Actress who ended her acting career due to illness: Who is Christina Applegate?

Applegate was born on November 25, 1971 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. She was born to her father, a record producer and record label executive, Robert William "Bob" Applegate, and her mother, a singer and actress, Nancy Priddy. Her parents separated shortly after Applegate's birth. She has two half-brothers, Alisa and Kyle, from her father's second marriage. As a child, Applegate trained as a dancer in a variety of styles, including jazz and ballet.

When Applegate was 3 months old, she appeared in a bottle advertisement called "Playtex". She made her television debut with her mother in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" in 1972. She made her film debut in the horror movie "Jaws of Satan" (King Cobra) in 1981. She later made her debut as a young Grace Kelly in the television biopic "Grace Kelly" (1983). Her first television series came when she appeared in Showtime's political comedy "Washingtonoon" (1985), in which she played the daughter of a congressman.

Later, Applegate made guest appearances in the drama TV series "Father Murphy"(1981), the TV series "Charles in Charge"(1984–1985), and the sitcom TV series "Silver Spoons"(1986). Thus, in 1986 she won the role of Robin Kennedy, the daughter of a cop, in the cop series "Heart of the City" (1986–1987). She won the Young Artist Award for her performance. Additionally, Applegate has made guest appearances in such productions as the TV movie "Still the Beaver", the anthology TV series "Amazing Stories" and the TV series "Family Ties".

From 1987 to 1997, Applegate played Kelly Bundy, the dorky, sexually confused daughter, on Fox's first sitcom, "Married... with Children." While working on the series, he appeared in the teen movie "Dance 'til Dawn" (1988), in which a young drug addict is pursued by a psychotic police officer. Later, she appeared in the drama movie "Streets" (1990). She later made guest appearances in the police TV series "21 Jump Street" (1988) and the sitcom "Top of the Heap" (1991).

Also around this time, she hosted the tv show "Saturday Night Live"(1993) and the tv series "MADtv"(1996). Her first lead role came as Sue Ellen Crandell in the black comedy feature film "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (1991). It was followed by "Vibrations"(1995), "Across the Moon"(1995) and the western movie "Wild Bill"(1995). Later, she starred in the science fiction movie "Mars Attacks!"(1996) directed by Tim Burton.

In 1998, Applegate appeared as Claudine Van Doozen in the independent feature film "Claudine's Return" (or Kiss of Fire). In the same year, she appeared in the action-comedy "The Big Hit" directed by Che-Kirk Wong. The movie, which entered the box office at number 1, was successful. Later that year, she appeared in the crime comedy "Jane Austen's Mafia" directed by Jim Abrahams as the fiancee of a mob boss. The film received mixed reviews and was successful at the box office.

In 1998, Applegate began portraying the lead role in the NBC sitcom "Jesse." Its production and performance received rave reviews. She also won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Actress in a New Television Series and the TV Guide Award for Favorite Star in a New TV Series for her performance. Additionally, she earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy.

In 2001, Applegate starred in the time-travel comedy "Just Visiting" (2001), as 12th-century noblewoman Princess Rosalind and her 21st-century descendant, Julia Malfete. The following year, she played Courtney Rockcliffe, Cameron Diaz's prudent best friend, in the comedy film "The Sweetest Thing" (2002). Later that year, she appeared in the short drama film "Heroes"(2002) and the romantic airplane comedy "View from the Top"(2003). Also in 2003, she showed boots in the true crime movie "Wonderland" (2003), based on the Wonderland murders, and the comedy-drama movie "Grand Theft Parsons" (2003), based on the Gram Parsons biography.

In 2004, she appeared with Ben Affleck in the holiday comedy "Surviving Christmas" directed by Mike Mitchell. The film, which received negative reviews from its critics, became a box office bomb. She then appeared with Matt Dillon in the black comedy "Employee of the Month" written and directed by Mitch Rouse.

Applegate guest-starred as Amy Green in the episodes "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" and "The OneWhere Rachel's Sister Babysits" in the ninth (2002) and tenth (2003) seasons of the tv sitcom "Friends". She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the ninth season.

