The Tragic True Life Story Of Married With Children Star Katey Sagal

Throughout her lengthy acting career, Katey Sagal's iconic roles have run the gamut. From non-traditional housewife Peggy Bundy on "Married... with Children," who happily spends the money of husband Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill), to "Sons of Anarchy" matriarch Gemma Teller-Morrow, who will go to any length to protect her son Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and SAMCRO, Sagal has generated quite a dedicated fanbase thanks to her vast range of on-screen personas.

This isn't lost on Sagal, a regular guest at fan conventions both across the US and overseas. Still, many of these supporters largely see her as Peggy, Gemma, or another of her popular characters, and not as a woman who has endured much hardship in her life.

Behind the scenes, Sagal oftentimes didn't have it easy. Over the years, she battled addiction, experienced grief after several untimely deaths, and struggled in the industry, both to get started as an actress and to expand her horizons beyond comedy after finding herself typecast as a humorous housewife. Read on for the full tragic true life story of Sagal.

From childhood, Katey Sagal was exposed to the entertainment industry thanks to her father, Boris Sagal, a director and writer, and mother, Sara Zwilling, a screenwriter. A passion for the screen was in Katey's blood, but the powers that be initially refused to believe that she was cut out for it.

"I was told years ago when my dad sent me to casting people that I would never work in television," she recounted at the ATX TV Festival (via Page Six) in 2016. "'You are not [the] TV type,' they said to me. 'You should go to New York, you should just be on the stage. You will never work in television.'"

Needless to say, Katey proved those who didn't believe in her wrong. Throughout the '70s and early '80s, she landed a number of smaller roles, including Jo Tucker on the Mary Tyler Moore-led sitcom "Mary." Then, in 1987, she officially became a household name with the premiere of "Married... with Children." Still, despite enjoying steady work ever since, Katey holds fast to the mindset of her early career, never assuming that any job is guaranteed. "It's never been easy for me," she said. "I know I've continued to work and I think it's super amazing that I've continued to work, but I'm always the one that has to prove to you that I can do it. It's just kind of been that way."

In her 2017 memoir "Grace Notes: My Recollections," Katey Sagal goes in-depth about how growing up in Hollywood resulted in her having low self-esteem and poor body image. This was especially true when she was repeatedly turned away by casting directors. Sagal shared on the "Pie" podcast that she secretly ate to help curb her negative feelings: "It was an anxiety issue." Because she didn't look like the slim actresses of the era, Sagal never felt pretty enough...even when portraying the promiscuous and ultra-confident Peg Bundy.

She told The Hollywood Reporter, "You had to have a certain — this is a very hard town to grow up in, and my body image became sort of something that not only I focused on, but my parents focused on too. ... I never really saw myself as the way some of my characters have portrayed themselves as. I know people used to think Peg Bundy was so sexy, and I didn't really perceive myself like that because once you're a fat adolescent, you never quite lose that."

Sagal added that, as her two eldest children — Sarah Grace White and Jackson White — enter the industry, she's instilling a sense of body positivity in them that she didn't get to enjoy in her youth.

At the age of 14, in an effort to stop her secretive overeating, Katey Sagal was prescribed diet pills. However, rather than improve her wellness, they led to a tumultuous 15-year addiction. After finding herself hooked on the diet pills, Sagal then turned to cocaine and alcohol. Sagal told ABC News, "I had a tendency to sort of run with a crowd that had the same kind of problems that I did, or bigger ones."

Her addiction continued until 1986, when, by pure chance, she began to encounter individuals who were sober. Until that point, she never realized that that was an option. She said, "Suddenly out of nowhere popped up a lot of people who were living clean and sober. And I didn't know about that."

Sagal took the necessary steps to reclaim her life, including following the uncomfortable advice of her sponsor: practice humility and honesty by letting people know about her sobriety. When filming commenced on "Married... with Children," Sagal was four months clean and hesitant to reveal details about her past to strangers. However, after opening up to several people, she discovered others, including the casting director, who were also sober. As she recalled on the "Inside of You" podcast, "I instantly felt like, 'OK, I'm safe.'"

