Ed O'Neill

Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor, comedian, and former football player. Over his career, he has earned four Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

O'Neill gained stardom in the late 1980s for playing a working class father, Al Bundy, on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997) for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy twice. He had a career resurgence in the 2010s for portraying the family patriarch Jay Pritchett on the award-winning ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009–2020), for which he was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series and won four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

On film, O'Neill made his debut in William Friedkin's crime thriller Cruising (1980). He has since appeared in Dutch (1991), Wayne's World (1992), Little Giants (1994), Prefontaine (1997), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), The Bone Collector (1999), Sun Dogs (2017) and The Last Shift (2020). He has done voice-work for the animated films Wreck-It Ralph (2012) Finding Dory (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).

Early life and education Ed O'Neill was born into an Irish-American Catholic family in Youngstown, Ohio, on April 12, 1946. Both sides of his family are the descendants of Irish immigrants who came to the United States in the 1850s.

His mother, Ruth Quinlan O'Neill, was a homemaker and social worker, and his father, Edward Phillip O'Neill (1921–2008), was a steel mill worker and truck driver.

He was awarded a football scholarship to Ohio University, where he majored in history, and was a member of the Mu chapter of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He left the university after his sophomore year. He admits he spent more time playing sports and partying than studying. O'Neill said that his team was penalized 15 yards when he hit Staubach out of bounds.

Professional football career O'Neill was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 under rookie head coach Chuck Noll but was cut in training camp, having to compete with fellow rookie defensive linemen Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood for a roster spot. Both became key members of the Steel Curtain defense during the Steelers success in the 1970s. Later, on Married... with Children, O'Neill played a former high school football star who had failed to make it big and frequently reminisced about his "glory days" at Polk High ("I once scored four touchdowns in a single game"). O'Neill worked as a substitute social studies teacher at his alma mater Ursuline High School before becoming an actor. Richard Eder of The New York Times described the performance as "chilling" adding, "As Paddy Klonski, the brutal young boxer, Edward O'Neill's towering physique, peaceful smile and empty eyes form a genuinely frightening presence". It was there that he was seen by director William Friedkin and landed his first movie role, as a police detective in Cruising, starring Al Pacino.

In 1985, O'Neill appeared in a Red Lobster commercial. He made a brief guest appearance in The Equalizer. In 1986, he was cast as NYPD detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle for the planned television series Popeye Doyle. The character had originally appeared in the motion picture The French Connection (played by Gene Hackman). The two-hour made-for-television movie/pilot was filmed and shown on network television. O'Neill received good reviews for his performance, and the pilot received positive ratings, but the series was not picked up for production.

1987–2008: Married with Children and other roles The cast of Married... with Children in 1987. From left to right: Katey Sagal, O'Neill, David Faustino and Christina Applegate

In 1984, while playing the role of Lennie in a stage production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men at Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut, he was seen by a casting agent from the Fox television network and was asked to audition for the role of Al Bundy in Married... with Children, a proposed sitcom about a dysfunctional family living in Chicago. He also had small parts in the comedy films Wayne's World (1992), and Wayne's World 2 (1993). O'Neill also appeared in the movie The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay. During the mid-1990s, he had a string of appearances in commercials for 1-800-COLLECT.

Law & Order franchise creator Dick Wolf cast O'Neill as Sergeant Joe Friday in his 2003 update of Jack Webb's long-running Dragnet media franchise. The series was canceled by ABC in its second season. O'Neill went on to appear as Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker, a recurring character on the NBC political drama series The West Wing from 2004 to 2005. O'Neill also played Bill on HBO's television series John from Cincinnati. In 2008, O'Neill appeared in an advertisement for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama as "Al the Shoesalesman". In January 2009, O'Neill reunited with David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married... with Children) for two episodes of Faustino's show Star-ving. O'Neill also appeared with the entire cast of Married... with Children again when they were honored at the 7th Annual TV Land Award show in 2009.

2009–2020: Modern Family

For eleven seasons O'Neill played the role of Jay Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family from 2009 to 2020. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "O'Neill may have the trickiest job here. A late-middle-ager remarried to a Latina bombshell... his Jay wants to enjoy his overdue-midlife-crisis prize but has to put up with her mope of a son... and do it without seeming like a mean old duffer. O'Neill and the writers pull it off by making Jay both deadpan sarcastic and a genuinely decent guy." Gina Bellafante of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. O'Neill exquisitely portrays the straight man to the fire engine of Sofia Vergara". Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "O'Neill's Al Bundy is one of TV's most unforgettable characters, but this role will let viewers see him in a new light". The role earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominations—in 2011, 2012, and 2013. O'Neill won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series four times from 2010 through 2013.

Since 2012, O'Neill has done voice-overs in TV advertisements for the over-the-counter form of Zyrtec, along with Walmart's store-branded mobile phone service Straight Talk. In 2016, O'Neill starred as Hank the Octopus in the Pixar animated film Finding Dory. According to O'Neill, he didn't realize at first that he had a starring role in the film. As his voice recording sessions continued and most of his interactions turned out to be with Dory, he began to suspect that Hank was a major character in the film.

O'Neill starred in FX on Hulu miniseries Clipped portraying Donald Sterling. Andrew Lawrence of The Guardian gave the show a perfect score declaring, "Forty years of playing cranks on screen has given Ed O'Neill a particular understanding for Sterling’s quirks, gripes and foibles that few others in his field can claim". Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "O'Neill leans hard into every aspect of his entitled grotesquerie, from the external — such a bad dye job — to the dazed certainty in his intonations. It's not a subtle performance, but Donald Sterling's general grossness wasn't a secret". Quinci LeGardye of The A.V. Club stated, "O'Neill gives a skilled performance as a truly reprehensible human being".