In 2004, Applegate was best known for portraying the character of host Veronica Corningstone in the satirical comedy film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" in the direct-to-video reciprocal film directed by Adam McKay. The first was a moderate critical and box office success upon its release. It was later recognized as one of the best comedy films of the 2000s. It was included in the list of the best films of many magazines.

That same year, she made her Broadway debut as Charity Hope Valentine in the 1966 remake of the musical "Sweet Charity". Production ended its revival on December 31, 2005. For her performance, Applegate won the 2005 Theater World Award and earned a 2005 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

In 2006, Applegate appeared in Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" music video. Later, the ABC tv sitcom "Samantha Who?" she also appeared with Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito and Melissa McCarthy. The finale of the film, which continued from the day it started until it was canceled, was broadcast on 23 July 2009. Her performance earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. Additionally, she earned two nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy Television Series. In 2009, she was ranked number one on People magazine's "Most Beautiful People" list.

Later, she voiced one of the Chipettes, Brittany, in the musical comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)" directed by Betty Thomas. Despite negative reviews, the movie was a huge success at the box office. Later, Applegate voiced Catherine the Cat in the 3D talking animal spy comedy sequel "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" (2010). The following year, she voiced the character of Brittany in the sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked"(2011) and the latest sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip"(2015). The second sequel received worse reviews than the first, but was a huge commercial gain at the box office. The last film of the series received negative reviews from critics and made them smile at the box office.

Applegate starred in the NBC sitcom "Up All Night" with Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett. The sitcom aired on September 14, 2011. On July 31, 2013, Applegate appeared in the TLC documentary series "Who Do You Think You Are?" she appeared in a remake of the American version of In the episode, Applegate tries to find information about her grandmother, Lavina Applegate Walton, who died when she was young. Applegate concluded that her paternal grandmother died of tuberculosis and alcohol-related cirrhosis in 1955.

In 2013, Applegate reprized her role in the comedy sequel "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." The movie was a great success at the box office, garnering positive reviews from critics. In 2014, she voiced the role of Mary Beth in the animated musical fantasy film "The Book of Life." The following year, she appeared with Ed Helms in "Vacation," the fifth feature-length and sequel to the road comedies. They featured as Rusty Griswold and his wife, Debbie, traveling to Walley World with their two sons, just as she did with her parents in the original movie. Although the film was poorly reviewed, it was a box office success.

In 2016, she starred as Gwendolyn James in the comedy movie "Bad Moms" directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, alongside Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. The film was a box office success, garnering mixed reviews from critics. In November 2017, she reprized her role in the sequel "A Bad Mom's Christmas" Christmas comedy. The film, which received mostly negative reviews, grossed four times its production budget at the box office.

In July 2018, Applegate co-starred with Linda Cardellini in the Netflix black comedy series "Dead to Me" and also served as executive producer on the series alongside Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Jessica Elbaum. While the series was critically acclaimed, Applegate earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and TCA Award nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance.

Personal life

In 2001, Applegate married actor Johnathon Schaech in California. The couple divorced in August 2007. In 2009, Applegate began dating musician Martyn LeNoble. The couple got engaged on February 14, 2010 and married on February 23, 2013 in Los Angeles. The couple has a daughter who was born in January 2011.

In 2008, speaking of an early breast cancer diagnosis, Applegate beat the cancer as a result of the treatments recommended by doctors and a double mastectomy. In August 2021, Applegate said she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In 2023, she said she would probably no longer act in front of the camera as a result of her diagnosis. A vegetarian, Applegate is also extremely sensitive to animals. She became a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 14, 2022. 

After suffering from a past breast cancer condition, in 2009 she founded "Right Action for Women," a charity dedicated to breast cancer screening for women and focusing on the type of life-saving MRI scan. In February 2015, she was honored with the "Saint Vintage Love Cures Award" at the 2nd annual united4:humanity event organized by Variety magazine for her dedication to the institution and her work on this issue. In addition, the non-profit supports many organizations established for women, children, families, animals, the environment and people of different tendencies.