Ed O’Neill Biography
Ed O’Neill, (Edward Leonard O’Neill) is an American actor and comedian. He has played roles such as Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom Married… with Children, for which he was then nominated for two Golden Globes.
He also played patriarch Jay Pritchett on the award-winning ABC sitcom Modern Family, a role for which he has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and also won four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Ed O’Neill Age
Edward Leonard O’Neill was born on April 12, 1946 in Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. He is 72 years old as of 2018.
Ed O’Neill Family
Ed was born into an Irish-American Catholic family to Ruth Ann (née Quinlan) who was a homemaker and also a social worker, and his father, Edward Phillip O’Neill, was then a steel mill worker and truck driver.
Ed O’Neill Wife
Ed got married to Catherine Rusoff in 1986. O’Neill lives in Los Angeles with his family.
Ed O’Neill Daughter
Ed has two daughters with his wife; Claire O’Neill and Sophia O’Neill.
Ed O’Neill Education
O’Neill went to Ursuline High School before he transferred to Worthington High School and winning a state championship. He earned the name Ed O’Winner and won a football scholarship to Ohio University, where he then majored in history, also joining the Mu chapter of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Ed left Ohio after his sophomore year. Ed spent more time playing sports and partying than studying and also feuded with his coach.
Ed transferred to Youngstown State University, where he was then a defensive lineman. While an undergraduate, he pledged Delta Sigma Phi and was initiated into the Delta Sigma chapter there. Rumors abound that he was then an avid partier. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 but was then cut in training camp. Later, on Married… with Children, he played a former high-school football star who had failed to make it big and also constantly reminisced about his “glory days” at Polk High. As part of the theme, former Pittsburgh Steelers great and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw also then made two guest appearances on the show. Ed was also a substitute social studies teacher at Ursuline High School before he became an actor.
Ed O’Neill Career
Ed re-enrolled at Youngstown State after being cut by the Steelers and he was one of the first students at the school’s then-new theater program. He played a boxer opposite Danny Aiello in the Broadway play Knockout in 1979. It was from there that Ed was seen by director William Friedkin and he landed his first movie role, as a police detective in Cruising which starred Al Pacino.
He appeared alongside Jeff Kinsland in a Red Lobster commercial in 1985 and also made a brief guest appearance in The Equalizer. Ed was cast as NYPD detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle for the planned television series Popeye Doyle in 1986. The character had then originally appeared in the motion picture The French Connection (played by Gene Hackman). The two-hour made-for-television movie/pilot was then filmed and then shown on network television. He received good reviews for his performance, and also the pilot received good ratings. The series was however not picked up for production.
While he was playing the role of Lennie in a stage production of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice in and Men at the Hartford Theater in Hartford, Connecticut in 1986, Ed was seen by a casting agent from the Fox television network and was then asked to audition for the role of Al Bundy in Married… with Children. It was a proposed sitcom about a dysfunctional family living in Chicago. It was then the series that led off the first night of Fox’s primetime lineup on April 5, 1987, and concluded after 11 seasons on June 9, 1997.
During and following the success of the series, Ed starred in several films, including Dutch and Little Giants. O’Neill also had small parts in The Bone Collector, Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2, and also appeared as Relish the Troll King in The 10th Kingdom. He made a brief appearance on the comedy variety show In Living Color, playing the “Dirty Dozens” champion who defeats the challenger which is played by Jamie Foxx. Ed also made a cameo on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules as the ex-boyfriend of Cate S. Hennessy (played by Katey Sagal, who portrayed Ed’s wife Peg Bundy on Married… with Children). O’Neill appeared in the movie The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay and also in Cruising with Al Pacino. In mid-1990s, Ed had a string of appearances in commercials for 1-800-COLLECT.
Law & Order franchise creator Dick Wolf cast Ed as Sgt. Joe Friday in his 2003 remake of Jack Webb’s classic TV crime series Dragnet. The series was then canceled by ABC in its second season. Ed went on to appear as Governor Eric Baker which is a recurring character on NBC’s The West Wing. He then also played Bill on HBO’s television series John from Cincinnati.
Ed appeared in an advertisement for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama as “Al the Shoesalesman” in 2008.