In 1975, when Katey Sagal was 21 years old, her mother suffered a fatal heart attack. According to Sagal, Sara Zwilling had been in poor health for many years, so her passing wasn't a complete shock. However, the same cannot be said for Boris Sagal's death.

At the age of 58, the director passed away due to injuries sustained after being struck by a helicopter blade on the set of the 1982 TV miniseries "World War III." Though he was flown to Portand's Emanuel Hospital from the Mount Hood resort of Timberline Lodge, where the accident took place, for emergency surgery, he did not survive.

"My mother had been ill for a good part of my life," Sagal told ABC News. "It wasn't quite as big a shock as my father, who I had literally spoken to the day before." In a separate interview with NPR, Sagal explained how losing both parents so young helps her appreciate the current moment: "Because I am well aware that this is not a journey that is without an ending. You know, I know that it's finite. And I knew it young. I knew it when I was very young. So I think there's a different experience when you have that, when you lose your parents young, I think that you just have a different view of the world and a different perception."

"Married... with Children" may have catapulted Katey Sagal into the spotlight, but her association with the sitcom hasn't been all positive. Over the years, during its 11-season run and afterward, the actress has been questioned by the public as to how she could be part of a show that exploits women. In addition to the misogynistic nature of Al Bundy, who is vocal about his appreciation for any attractive woman who's not his wife, Peggy Bundy, for the most part, has no desire to work, preferring to stay at home and spend her husband's money. Plus, there are a number of scenes that modern audiences may be surprised "Married... with Children" got away with, such as when Al goes bra shopping.

Sagal told Yahoo! Entertainment's BUILD Series (via Us Weekly) that, at first, she was taken aback by the criticism since she assumed that most people would understand that "Married... with Children" is satire. However, many took it seriously, and they accused Sagal of holding the same beliefs as the characters on-screen. She stressed, "If you're asking me, do I think women should be portrayed in a misogynistic way, in an exploited way, of course I don't think that. But playing Peggy Bundy had nothing to do with what I thought. That was my job."

Katey Sagal may have loved her time on "Married... with Children," but she never envisioned herself as a comedic actor for the long haul. As someone who always felt drawn to more dramatic roles, she was excited to try something new after the show wrapped up in 1997. However, after a decade of bringing Peggy Bundy to life, Sagal was typecast for some time, much to her frustration.

"I had had a lot of trouble getting out of that comedy box," she said on the "Inside of You" podcast. "I would have to go in rooms and show people that I didn't look that way. When I did 'Lost,' I had to go in, like, three times for a little recurring arc."

It wasn't until 2008, when her husband Kurt Sutter wrote the role of Gemma Teller-Morrow for her, that she was finally able to make the masses take her seriously in a dramatic role. Sutter knew what his wife was capable of, and wrote the powerful matriarch accordingly. Though Gemma was initially supposed to be in the shadows, similar to Nancy Marchand's Livia Soprano on "The Sopranos," she was eventually transformed into a major character. "When Kurt wrote me that role, it was like, wow, finally ... because I don't even think I'm funny," Sagal said. "I'm funny if you give me something funny to say, but I think I'm way more dramatic than funny."

"Sons of Anarchy" marked Katey Sagal and Kurt Sutter's first time working in a professional environment together. Though the two had been married for four years at that point, after meeting in a 12-step room, this was fresh territory, and they needed to learn how to navigate it effectively for the sake of their relationship.

Things were admittedly rocky in the beginning, and Sutter feared that it would negatively impact their marriage. "I think there was something that was not clear to her or she didn't understand or felt like there wasn't, you know, things weren't being addressed," Sutter said on the "Pie" podcast (via People). "I remember clearly in that moment going, 'Oh, this is going to blow us up, right?.'"

Before the situation could spiral out of control, the pair attended therapy, where they learned the importance of setting boundaries and maintaining a balance between the personal and professional aspects of their relationship. "That was still my struggle, but I'm trying to learn how to not have a thought and let it come out of my mouth immediately, especially when I'm talking to the boss," Sagal said on the podcast. "He's the boss, which is kind of hot too."

