoon." The New York Times reported that Curran had two children with author Helen Fielding.
Harold Sylvster
Actor Harold Sylvester played Griff, Al Bundy's best friend and co-worker at the shoe store from Seasons 9 through 11. Although he wasn't a big part of the show, he did bring tons of laughter and was one of the funniest sidekicks on television. Sylvester has a prolific career in acting having starred in films like "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Innerspace," "Uncommon Valor," and "Corrina, Corrina." His television show resume is also extensive with some notable appearances in shows like "NYPD Blue," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Shaky Ground," and "CSI: Miami."
Sylvester also has produced and written for the television shows "NYPD Blue" and "City of Angels" which was known for its predominantly African American cast that included Blair Underwood, Viola Davis, and Gabrielle Union.
Besides his many acting credits, Sylvester, who hails from New Orleans, Louisiana, made history after having been the first Black American to receive a scholarship to play basketball from Tulane University. However, he would later stick to his passion for acting, per TCM.
E.E. Bell
Actor E.E. Bell starred as Al Bundy's high school friend, butcher, and member of Al's NO MA'AM club, Bob Rooney from Season 8 through Season 11. Although he came in late on the show, Bell has a long list of acting credits that began in the early '80s with appearances in "Diff'rent Strokes," "Cheers," and "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" which also starred Christina Applegate.
Throughout the '90s, Bell worked in films including, "Air Force One," "My Giant," and "Forget Paris." After "Married...With Children" came to an end in 1997, Bell acted in television shows like "Beverly Hills, 90210," "The West Wing," "The Amanda Show," where he starred as Barney, a security guard, and "The Bold and the Beautiful." He continued to work throughout the 2000s, too, with appearances in "How I Met Your Mother," "Glee," "The Mentalist," and "Raising Hope." In 2016, he starred in the movie "Hail, Caesar!" and in 2020, starred in the comedy "The Swing of Things."
Speaking about his successful career in Hollywood, he shared with Long Beach City College, "I really enjoy what I do. When I do it and people see it, and like it, and then laugh, and are entertained, then that feeds me. That's what gets me through the negative times. The positive feedback is what pays off."