He reunited with David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married… with Children) for two episodes of Faustino’s show Star-ving in January 2009. In 2009, he also appeared with the entire cast of Married… with Children again when they were then honored at the 7th Annual TV Land Award show.
Ed O’Neill Modern Family
Ed has played the role of Jay Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family since 2009, which is a role that has earned him three Primetime Emmy Award nominations—in 2011, 2012, and 2013. He has done voice-overs in TV advertisements for the over-the-counter form of Zyrtec since 2012, along with Walmart’s store-branded mobile phone service, Straight Talk.
Ed starred as Hank the Octopus in the highly successful Pixar animated film Finding Dory in 2016. According to Ed, he didn’t realize at first that he had a starring role in the film. As Ed’s voice recording sessions continued and most of his interactions turned out to be with Dory, Ed began to suspect that Hank was a major character in the film.
Ed O’Neill Net Worth
Ed has an estimated net worth of $65 million.
Ed O’Neill Salary
Ed receives an estimated amount of $500,000 per episode on Modern Family together with other principal stars.
Ed O’Neill Jiu Jitsu
After he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by his friend writer/director John Milius, Ed has trained in the martial art for 22 years under the mentoring of Rorion Gracie. O’Neill received his black belt in December 2007. Ed states that he considers getting his black belt “the greatest achievement of my life, apart from my children,” in the 2012 TV documentary I Am Bruce Lee.
Ed O’Neill Height
The Married with Children star stands at a height of 1.85 m.
Ed O’Neill Movies
Year | Title | Role |
2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Mr. Litwak |
2017 | Sun Dogs | Bob Garrity |
2016 | Finding Dory | Hank |
2015 | Entourage | Himself |
2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Mr. Litwak |
2010 | Lost Masterpieces of Pornography | Chief Justice Renato Corona |
2008 | Redbelt | Hollywood Producer |
2005 | Steel Valley | Congressman Cardone |
2004 | Spartan | Burch |
2001 | Nobody’s Baby | Norman Pinkney |
2000 | Lucky Numbers | Dick Simmons |
1999 | The Bone Collector | Detective Paulie Sellitto |
1997 | Prefontaine | Bill Dellinger |
The Spanish Prisoner | FBI Team Leader | |
1994 | Blue Chips | Ed |
Little Giants | Kevin O’Shea | |
1993 | Wayne’s World 2 | Glen |
1992 | Wayne’s World | Glen |
1991 | Dutch | Dutch Dooley |
1990 | The Adventures of Ford Fairlane | Lieutenant Amos |
Sibling Rivalry | Wilbur Meany | |
1989 | Disorganized Crime | George Denver |
K-9 | Sergeant Brannigan | |
1980 | Cruising | Detective Schreiber |
The Dogs of War | Terry |
Ed O’Neill Shows |Ed O’Neill Series
Year | Title | Role |
2019 | Weird City | TBA |
2015 | Family Guy | Bud Swanson (voice) |
2013 | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Himself |
2012 | The Penguins of Madagascar | Orson (voice) |
2011 | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Grandpa (voice) |
Handy Manny | Mayor Thompson (voice) | |
2009 | WordGirl | Panicking Man (voice) |
2009–present | Modern Family | Jay Pritchett |
2007 | John from Cincinnati | Bill Jacks |
2006 | Inseparable | Alan |
Twenty Good Years | Brock Manley | |
The Unit | William Partch | |
2005 | 8 Simple Rules | Matt Walsh |
In the Game | Buzz | |
2004 | In the Game | Buzz |
2004–2005 | The West Wing | Governor Eric Baker |
2003–2004 | L.A. Dragnet | Lieutenant Joe Friday |
2001 | Big Apple | Detective Michael Mooney |
2000 | The 10th Kingdom | Relish the Troll King |
1995 | W.E.I.R.D. World | Dr. Monochian |
W.E.I.R.D. World | Dr. Monochian | |
1994 | In Living Color | Himself |
1991 | Top of the Heap | Al Bundy |
The Whereabouts of Jenny | Jimmy O’Meara | |
1990 | Saturday Night Live | Guest host |
A Very Retail Christmas | Max Crandall | |
The Earth Day Special | Al Bundy | |
1988 | Police Story: Gladiator School | Sergeant Stanley Bivens |
Midnight Caller | Hank | |
1987 | Right to Die | |
1987–1997 | Married… with Children | Al Bundy |
1986 | A Winner Never Quits | Whitey Wyshner |
Popeye Doyle | James “Popeye” Doyle | |
1985 | Moonlighting | Taxi driver |
Hunter | Dan Colson | |
Braker | Danny Buckner | |
The Equalizer | Doctor | |
Spenser: For Hire | Buddy Almeida | |
1984 | Miami Vice | Arthur Lawson / Artie Rollins |
1983 | When Your Lover Leaves | Mack Sher |
1982 | Farrell for the People | Detective Jay Brennan |
1980 | The Day the Women Got Even | Ed |
Ed O’Neill Instagram
Ed O’Neill Ellen
Britney Spears Ed O’Neill | Ed O’Neill Britney Spears | Ed O’Neill And Britney
Ed O’Neill Zyrtec Commercial
Ed O’Neill Interview
An Interview With a Modern Family Man and Union Guy
Published: November 18, 2014
Source: capitalandmain.com
Modern Family is unique in that it shows a very contemporary version of the American family. How is the show part of a larger cultural shift on race and sexual identity?
