Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971)[1] is an American actress. After appearing in several roles since early childhood, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the comedy sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film and television career in her adult years, winning a Primetime Emmy Award as well as gaining nominations for four Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award.
Applegate was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Her father, Robert William "Bobby" Applegate, was a staff producer at Dot Records;[2] her mother, Nancy Priddy, is a singer and actress. She was named after the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World, for which her mother also named a song on her album You've Come This Way Before.[3] Her parents separated shortly after her birth. She has two half-siblings, Alisa and Kyle, from her father's second marriage. After her divorce, Applegate's mother had a relationship with musician Stephen Stills. As a child, Applegate trained as a dancer in various styles, including jazz and ballet.[4]
Career
1972–1986: Early projects
Newspaper clipping, November 2, 1986
Applegate made her television debut in 1972 alongside her mother in the soap opera Days of Our Lives and starred in a commercial for Playtex baby bottles at 3 months old.[5] She made her film debut in the 1981 horror film Jaws of Satan (or King Cobra) and appeared in the 1981 movie Beatlemania. She debuted as a young Grace Kelly in the television biopic Grace Kelly (1983) and appeared in her first television series in Showtime's political comedy Washingtoon (1985), in which she played a congressman's daughter.
From 1987 to 1997, Applegate played the ditzy, sexually promiscuous daughter, Kelly Bundy, on Fox's first sitcom, Married... with Children. While working on the series, Applegate was seen in Dance 'til Dawn (1988) and Streets (1990), in which a teenage drug addict is stalked by a psychotic police officer. She guest-starred in 21 Jump Street (1988) and Top of the Heap (1991) and hosted Saturday Night Live (1993) and MADtv (1996). The character of Sue Ellen Crandell in the black comedy feature Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) was Applegate's first starring role in a mainstream film, playing a rebellious teenager who is forced to take care of siblings after their summer babysitter dies. She had roles in films such as Vibrations (1995), Across the Moon (1995), Wild Bill (1995), Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! (1996), and Gregg Araki's Nowhere (1997). Contrary to reports, she did not audition for Titanic, as she told Vanity Fair in their May 2023 edition: “No. Who said that?…That would not have come across my desk, if I had a desk.” [Shaw, Vanity Fair, May 4, 2023.] When Married... with Children was cancelled in 1997, producers pitched a spinoff centered on Kelly Bundy, but Applegate declined.[6]
In 1998, Applegate starred as Claudine Van Doozen in the independent feature Claudine's Return (or Kiss of Fire), appeared in the action-comedy The Big Hit and played the fiancée of a mob boss in the Mafia satire Jane Austen's Mafia.
In 1998, Applegate began portraying the title role in the NBC sitcom Jesse. She won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series, the TV Guide Award for Favorite Star of a New Series, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy.[citation needed] The series was cancelled in 2000.[10]
Applegate played the dual role of a 12th-century noblewoman, Princess Rosalind, and her 21st-century descendant, Julia Malfete, in the time-travel comedy Just Visiting (2001). She was Princess Gwendolyn and Kate in the movie Prince Charming (2001). After playing Cameron Diaz's level-headed best friend, Courtney Rockcliffe, in The Sweetest Thing (2002), she appeared in Heroes (2002), the romantic airplane comedy View from the Top (2003), the true-crime film Wonderland (2003) based on the Wonderland murders, and the Gram Parsons biopic Grand Theft Parsons (2003). In 2004, she starred with Ben Affleck in the holiday comedy Surviving Christmas and with Matt Dillon in Employee of the Month. She was the executive producer of Comforters, Miserable (2001).
Applegate has performed on stage in The Axeman's Jazz, Nobody Leaves Empty Handed, The Runthrough, and John Cassavetes' The Third Day (co-starring Gena Rowlands). In 2004, she debuted on Broadway as Charity Hope Valentine in a revival of the 1966 musical Sweet Charity. In late April 2005, she took part in the annual Broadway Cares' Easter Bonnet Competition, being sawed in half by a magician in their Clearly Impossible sawing illusion. Sweet Charity ended its Broadway run on December 31, 2005.[12] Applegate won the 2005 Theatre World Award and was nominated for a 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the musical.
