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BEFORE THE SHOW
This woman has had quite a life. Katey Sagal was born into a showbiz family. Her father, Boris, was a TV and film director who directed such films as "The Omega Man" and "Girl Happy", mini-series like "Rich Man, Poor Man", and TV series such as "Dr Kildare", "Peter Gunn", "The Twilight Zone" and "Man From U.N.C.L.E." Katey met Elvis Presley when her father was working on the movie "Girl Happy" in 1965.
Katey's first love is singing. Katey plays the guitar and also began playing the piano at the age of fifteen. Her mother was a singer, and Katey has been singing since she was five years old. Even as a girl scout she would be singing and playing her guitar. Katey has report cards for kindergarten and elementary school that say things like "She doesn't pay much attention but she has a great singing voice." Katey's father did not really tolerate Katey as a 'wild musician' and decided that she should act, rather than anything else, if she were to pursue a professional career in show business. Except for her brother, David, who is a lawyer (Harvard Law School), all of Katey's siblings went into showbiz also. Her twin sisters, Jean and Liz, formerly of the 1984-85 television series "Double Trouble", now work behind the scenes on television shows. Katey lived in several homes as a child, as her father was "wherever the work was". She lived in LA's Mandeville Canyon when she was 12. Katey attended many different schools, where she tried desperately for the people to be 'nice' to her. Katey would pretty much bribe people by taking them to her father's movie sets. Katey attended Palisades High School from 1968.
Katey's father had put her in some of his TV movies to get her Screen Actor's Guild Card and health insurance. One movie was "The Failing of Raymond" (1971), and Katey played an escapee from a mental institution who didn't talk a lot.
Katey's mother had been diagnosed with heart disease and she died in 1975, leaving Katey to help raise her younger siblings. Her father eventually met and remarried Marge Champion, a dancer/choreographer. Boris died in a freak accident in May 1981, on the set of "World War III" (which he was directing) when he got struck head on by a helicopter rotorblade. After she lost her parents, Katey experienced a period in her life when she was "abusing" alcohol and drugs. She eventually got the help she was after, thanks to her own strength and the kindness of Mary Tyler Moore. She has been completely clean and sober ever since.
Katey sang backing vocals for a lot of people over the years. She was also a singing waitress at The Great American Food And Beverage Company and a door-to- door sandwich-selling girl. Among the people she has backed up are: Bette Midler (as a Harlette), Bob Dylan (for two months only, before half the band and all the singers were fired), Etta James, Tanya Tucker, Molly Hatchet "Take No Prisoners" (1981), Olivia Newton-John "Soul Kiss" (1985), David Della Rossa "Nothin' But Trouble" (1987), Gene Simmons "Gene Simmons" (1978), Carolyn Ray and Paolinho da Costa. Katey also dated Gene Simmons for a while.
Katey and her singing waiter friends formed a band. After meeting Gene Simmons in their restaurant, they were taken to Neil Bogart's (President of Casablanca Records) office. They released a record, "Moon Over Brooklyn", in 1976. The band was nameless until the day before the record was marketed, then they decided to call themselves The Group With No Name. The record didn't do too well, and the band did not last very long after that.
From 1978 to 1983, Katey worked on and off for Bette Midler, as one of The Staggering Harlettes. 1978 also included Bette Midler's national tour. Katey decided to leave the Harlettes before Bette's 1979 "Divine Madness" tour, but she joined them again for the 1982/83 "De Tour". Katey only recorded one song with Bette in studio - the song "Soda And A Souvenir" on Midler's 1983 album "No Frills".
When she was twenty-one, Katey had her first marriage, to a bass player named Freddie Beckmeyer. The marriage only lasted three years, as both musicians were on the road often and rarely saw each other.
In 1972, Katey studied theatre and acting at the California Institute of the Arts, but quit a year later, intending to focus more on her music. In 1985, she starred in the rock opera "The Beautiful Lady", at the Music Centre in Los Angeles. She won the Drama Logue Award for Best Actress for this performance. A CBS casting agent saw her performance and wanted to sign her up. They asked her to audition for the role of the hard-bitten, chain-smoking Jo Tucker in Mary Tyler Moore's new sitcom "Mary". The series only lasted 13 episodes. The series also featured Harold Sylvester, who would later play Griff on Married with Children.
One of MWC's producer's (Ron Leavitt, assumingly) wives saw Katey on "Mary" and suggested her husband should audition her for the role of Peggy Bundy, in their new pilot series, in 1986. Originally, Roseanne was thought of for the Peggy part. Luckily, they found a true talent in Ms. Sagal, and needless to say, Katey got the part she will forever be best known for, and forming one of television's most successful on-screen chemistries between her and Ed O'Neill.
