All About Katey Sagal's 6 Siblings, Including TV Star Twins Liz and Jean
Katey Sagal’s siblings include Jean, Liz, Joey, David, Gregg and Blake
Meet Katey Sagal’s six siblings.
The Married … with Children star comes from a blended family of four brothers and two sisters. Her parents — Hollywood director Boris Sagal and screenwriter Sara Zwilling — had five children together: Katey, twins Jean and Liz, and sons Joey and David.
With both parents in show business, the Sagal children grew up around movie and television sets, and Boris even encouraged his daughter to become an actress.
“My father was a director, and he used to always tell me, ‘You should be an actress,’ ” Katey told Elle in 2012. “When I was 17, he gave me a job so that I'd be in the union. It was a TV movie he directed in 1971 called The Failing of Raymond, starring Dean Stockwell. I think I had one or two lines. Whatever it was, it was enough to get me in the union.”
It wasn’t all glitz and glamour for the family, however. Tragedy struck in 1975, when Zwilling died of a heart attack when Katey was 21 years old. In 1977, her father remarried dancer and actress Marge Champion, who had sons Gregg and Blake from her previous marriage to fellow dancer, Gower Champion.
The couple were married for four years before Boris died from a helicopter accident in 1981 on the set of World War III, a television miniseries he was directing. “My mother had been ill for a good part of my life," Katey told ABC News in 2017. "It wasn't quite as big a shock as my father, who I had literally spoken to the day before."
She also told NPR in 2012 that losing both parents at a young age gave her “an early sense of mortality” but also a “great appreciation for what I have right now.”
Katey and her siblings have remained close over the years and are often seen supporting each other. Several of the star’s siblings attended the ceremony for her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, family members reunited for David’s son Finn’s college graduation and Liz and Jean have been known to ring in their birthdays together.
Here is everything to know about Katey Sagal’s six siblings.
Katey and most of her siblings grew up around movie sets
As a child, Katey and her siblings were immersed in their father’s work, often accompanying him on set.
“You know, it was very — it was wonderful, you know, my parents were very artistic and — but busy,” Katey told NPR. “You know, the times that I remember really seeing my dad and understanding my dad was when he would finally start bringing me to work with him. And then I was around that set environment and I'd, sort of, see what was going on. Because it's hard to describe to a kid what your job is."
Some of the films Boris directed during his kids’ youth include Mr. Novak, The Omega Man, Hauser’s Memory, Girl Happy and Mosquito Squadron, the last of which was filmed in the United Kingdom.
Katey’s twin sisters starred as the Doublemint Twins
Katey’s younger twin sisters, Jean and Liz, followed in the family business, working together as the Doublemint Twins for Wrigley’s Gum in the 1980s.
Around the same time, they also teamed up for the roles of Sorority Girls in Grease 2, and they were the leads in the NBC television sitcom, Double Trouble, portraying Kate and Allison Foster.
Katey’s brother Joey holds a special place in his heart for Elvis Presley
Katey’s younger brother Joey met Elvis Presley when he was 7 years old on the set of his father’s 1965 film, Girl Happy, which featured the musician.
As Joey kickstarted his own career in show business, he secured the role of Elvis in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Production of Steve Martin’s play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The cast did 357 performances, and the production was the longest-running play at the theater with the highest box office performance.
Joey worked on several other Elvis-inspired projects, including writing and selling the screenplay for the 2016 film Elvis & Nixon, where he played an Elvis impersonator, and took on the role of Elvis one additional time for Stephen King’s miniseries, Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
“As an actor I am most proud of my work as Elvis, it’s my ace in the hole role,” he told Trainwreck’d Society in 2018. “Elvis has been very good to my family."
Katey’s brother David was the General Counsel for Warner Bros. Pictures
David is the only Sagal sibling who pursued a career outside of the entertainment industry, instead becoming an attorney.
His career includes working at the law firm Coudert Brothers in Singapore and Los Angeles, serving as a banker with Chemical Bank in Mumbai and New York and fulfilling various roles during his 28-year tenure with Warner Bros. Pictures, where he became General Counsel.
David holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Chinese from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree in East Asian studies from Harvard and a juris doctor degree from the University of Southern California. He is also fluent in Mandarin.
Katey’s sister Jean served as a director for 2 Broke Girls and Two and a Half Men
While Jean got her start in front of the camera starring in shows such as Simon & Simon and Highway to Heaven, she followed in her legendary father’s footsteps and pivoted to behind the camera in the late ‘90s.
She made her directorial debut in 1998 with the TV series, Just Shoot Me!, and has had a decades-long directing career working on shows including Wizards of Waverly Place, 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, Fuller House, Last Man Standing, Mom and The Conners.
Katey’s sister-in-law is McNally Sagal
David married actress McNally Sagal in 1988, and Katey and her siblings were there to celebrate the couple.
A graduate of Boston University, McNally got her start working on the Broadway production of Amadeus before landing roles on television series including Secrets and Lies, The X-Files, Chicago Hope and Sons of Anarchy — the last of which her sister-in-law, Liz, worked on as a writer and producer and starred Katey.
McNally and David share three children together: Beau, Nora and Finn.
Sagal’s sister Liz was a writer on Mad About You
Like her twin sister, Liz moved from being in front of the camera to behind it.
Liz took after her mom and is a successful writer and producer who has worked on shows such as Mad About You, Charmed, Sons of Anarchy, Lost in Space, The Flight Attendant, Feed the Beast and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Katey’s brother Blake died in a car accident in his 20s
Katey’s late brother Blake was a professional dancer — like both of his parents — who appeared in Show Boat and numerous musicals.
On his way home from a 1987 performance in Pittsfield, Mass., the then-25-year-old was in a fatal car accident when he crashed into a tree, police said at the time.
After Blake’s death, his mother made a donation to the renowned dance school, Jacob’s Pillow, where Blake attended in the 1980s. On campus now sits Blake’s Barn in his honor, a restored barn that houses dance archives and hosts special events.
Katey’s brother Gregg is a director
Katey’s younger brother Gregg also pursued a directorial career, studying cinema at the University of Southern California and apprenticing with fellow directors Blake Edwards, Nicolas Roeg and John Badham.
Gregg has served as both a producer and director, with credits including The Cowboy Way featuring Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland, The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn starring Sidney Poitier, American Flyers featuring Kevin Costner and A&E’s miniseries, Bonnie & Clyde.
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