Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress and dancer. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married...with Children. Applegate established a successful film and television career in her adult years, winning a Primetime Emmy Award from five nominations, as well as nominations for four Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award.
Applegate starred in the title role of the NBC sitcom Jesse, which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest role in the NBC sitcom Friends. For her role in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity, she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She went on to star in the ABC sitcom Samantha Who?, for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, the NBC sitcom Up All Night, and in the Netflix dark tragicomedy series Dead to Me, which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Applegate also had major roles in several films, including Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Big Hit, The Sweetest Thing, Grand Theft Parsons, ', Hall Pass, ', Vacation, Bad Moms, and Crash Pad.
Life and career
1971–1986: Early life and projects
Applegate was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles California. Her father, Robert William "Bob" Applegate, was a record producer and record company executive, and her mother, Nancy Priddy, is a singer and actress. Her parents separated shortly after her birth. She has two half-siblings from her father's second marriage. After her parents' divorce, her mother had a relationship with musician Stephen Stills., September 1989
Applegate made her television debut in 1972, alongside her mother in the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She later starred in a commercial for Playtex baby bottles at 3 and 5 months, respectively, and made her film debut in the 1981 horror film Jaws of Satan, followed by 1981's Beatlemania. She debuted in a television film as young Grace Kelly in the biopic Grace Kelly, and appeared in her first television series in Showtime's political comedy Washingtoon, in which she played a congressman's daughter. She was also seen as a guest in the series Father Murphy, Charles in Charge, and Silver Spoons. In 1986, Applegate won the role of Robin Kennedy, a policeman's daughter, in the police drama series Heart of the City. For her performance, Applegate received a Young Artist Award. She was also seen in guest-starring roles on several other television series, such as All is Forgiven, Still the Beaver, Amazing Stories, and Family Ties.
1987–2001: Breakthrough and ''Married...with Children''
From 1987 to 1997, Applegate played the role of the ditzy, sexually promiscuous daughter Kelly Bundy on the Fox's first sitcom, Married...with Children. While working on the series, Applegate was seen in Dance Till Dawn and Streets, in which a teenage drug addict is stalked by a psychotic police officer. She guest-starred in 21 Jump Street and Top of the Heap, and also hosted Saturday Night Live and MADtv.The character of Sue Ellen Crandell in the black comedy feature Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead 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. Applegate followed with roles in films such as Vibrations, Across the Moon, Wild Bill, Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, and Gregg Araki's Nowhere. After the sitcom Married...with Children was canceled in May 1997, Applegate starred as Claudine Van Doozen in the independent feature Claudine's Return, was cast in the action-comedy The Big Hit, and played the fiancée of a mob boss in the Mafia satire Jane Austen's Mafia.
Applegate was one of the founding members of The Pussycat Dolls, which debuted at Johnny Depp's Viper Room on the Sunset Strip in 1995. Applegate emceed for the group when they moved to The Roxy Theatre in 2002. In 1996, Applegate auditioned for the role of Rose in James Cameron's blockbuster hit Titanic, but lost to Kate Winslet. In 1998, Applegate was given the title role in the NBC sitcom Jesse. The series debuted in 1998 and received rave reviews. Applegate won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer in a New TV series and the TV Guide Award for Star of a New Series, as well as a nomination at the Golden Globe Awards for Lead Actress in a Comedy. The series was canceled in 2000.
2002–2009: ''Anchorman'', stage and television
The new millennium had Applegate playing the dual role of a 12th-century noblewoman, Princess Rosalind, and her 21st-century descendant, Julia Malfete, in the time-travel comedy Just Visiting. She was Princess Gwendolyn and Kate in the movie Prince Charming. After playing Cameron Diaz's level-headed best friend, Courtney Rockcliffe, in The Sweetest Thing, Applegate continued to play roles in such films as Heroes, and the romantic airplane comedy View from the Top, as well as in the true-crime film Wonderland, based on the Wonderland murders, and the Gram Parsons biopic Grand Theft Parsons. In 2004 Applegate starred alongside Ben Affleck in the holiday comedy Surviving Christmas, and alongside Matt Dillon in Employee of the Month. Behind the screen, she was the executive producer of Comforters, Miserable.in January 2009
Applegate guest-starred on two episodes of Friends, in the ninth and tenth seasons, titled "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" and "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits" as Amy Green, Rachel Green's sister. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series her performance in "The One with Rachel's Other Sister." On the silver screen, she portrayed TV anchorwoman Veronica Corningstone in the 2004 films ' and the bonus film '.
In addition to her screen work, Applegate has performed on stage in such productions as The Axeman's Jazz, Nobody Leaves Empty Handed, and The Runthrough, as well as John Cassavetes' The Third Day. In 2004 she debuted on the Broadway stage playing the title role of Charity Hope Valentine in a revival of the 1966 musical Sweet Charity. In late April 2005, she also 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. Applegate eventually took home the 2005 Theatre World Award and was nominated for a 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a 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 rescind their decision and on April 18, 2005, she made her Broadway debut. Because of her injury, Applegate had to wear special shoes to prevent another incident, and in a 2013 interview 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." She does dance whenever the opportunity presents, but cannot do any more strenuous roles.
In 2006, Applegate appeared in Jessica Simpson's music video "A Public Affair" alongside Eva Longoria, Ryan Seacrest, and Christina Milian. She starred in the ABC comedy Samantha Who? from October 15, 2007, until it was canceled on May 18, 2009. The series costarred Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito, and Melissa McCarthy. The series was about a 30-year-old, who after a hit-and-run accident, develops amnesia and has to rediscover her life, her relationships, and herself. Shortly after the cancellation was announced, Applegate began a campaign to get the show back into production, which was failed. Applegate topped the list of People's Most Beautiful People in 2009. Applegate appeared with her TV brother David Faustino in an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving.
2010–present: ''Dead to Me'' and further acclaim
Applegate voiced Catherine the Cat in the three-dimensional talking animal sequel '. Applegate said her mother was the one who wanted her to be involved in the film. Prior to Cats & Dogs 2, she voiced Brittany in ', ', and '.Applegate starred in the NBC sitcom Up All Night, with Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett. The show debuted on September 14, 2011. 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.
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 broadcast centered on Applegate trying to find out for her father, Robert Applegate, about his mother, Lavina Applegate Walton, who was mysteriously absent for most of her son's life and who died early in his life. Applegate also hoped to find out if the hearsay concerning her grandmother's death were true. The actress discovered that Walton died in 1955 from tuberculosis and alcohol-related cirrhosis.
In 2015, Applegate starred with Ed Helms in the National Lampoon sequel Vacation, the fifth full-length movie episode of the road-trip comedies. Helms and Applegate 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, opposite Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn. The film earned mixed reviews from critics and was a box office success. She reprised her role for a cameo appearance in the sequel A Bad Moms Christmas, which was released in November 2017.
In July 2018, Applegate was cast to co-star with Linda Cardellini in the Netflix dark comedy series Dead to Me. She also executive produced the series, alongside Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Jessica Elbaum. The series received critical acclaim upon its release. Applegate received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in seasons one and two of the series. She also earned Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and TCA Award nominations.