Personal life O'Neill is married to actress Catherine Rusoff, with whom he has two children.

In 1991, O'Neill was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu by his friend writer/director John Milius and has trained ever since under the mentoring of Rorion Gracie. In December 2007, after 16 years of training, O'Neill received his black belt. In the 2012 TV documentary I Am Bruce Lee, O'Neill states that he considers getting his black belt "the greatest achievement of my life, apart from my children."

On May 18, 2013, O'Neill was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from his alma mater, Youngstown State University. On November 30, 2023, after the controversial hiring of Republican congressman Bill Johnson as the university's president, O'Neill told Ideastream he was going to return his degree, saying: "I don't want it... I'm going to start calling it Trump-U."

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 Cruising Detective Schreiber The Dogs of War Terry 1989 Disorganized Crime Detective George Denver K-9 Sergeant Brannigan 1990 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane Lieutenant Amos Sibling Rivalry Wilbur Meany 1991 Dutch Dutch Dooley 1992 Wayne's WorldGlen 1993 Wayne's World 2 1994 Blue Chips Ed Axelby Little Giants Kevin O'Shea 1997 Prefontaine Bill Dellinger The Spanish Prisoner FBI Team Leader 1999 The Bone Collector Detective Paulie Sellitto 2000 Lucky Numbers Dick Simmons 2001 Nobody's Baby Norman Pinkney 2004 Spartan Burch 2005 Steel Valley Congressman Cardone Short film 2008 Redbelt Hollywood Producer 2010 Lost Masterpieces of Pornography Chief Justice Short film 2012 Wreck-It Ralph Mr. Litwak Voice role 2015 Entourage Himself Cameo 2016 Finding Dory Hank the Octopus Voice role Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown Himself Documentary 2017 Sun Dogs Bob Garrity 2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Mr. Litwak Voice role 2020 The Last Shift Dale 2026 Bad Day Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1980 The Day the Women Got Even Ed TV film 1981 Another World Lenny Episode: "Hostages at the Cabin" 1982 Farrell for the People Detective Jay Brennan TV film 1983 When Your Lover Leaves Mack Sher 1984 Miami Vice Arthur Lawson / Artie Rollins Episode: "Heart of Darkness" 1985 Moonlighting Taxi driver Episode: "Pilot" Hunter Dan Colson Episode: "The Garbage Man" Braker Danny Buckner TV film The Equalizer Doctor Episode: "The Children's Song" Spenser: For Hire Buddy Almeida Episode: "Widow's Walk" 1986 A Winner Never Quits Whitey Wyshner TV film Popeye Doyle James "Popeye" Doyle TV pilot film 1987 Right to DieBob's Partner TV film 1987–1997 Married... with Children Al Bundy Lead role; 259 episodes 1988 Police Story: Gladiator School Sergeant Stanley Bivens TV film Midnight Caller Hank Episode: "Twelve Gauge" 1990 Saturday Night Live Guest host Episode: "Ed O'Neill/Harry Connick, Jr." A Very Retail Christmas Max Crandall TV film The Earth Day Special Al Bundy TV special 1991 Top of the Heap Episode: "Top of the Heap" The Whereabouts of Jenny Jimmy O'Meara TV film 1994 In Living Color Himself Episode: "The Dirty Dozens Tournament of Champions" 1995 W.E.I.R.D. World Dr. Monochian TV film 2000 The 10th Kingdom Relish the Troll King 9 episodes 2001 Big Apple Detective Michael Mooney 8 episodes 2003–2004 Dragnet Lieutenant Joe Friday Main cast (renamed L.A. Dragnet, season 2) 2004 In the Game Buzz TV pilot 2004–2005 The West Wing Governor Eric Baker 4 episodes 2005 8 Simple Rules Matt Walsh Episode: "Old Flame" 2006 Inseparable Alan TV film Twenty Good Years Brock Manley Episode: "Between Brock and a Hard Place" The Unit William Partch Episode: "Silver Star" 2007 John from Cincinnati Bill Jacks 10 episodes 2009 WordGirl Panicking Man (voice) Episode: "The Wrong Side of the Law"; uncredited 2009–2020 Modern Family Jay Pritchett Lead role; 250 episodes 2011 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Grandpa (voice) Episode: "Truth or Daredevil" Handy Manny Mayor Thompson (voice) Episode: "Great Garage Rescue" 2012 The Penguins of Madagascar Orson (voice) Episode: "Operation: Antarctica" 2013 Real Husbands of Hollywood Himself Episode: "Thicke and Tired" 2015 Family Guy Bud Swanson (voice) Episode: "Papa Has a Rollin' Son" 2019 Weird City Burt Maxsome Episode: "The One" 2020 A Modern Farewell Himself Modern Family documentary 2024 Finding Your Roots Episode: "Buried Secrets" Clipped Donald Sterling Miniseries 2025 All's Fair Doug Standish Recurring cast

Video games

Theatre Year Title Role(s) Venue Ref. 1979 Knockout Paddy Klonski Helen Hayes Theater, Broadway 1982 Lakeboat Pierman Long Wharf Theater, Connecticut 1984 Of Mice and Men Lennie Hartford Stage, Connecticut A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski Theatre Calgary, Canada 1986 Androcles and the Lion Ferrovius Hartford Stage, Connecticut 2008 Keep Your Pantheon Strabo Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles

Awards and nominations O'Neill received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 30, 2011, ironically located in front of a shoe store.