Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow | Sons of Anarchy on FX
Katey Sagal
Gemma Teller Morrow
Katey Sagal stars as "Gemma," who is Jax's mother, a true matriarch. As fierce as she is nurturing, willing to go to any lengths to protect her family and domain, Gemma proves this once again when she murders Jax's wife, Tara, in a misguided effort to keep her son out of jail – adding to the wealth of dark secrets she already keeps.
Career Highlights
Golden Globe® Award winning actress Katey Sagal has entertained audiences in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles throughout her notable career.
Currently, Sagal stars on the FX drama Sons of Anarchy, which is in production on the seventh and final season, and premieres in September. SOA is a gritty, one-hour drama about a notorious outlaw motorcycle club in Northern California who fights to protect their small town from drug dealers and local corporate developers. Sagal plays “Gemma,” the maternal matriarch of the club and won her first Golden Globe, “Best Performance by Actress in a Television Series – Drama,” for the role in 2010. She has also been nominated two years in a row by the Broadcast Television Critics as “Best Actress in a Drama Series.”
Next, Sagal will be featured as narrator of the new NBC comedy, A to Z. The half-hour sitcom is executive produced by Rashida Jones and will premiere this fall on October 2nd, 2014. The show stars Ben Feldman and Cristin Milioti.
In 2015, Sagal will appear in the sequel Pitch Perfect 2, produced and directed by Elizabeth Banks. She will play the mother of new cast member Hailee Steinfeld‘s character. Pitch Perfect 2 returns with the original cast including Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, and Adam DeVine. The film is set to release on May 15, 2015.
Prior to her success on SOA, Sagal starred in the ABC series 8 Simple Rules... alongside the late John Ritter and was the featured voice of “Leela,” a beautiful one-eyed alien, in the Comedy Central animated series Futurama. Sagal has had roles in the independent films I’m Reed Fish and the tele-film 3 Wise Guys. She also recurred as “Helen” on the ABC television phenomenon Lost and “Nancy Gilroy” on FX’s The Shield.
In addition to her acting, Sagal is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter. Sagal was a ‘Harlette’ with Bette Midler for three years as well as a background singer for Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John, Etta James and Tanya Tucker. Her album, “Covered,” was released on November 11, 2013 with her cover of the Tom Petty song, “Free Fallin,’” as the first single.
With the support of record label Valley Entertainment, Sagal released her album, “Room,” in 2004. “Room” was the first record for Sagal since her 1994 debut, “Well.” “Room” was a combination of original songs penned by Sagal including “Life Goes Round”, “Daddy’s Girl” and “Wish I Were a Kid” and memorable classics like “Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “(For the Love of) Money”. The first single was “Daddy’s Girl”, a touching song about the long-lasting relationship between a daughter and her father. She debuted the song on the March 2, 2004 episode of “8 Simple Rules...”. “Room” was produced by Bob Thiele Bonnie Raitt and mixed by Ray Kennedy (Twangtrust/Steve Earle). Ivan Neville, Don Was and Shane Fontayne make appearances throughout the disc.
Sagal gained national attention for her role as the outrageous “Peg Bundy” in the ground-breaking, highly-rated long-running series Married with Children, for which she earned three Golden Globe and two American Comedy Award nominations.
In her first job on television, Sagal joined Mary Tyler Moore in the television series Mary and has starred in the television movies Smart House and Mr. Headmistress (both for “Wonderful World of Disney”), as well as Chance of a Lifetime, Trail of Tears and She Says She’s Innocent.
She has also starred in the feature films Love Stinks, Mail Order, The Good Mother, and the 2000 Sundance Film Festival favorite Dropping Out.
Sagal currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her husband, Kurt Sutter, who counts executive producer and writer of Sons of Anarchy and The Shield among his many credits, and her three amazing children, Sarah, Jackson and Esmé.