Gemma Teller-Morrow is one of those characters that audiences love to hate. Diabolical and murderous, but fiercely protective of those she loves most, Gemma is truly a force to be reckoned with on Kurt Sutter's creation. Though Sutter didn't have plans for any of his characters set in stone when "Sons of Anarchy" debuted, by the time the final season rolls around, she's one of the few original characters to still be alive. However, Sagal's character falls short of making it to the epic finale. After learning that his mother was behind the death of his love, Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff), Jax Teller fatally shoots Gemma, who welcomes her fate.

For Sagal, it was hard to say goodbye to not only this dynamic character, but the bonds formed with her fellow cast members — especially Charlie Hunnam — over the course of 92 episodes. Sagal spoke with Vulture about feeling emotional over Gemma's plot twist death, saying, "It almost makes me cry talking about it. It was very sweet — those last moments before Charlie and I walked out to the garden, we were just crying and hugging each other..."

On Gemma, she said, "It was so fun to play a badass. Gemma put people in [their] place. She called it like it is. It's hard to find women who are written that way. So I will definitely miss that. She was one of a kind." Though Sagal was initially worried about her "Sons of Anarchy" character, fearing that audiences would dislike her, Gemma quickly became a fan favorite.

In October 1991, in the midst of filming "Married...with Children," Katey Sagal's daughter Ruby was stillborn at about eight months. Though the actress' pregnancy was written into the show, the writers changed direction following her tragic loss. Rather than follow through on Peggy Bundy welcoming a third child, the pregnancy becomes part of a dream had by Al Bundy, as seen in Season 6, Episode 11 ("Al Bundy, Shoe Dick").

Sagal appeared on The View in 2017, candidly opening up about the heartbreak and confusion that she experienced. "I could not wrap my brain around — this is what they say about stillbirth — that 60% of it is God's will and there's no medical reason, and that's what I was told," she said. "I just couldn't let go of the control of somehow, I had done something wrong. I was either sick and didn't know it, I had overworked, I had done something to lose this child, which I think as a mother, that's what we feel."

Through 1992, Sagal struggled to leave the house and turned to psychic healers to aid with her emotional pain. Eventually, it was a Buddhist friend who helped her gain a new perspective by explaining, "Sometimes we have these little souls that come in and out [of our lives], and their mission is completed." Sagal said she now realizes that Ruby helped her grow closer to the baby's father, drummer and actor Jack White, whom Sagal married in 1993 before giving birth to Sarah Grace White and Jackson White in 1994 and 1996, respectively.

While walking across a street in Los Angeles on the morning of October 14, 2021, Katey Sagal was hit by a car. According to reports, a driver in a Tesla didn't see the actress and, when making a left turn, struck her.

Luckily for Sagal, the situation wasn't too serious. The driver, who reportedly wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol, got out of the vehicle to assist Sagal, who was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Her representative released a statement on Friday, assuring fans that Sagal, then-67, was OK. The statement said (via Aol), "She will be fine and is going home today."

Reports stated that, as of that Friday, the driver had not been cited or arrested. Additionally, the incident didn't impact Sagal's work. At the time, she was focused on portraying Louise on "The Conners," a role that reflects her real-life musical journey.

During their seven-year marriage, which lasted from 1993 to 2000, Katey Sagal and Jack White started and raised a family together. Though the relationship ultimately didn't work out, Sagal never stopped being grateful for their time together, and the two children who came from it.

Therefore, in July 2024, when White, who served as a hockey technical advisor on a number of films, including 1992's "The Mighty Ducks," passed away at the age of 70 due to an undisclosed cause, Sagal joined her son in celebrating his life. In response to a tribute post by Jackson White on Instagram, which praised his dad for being "an open book, a fighter," Sagal commented, "Beautiful Jackson and Beautiful Sarah I will always be grateful to your dad for you! Thank you Jack. Finally free."

Jackson elaborated about his dad, "This guy taught me everything. We had ups and downs, as a man has with their father. But in the end it was just love." Sarah Grace White shared her own tribute to Jack on Instagram, highlighting his "huge, wild soul," and the deep passion that he had for music, films, and family: "He picked me and my brother up for every dad's weekend honking his car horn, laughing, and waved goodbye to us until we got to the front door. He still did that every time I saw him." Sagal commented on Sarah's post, "So happy he was surrounded by big love. That's all he ever wanted."

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

If you or anyone you know needs help 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).