Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is a retired American actress. She gained recognition in the late 1980s for playing Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). Her titular role in the sitcom Jesse (1998–2000), earned her first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. For her guest role in the NBC sitcom Friends (2002–2003), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She received additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her roles in the television sitcom Samantha Who? (2007–2009), starred in a short-lived sitcom Up All Night (2011–2012), and the dark tragicomedy series Dead to Me (2019–2022). Applegate served as a producer of all three aforementioned projects.
Applegate has achieved success in films of varying genres, particularly in comedies such as Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), The Big Hit (1998), The Sweetest Thing (2002), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), Hall Pass (2011), Vacation (2015), Bad Moms (2016), and Crash Pad (2017). On stage, Applegate received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her debut performance as the title character in the Broadway musical revival Sweet Charity (2005).
After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2021, Applegate announced she would step away from appearing on-screen, but would continue doing voice work.
She published a memoir in 2026 which became a New York Times Best Seller, where she focused on resilience and self-acceptance.
Applegate was born on November 25, 1971, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Her father, Robert William "Bobby" Applegate (1942–2025), was a staff producer at Dot Records; her mother, Nancy Priddy, is a singer and actress. She was named after the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World, for which her mother also named a song on her album You've Come This Way Before. Her parents separated shortly after her birth and Christina was raised by her mother. She has two half-siblings, Alisa and Kyle, from her father's second marriage. As a child, Applegate trained as a dancer in various styles, including jazz and ballet.
Applegate made her television debut in 1972 alongside her mother in the soap opera Days of Our Lives and starred in a commercial for Playtex baby bottles at 3 months old. She made her film debut in the 1981 horror film Jaws of Satan (or King Cobra) and appeared in the 1981 movie Beatlemania. She debuted as a young Grace Kelly in the television biopic Grace Kelly (1983) and appeared in her first television series in Showtime's political comedy Washingtoon (1985), in which she played a congressman's daughter.
Applegate was a guest in the series Father Murphy (1981), Charles in Charge (1984–1985), and Silver Spoons (1986). In 1986, she won the role of Robin Kennedy, a policeman's daughter, in the police drama series Heart of the City (1986–1987). For her performance, she received a Young Artist Award. She guest-starred in several television series, including 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 ditzy, sexually promiscuous daughter, Kelly Bundy, on Fox's first sitcom, Married... with Children. While working on the series, Applegate was seen in Dance 'til Dawn (1988) and Streets (1990), in which a teenage drug addict is stalked by a psychotic police officer. She guest-starred in 21 Jump Street (1988) and Top of the Heap (1991) and hosted Saturday Night Live (1993) and MADtv (1996). The character of Sue Ellen Crandell in the black comedy feature Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) 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. She had roles in films such as Vibrations (1995), Across the Moon (1995), Wild Bill (1995), Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! (1996), and Gregg Araki's Nowhere (1997). Contrary to reports, she did not audition for Titanic, as she told Vanity Fair in their May 2023 edition: "No. Who said that?…That would not have come across my desk, if I had a desk." [Shaw, Vanity Fair, May 4, 2023.] When Married... with Children was cancelled in 1997, producers pitched a spinoff centered on Kelly Bundy, but Applegate declined.
In 1998, Applegate starred as Claudine Van Doozen in the independent feature Claudine's Return (or Kiss of Fire), appeared 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 that debuted at Johnny Depp's Viper Room on the Sunset Strip in 1995. She emceed for the group when they moved to The Roxy Theatre in 2002.
2002–2009: Anchorman, stage, and television
Applegate played the dual role of a 12th-century noblewoman, Princess Rosalind, and her 21st-century descendant, Julia Malfete, in the time-travel comedy Just Visiting (2001). She was Princess Gwendolyn and Kate in the movie Prince Charming (2001). After playing Cameron Diaz's level-headed best friend, Courtney Rockcliffe, in The Sweetest Thing (2002), she appeared in Heroes (2002), the romantic airplane comedy View from the Top (2003), the true-crime film Wonderland (2003) based on the Wonderland murders, and the Gram Parsons biopic Grand Theft Parsons (2003). In 2004, she starred with Ben Affleck in the holiday comedy Surviving Christmas and with Matt Dillon in Employee of the Month. She was the executive producer of Comforters, Miserable (2001).
Applegate guest-starred on Friends in the ninth (2002) and tenth (2003) seasons in episodes titled "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" and "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits" as Amy Green, Rachel Green's (Jennifer Aniston) sister. She won the Primetime Emmy Award from two nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in "The One with Rachel's Other Sister."
Applegate received recognition for her portrayal of anchorwoman Veronica Corningstone in the 2004 comedy films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, an alternative film comprising alternate takes and deleted scenes and story elements.
Applegate has performed on stage in The Axeman's Jazz, Nobody Leaves Empty Handed, The Runthrough, and John Cassavetes' The Third Day (co-starring Gena Rowlands). In 2004, she debuted on Broadway as Charity Hope Valentine in a revival of the 1966 musical Sweet Charity. In late April 2005, she 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 won the 2005 Theatre World Award and was nominated for a 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the 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 change their minds. Because of her injury, she had to wear special shoes to prevent another accident. In a 2013 interview, she 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 perform in strenuous roles.
In 2006, Applegate appeared in Jessica Simpson's music video for "A Public Affair" with Eva Longoria, Ryan Seacrest, and Christina Milian. She starred in the ABC comedy Samantha Who? from October 15, 2007, until it was cancelled on May 18, 2009; the finale aired on July 23, 2009. The series co-starred Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito, and Melissa McCarthy and focused on a 30-year-old who, after a hit-and-run accident, develops amnesia and has to rediscover her life, her relationships, and herself. She received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and two nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. Shortly after the cancellation was announced, she began a campaign to get the show back into production, which failed. She topped the list of People's Most Beautiful People in 2009. She appeared with her Married... with Children co-star David Faustino in an episode of Faustino's comedy series Star-ving.