Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate is a retired American actress who gained widespread recognition in the late 1980s for her role as Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). Born on November 25, 1971, in Hollywood, California, she was raised by her mother, singer and actress Nancy Priddy, following her parents' early separation. Trained as a dancer from a young age, Applegate made her television debut as an infant on Days of Our Lives in 1972 and appeared in various early film and television projects throughout the 1980s before securing her breakthrough role.

Following her ten-season run on Married... with Children, Applegate continued to build a prominent television career. She starred in the sitcom Jesse (1998–2000), earning her first Golden Globe Award nomination. For her guest performance as Amy Green on Friends (2002–2003), she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She later produced and starred in several television series, including Samantha Who? (2007–2009), Up All Night (2011–2012), and the dark tragicomedy series Dead to Me (2019–2022), receiving multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her performances.

Applegate achieved extensive commercial success in feature films, particularly within comedy genres. Her first starring feature role came in the 1991 black comedy Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. She subsequently appeared in features such as The Big Hit (1998), The Sweetest Thing (2002), Hall Pass (2011), Vacation (2015), Bad Moms (2016), and Crash Pad (2017). Notably, she portrayed news anchor Veronica Corningstone in the comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and its 2013 sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. She also provided voice work for animated films, including the Alvin and the Chipmunks series and The Book of Life (2014).

In addition to screen work, Applegate established a presence on stage. She performed in theatrical productions such as The Axeman's Jazz and The Third Day before making her Broadway debut in a 2004 revival of the musical Sweet Charity. Portraying title character Charity Hope Valentine, she earned a Theatre World Award and a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2005.

Applegate was married to actor Johnathon Schaech from 2001 until their divorce was finalized in 2007, and she married musician Martyn LeNoble in 2013, with whom she has a daughter. In 2008, she underwent a double mastectomy following an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis. In August 2021, she announced she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Following her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Applegate stepped back from on-screen acting to focus on voice projects and podcasting, co-hosting the podcast MeSsy with Jamie-Lynn Sigler beginning in 2024. In November 2022, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In March 2026, she published her memoir, You with the Sad Eyes, which became a New York Times Best Seller.