This page uses content from the Sara Gilbert biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles on January 29, 1975 in Santa Monica, California) is an Emmy-nominated American actress best known for her longtime role as Darlene Conner-Healy from 1988-1997 in the U.S. sitcom Roseanne.

Biography

Early life

Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family. Her parents are Barbara Crane and Harold Abeles. She has two older siblings, Melissa Gilbert (of Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983) fame) and Jonathan Gilbert (who played Willie Olsen on Little House on the Prairie, now a New York stock broker), whom her mother adopted with her first husband. Sara Abeles became an actress and in 1984 changed her surname to Gilbert (to gain notoriety off her older sister and brother's Gilbert name) becoming "Sara Gilbert."

Television career

Gilbert decided at a young age that she wanted to be an actress after seeing her older sister Melissa Gilbert star in Little House on the Prairie. The roles she has played tend to reflect her laid back and unthreatening personality. Following appearances in television movies and a commercial for Kool Aid, at the age of thirteen she landed the role of Darlene Conner, the sarcastic middle child, in Roseanne. Sara was a cast member during the show's nine-year run from 1988 to 1997, for which she also wrote a fourth-season episode called "Don't Make Me Over." Sara's contribution was considered so important to Roseanne that the show's producers arranged the taping schedule to allow her to study at Yale University while remaining part of the cast. At Yale, she majored in art with an emphasis on photography; she graduated with honors in 1997. To coincide with her personal life, Sara wanted her character on Roseanne to come out as a lesbian, although ABC executives were not ready for a lesbian in a prominent role.

Gilbert has also made guest appearances in many TV shows such as The Simpsons, 24, ER, and Will & Grace . She returned to prime time television in the fall of 2005 in the sitcom Twins on The WB network; the sitcom was canceled after one year when The WB and UPN networks merged to become The CW Network.

She is seen in the new CBS comedy The Class after the following weeks in the beginning of October 2006. Currently she can be seen in a recurrent role on the medical drama ER on Thursdays on NBC.

Film career

Gilbert has appeared in two films alongside Drew Barrymore, in Poison Ivy in 1992 and Riding In Cars With Boys in 2001. She has had several other minor roles following Roseanne, including short film $30 (aka 30 Bucks) as part of the Boys Life 3 feature. She directed her own short film Persona Non Grata in 1998. She also made a cameo appearance in the film High Fidelity in 2000, appearing alongside Jack Black and John Cusack.

Personal life

In her teens, Gilbert became a vegetarian. Today, she supports numerous organizations such as PETA, Meals on Wheels, Freedom of Speech, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, AIDS Project Los Angeles and Animal Rights.

Gilbert is in a relationship with television writer/producer Allison Adler, who in October 2004 gave birth to a baby boy named Levi Hank Gilbert-Adler. Adler conceived via a sperm donor.

Awards

In 1993, Sara Gilbert was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Roseanne as well as the Independent Spirit Award award for Best Supporting Female for her role in Poison Ivy. She was again nominated for an Emmy in 1994 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Roseanne.

Filmography

Starring roles

• Calamity Jane, 1984
• Roseanne (TV series), as Darlene Conner, 1988 - 1997
• Runaway Ralph, 1988
• Sudie And Simpson, 1990
• Poison Ivy, 1992
• 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth, 1992
• Dead Beat, 1994
• Broken Record, 1997
• Desert Blue, 1998
• Persona Non Grata, 1998, Sara starred as a narrator as well as directing this short film
• Light It Up, 1999
• The Big Tease, 1999
• $30, 1999
• Jack & The Beanstalk, 2000, a children's animated movie for which Gilbert did a voiceover
• Welcome To New York (TV series), as Amy Manning, 2000
• Riding In Cars With Boys, 2001
• Twins (TV series), as Mitchee, 2005
• Girls on the Bus (TV series), 2006, an ABC Pilot series (unaired)

Guest appearances and cameos

• The Simpsons (TV series), as Laura Powers in the episode New Kid On The Block, 1992
• Saturday Night Live, hosted one episode in 1994
• Biography, 2001, appeared as herself in the episode about her half sister Melissa Gilbert
• 24, 2002, appeared in several episodes as a computer analyst
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show, 2003
• Will & Grace, 2003, appeared in the episode "Fanilow"
• ER, 2004, as medical student Jane Figler in several episodes
• Strong Medicine as a recovered drug addict fighting to get her daughter back

External links

• SaraGilbert.net - unofficial fansite
• Sara Gilbert cast bio on The WB

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