DURING THE SHOW
Katey was partially responsible for the Peggy Bundy look and style. Peggy was originally planned to be a couch potato, like Al, and someone who never got dressed. Katey thought Peg should be more "dolled up" and she helped come up with Peg's bouffant hairstyle and chose the shoes, which in turn created the Peggy Bundy walk. Katey used her real hair for the role of Peggy from the start of the show to until the end of the fourth season (1990.) After that, she used a $4,000 wig. It had to replaced at least once every season due to the intensity of TV studio lights. After the airing of "Her Cups Runneth Over" (0306) in 1989, one of Peggy's bras was put on display in the Frederick's of Hollywood Lingerie Museum (Bra Hall of Fame.) It was stolen in the LA riots in 1993, along with Madonna's bustier and Ava Gardner's pantaloons, but the thief turned it in (to his priest!)
In 1990, a rumour floated around that Katey, and her TV son, David Faustino were dating. They weren't.
Katey always thought that "When I got to be an adult, tragedies wouldn't happen", then Katey became pregnant with her first child in October 1990 and in December, she miscarried. In March 1991, however, she became pregnant with a baby due to be born in December. Therefore a new storyline for the new Married with Children season (season six) was written - Peggy and Marcy were both expecting babies. The season premiere had the biggest audience of any MWC episode ever. Katey also played an expectant mother in the NBC TV movie "Violation of Trust" aka "She Says She's Innocent", while on hiatus from filming MWC in 1991. Six episodes with a pregnant Peg were produced, until October 13, when Katey was absent from rehearsal one day. Katey had been rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, where, after seven months of pregnancy, and six weeks premature, her baby Ruby Alexandra White was stillborn. Katey managed not to let herself fall apart completely. She was reportedly willing to continue the storyline on MWC, but the producers thankfully dropped it and explained it all as horrible dream of Al's in "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick" (0611). Katey was absent for four weeks from the show due to her recovery.
On Thanksgiving weekend, November 26, 1993, Katey married her boyfriend of four years, Jack White, on a spur-of-the-moment decision in Nashville. Jack is a musician and a photographer, and he often did publicity photos for "Married with Children". Katey was pregnant again by the end of the eighth season of MWC. She kept this pregnancy as quiet as she could from the public, unlike her previous one, which the entire world knew about. Therefore, Katey was filmed only from the waist up, or pre- taped and aired as being 'on the phone from Wanker County'. On August 7th, 1994, her daughter, Sarah Grace, was born. As a result, Katey was absent from MWC's first four episodes of the ninth season. Then, following the successful delivery of perfectly healthy Sarah, Katey gave birth to her son, Jackson James, on March 1st, 1996. This time, Katey was absent for five episodes, in late season ten.
Katey continued to sing throughout the show's run. She sang in the choir in "Voices That Care" in 1991. She released her first solo CD entitled "Well..." in 1994 on Virgin Records, in which she wrote or co-wrote 9 out of the 12 tracks. Her husband is the drummer in 7 out of the 12 tracks. The CD is now out of print and is considered a rare collector's item. Katey also sang the National Anthem at the World Series in 1996. She sang (and still today) as much as she could, wherever she could. Katey was nominated for a few awards, for Married with Children: Golden Globe nominations in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and was awarded the American Comedy Award in 1990 and 1992.
Katey is an active participant in charities to help the homeless, people with diseases, animals (she is a vegetarian), and the Earth. She and Ken Solomon were awarded with a Special Merit for their work with the H.E.L.P. group in 1996 or 97.
AFTER THE SHOW
Katey had more of an opportunity to spend time with her children when Married with Children was cancelled in 1997, but soon Katey signed an exclusive two-year deal with CBS to make Movies of the Week and a pilot for a TV series. The TV show "Earth Scum", with Mark Addy, was piloted in 1998, but it never made it to television. The CBS deal included Katey wearing 50 pounds of padding for a TV movie called "Chance of a Lifetime" with John Ritter, then three following movies of the week: "Mr. Headmistress" (1998), "God's New Plan" aka "No Higher Love" (1999) and an original Disney movie called "Smart House" (1999). Katey made a guest appearance on "That '70s Show" as "Gross" Edna Hyde in late 1998. Since 1998, Katey gives her voice to the character of Leela on the FOX animation "Futurama", now in its fifth season.
Katey had a concert in December 1999, in LA, at the Mark Taper Forum; "A Journey Into the Junk Drawer of the Mind". In 2000, Katey played Claire Wennick, the aunt to the title character in the NBC series "Tucker", which unfortunately got cancelled after 13 episodes were produced (4 had aired in primetime.)
In July 2000, Katey and her husband Jack White filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason, according to the Los Angeles Court. The divorces say the split is not final, though. Katey and Jack share custody of their two children.
Early 2002 saw Katey in the NBC series "Imagine That" with Hank Azaria. This show was pulled after just two episodes (five were produced). Today, however, Katey is enjoying enormous success of her new show, "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter", in which she plays Cate Hennessey, wife of Paul, who is played by her "Chance of a Lifetime" co-star John Ritter. 8SR was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy Series in January 2003.
Source: marriedwithchildren.net
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