While appearing in Sweet Charity, Applegate broke her foot and it was announced that the musical would close during previews. She persuaded the producers to change their minds.[12] Because of her injury, she had to wear special shoes to prevent another accident. In a 2013 interview, she said that because of what happened, she "actually can't dance anymore. And that is sad for me because I always wanted to go back. But I probably won't be able to."[13] She does dance whenever the opportunity presents, but cannot perform in strenuous roles.[13]
In 2011, Applegate starred in the Farrelly brothers comedy Hall Pass. Applegate also starred in the NBC sitcomUp All Night with Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett, which debuted on September 14, 2011.[18] On February 8, 2013, she left the series after its second-season hiatus, which was leading into a planned format change. The series was ultimately cancelled.[19]
On July 31, 2013, Applegate was featured on the second episode of the fourth season of the revived American version of the TLC series Who Do You Think You Are?. The episode centered on Applegate trying to find information about her paternal grandmother, Lavina Applegate Walton, who was absent for most of Applegate's father's life and died when he was young. Applegate learned that Walton died in 1955 from tuberculosis and alcohol-related cirrhosis.[20]
In 2013, Applegate reprised her role as Veronica Corningstone in the comedy sequel film Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success. In 2014, she had a starring voice role as Mary Beth in the animated musical fantasy film The Book of Life. In 2015, she starred with Ed Helms in the National Lampoon sequel Vacation, the fifth full-length movie episode of the road-trip comedies. They played Rusty Griswold and his wife, Debbie, who with their two sons take a trip to Walley World, just as Rusty did with his parents in the 1983 original film, National Lampoon's Vacation. The film was poorly reviewed, but was a box office success. In 2016, she starred as Gwendolyn James in the comedy film Bad Moms with Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn. The film earned mixed reviews from critics and was a box office success.[21] She reprised her role for a cameo appearance in the November 2017 sequel A Bad Moms Christmas. Also in 2017, she starred in the comedy film Crash Pad.
Applegate married actor Johnathon Schaech in Palm Springs, California on October 20, 2001.[28] Schaech filed for divorce in December 2005, citing irreconcilable differences,[28] and the divorce was finalized in August 2007.[29] She began dating Dutch musician Martyn LeNoble in 2009. The couple became engaged on Valentine's Day 2010[30] and married on February 23, 2013, at their Los Angeles home.[31] It was the second marriage for both.[32] They have one daughter, born in January 2011.[33]
Health
People reported in 2008 that Applegate had been diagnosed with breast cancer. A representative stated, "Christina Applegate was diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer. Detected early through doctor-ordered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the cancer was not life-threatening. Christina is following the recommended treatment of her doctors and will have a full recovery."[34] It was announced that she was cancer-free after a double mastectomy, although cancer had been found in only one breast.[35] She has an inherited genetic trait, a BRCA1[36]mutation, which can trigger breast and ovarian cancer. Her mother is also a breast cancer survivor. Applegate said when she first was diagnosed, "I was just shaking and then also immediately, I had to go into 'take care of business mode',"[36] which included a change to a more healthy diet.[citation needed]
Applegate announced in August 2021 that she had received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis a few months before.[37] The disease heavily affected her ability to perform in the final season of Dead to Me, for whose success she credits her co-star Linda Cardellini and showrunner Liz Feldman's support and openness in making reasonable adjustments to her filming schedule.[38]
Applegate said in 2023 that because of her illness she probably would no longer act on camera, but that she would be open to voiceover work, such as a planned animated revival of Married... with Children, in addition to working behind the scenes.[39][40]
In 2009, Applegate announced plans to return as the ambassador for Lee National Denim Day.[44] Also in 2009, she founded Right Action for Women, a charitable foundation dedicated to breast-cancer screening for women and focused on the type of MRI scan that saved her life.[45] In February 2015, she was awarded the Saint Vintage Love Cures Award at the 2nd annual unite4:humanity event hosted by Variety magazine for her dedication to and work with Right Action for Women.[46]
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