Well, you know, I didn’t start the show to change people’s hearts and minds about how they view Americans’ relationships with one another. But I have noticed – especially with the gay couple on the show – the [actors] do get a lot of positive feedback [from viewers] about how it’s changed their relationships with their fathers, mothers, lovers, spouses, that sort of thing. It must touch a nerve with people. I remember hearing Romney’s wife saying that they watch the show every week with their kids, and Michelle Obama also watches the show with her daughters. It’s probably the only thing that the Democrats and Republicans agree on.
Talk about your character’s relationship with his gay son.
Every time you think you have your head wrapped around this thing, another thing comes up, where you just can’t deal with it. The formula for comedy is that you take a step forward, a step back. Two forward, two back. Otherwise there’s no tension.
Do you think Modern Family has an ability other shows don’t, in that it approaches hot-button issues from a comedic perspective?
I think this is one of the virtues of comedy. People are more apt to visit these issues if they’re laughing. If it makes them laugh. Because comedy can kind of get around things and make people laugh at things the very same way that All in the Family did. It has people thinking about things, and it’s kind of a more gentle way of persuading, pointing out things that otherwise might start a fight right away.
You’ve played dads on two shows. How do you feel the two roles are different?
Married with Children was a little bit more outrageous – a little bit more crude comedy, and [Modern Family] is a little bit more classy — I hate to use that word, but a little more realistic. Married With Children sometimes really got into a cartoon type of thing. And, of course, on Married With Children, [Al] was never getting out of that marriage, so that was kind of a sentence (laughing). And he was younger. I should say, I was younger.
LAANE will be honoring Modern Family at its City of Justice Awards Dinner, with this year’s theme being Cities of the Future. How is L.A. the city of the future? How does Modern Family depict that?
I don’t look too far down the line. I’ve never even thought of that question. I thought L.A. was here before I got here, it’s here now, it’ll probably be here when I’m not.
There are so many different aspects to L.A. I mean, it’s so multicultural — there’s Chinatown, there’s the Jewish area, there’s Koreatown, there’s Beverly Hills, there’s Bel Air, Venice Beach. And it’s wonderful that way. And I really appreciate that, so there’s a lot to experience here. All the names are Hispanic, are Mexican, Spanish, which is interesting if you think about it. Because they were here before us and I think it’s very important to try to understand that culture as well, because it was the foundation.
Rumor has it that you were once a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Can you tell me about that?
I think it was Local 1462. I’m not sure. I had been cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969, I think it was — Chuck Noll’s first year. And when I came back to Youngstown I needed a job. My father’s first cousin was the [local] president of the Teamsters – Jack O’Neill. So they got me a job driving heavy equipment on a road crew. I did that for several months. It was a great job. We were a very strong union family. Because my father and his father – they all worked in the steel mills. I worked in the steel mills, in between college and stuff like that, as did my brothers. But it was much more confrontational. If they had a problem, then there was a strike, there were pickets. It was a brutal, tough steel town. You had to assert yourself, because otherwise they weren’t gonna give anything to you. That’s what we believed. That’s just the way I always thought things get done.
So, I’ve always been, in my heart of hearts, a teamster, a union guy.
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