Ed O'Neill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ed O'Neill
O'Neill at the 2015 PaleyFest for Modern Family
Born	Edward Leonard O'Neill (1946-04-12) April 12, 1946 (age 79) Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actor comedian football player
Years active	1967–present
Spouse(s)	Catherine Rusoff ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2
Football career
Position:	Defensive lineman
Personal information
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Career information
High school:	Ursuline (Youngstown, Ohio)
College:	Youngstown State
Undrafted:	1969
Career history
Pittsburgh Steelers (1969)*

Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is a well-known American actor and comedian. He also used to play football. He is famous for playing dads in two very popular TV shows: Al Bundy in Married... with Children and Jay Pritchett in Modern Family.

Ed O'Neill has won several awards for his acting. He has received four Screen Actors Guild Awards and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also appeared in many movies, including Wayne's World, Little Giants, and The Bone Collector. You might also recognize his voice from animated films like Wreck-It Ralph and Finding Dory.

Early Life and Education

Ed O'Neill was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on April 12, 1946. His family came from Ireland in the 1850s. His mother, Ruth Ann, was a homemaker and social worker. His father, Edward Phillip O'Neill, worked in a steel mill and as a truck driver.

When he was 14, Ed worked in construction and later at a steel mill. He went to Ursuline High School, where he was a talented football player.

He earned a football scholarship to Ohio University. He studied history there but admitted he spent more time playing sports and having fun than studying. He later transferred to Youngstown State University. He continued to play football as a defensive lineman from 1967 to 1968.

While at Youngstown State, he even played in a game against Roger Staubach, a famous football player. Ed O'Neill once said his team got a penalty because he hit Staubach out of bounds!

Professional Football Career

After college, Ed O'Neill tried to play professional football. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. However, he was cut from the team during training camp. He was competing for a spot with other great players like Joe Greene and L. C. Greenwood. These players later became key parts of the Steelers' famous "Steel Curtain" defense.

Interestingly, on Married... with Children, Ed O'Neill's character, Al Bundy, was a former high school football star. Al often talked about his "glory days" and how he once scored four touchdowns in a single game. Before becoming an actor, Ed O'Neill worked as a substitute social studies teacher at his old high school.

Acting Career

Early Roles (1979–1986)

O'Neill in 2010

After his football career, Ed O'Neill went back to Youngstown State to study theater. In 1979, he acted in a play called Knockout on Broadway. A newspaper review described his performance as "chilling."

A director named William Friedkin saw him in the play. This led to Ed's first movie role as a police detective in Cruising (1980), which starred Al Pacino. In 1986, he was cast as a detective named Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle for a TV series. The pilot movie was shown, and Ed got good reviews, but the series was not made.

Married... with Children and Other Roles (1987–2008)

In 1984, a casting agent saw Ed O'Neill in a play. They asked him to audition for a new TV show called Married... with Children. This show was about a funny, sometimes messy, family living in Chicago. Ed got the part of Al Bundy. He won the role because during his audition, he simply slumped his shoulders and sighed as if he was tired from work.

Married... with Children became a huge hit. It was one of the first shows on the Fox network. It ran for 11 seasons, from 1987 to 1997.

During this time, Ed O'Neill also starred in movies like Dutch (1991) and Little Giants (1994). He also had small roles in the comedy films Wayne's World (1992) and Wayne's World 2 (1993). He even appeared on the show 8 Simple Rules as the ex-boyfriend of a character played by Katey Sagal. She played his wife, Peggy Bundy, on Married... with Children.

Later, Ed O'Neill played Sergeant Joe Friday in a 2003 TV show called Dragnet. He also had a recurring role as Governor Eric Baker on the TV drama The West Wing from 2004 to 2005. In 2009, he reunited with David Faustino, who played Bud Bundy on Married... with Children, for a show called Star-ving. The whole cast of Married... with Children also got together for an award show in 2009.

Modern Family and Recent Work (2009–Present)

For eleven seasons, Ed O'Neill played Jay Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. This show ran from 2009 to 2020. His role earned him three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards. He also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series four times with the cast of Modern Family.

Since 2012, Ed O'Neill has done voice-overs for TV commercials. In 2016, he voiced Hank the Octopus in the Pixar animated film Finding Dory. He later said he didn't realize at first that Hank was such a big character in the movie!

More recently, O'Neill starred in the miniseries Clipped (2024). He played Donald Sterling, a real-life person. Critics praised his performance, saying he understood the character very well.

Personal Life

Ed O'Neill is married to actress Catherine Rusoff. They live in Los Angeles and have two daughters.

Ed O'Neill is also a dedicated student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He has trained for 22 years under the guidance of Rorion Gracie, a famous jiu-jitsu master. In December 2007, after 16 years of training, Ed O'Neill earned his black belt. In a 2012 TV documentary, he said that getting his black belt was "the greatest achievement of my life, apart from my children."

Acting Credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Ed O'Neill received a special honor on August 30, 2011. He got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! It's located right in front of a shoe store, which is a fun nod to his role as a shoe salesman in Married... with Children.

See Also

• List of Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners