Ed O’Neill was born Edward O’Neill on April 12, 1946 in Youngstown, Ohio. O’Neill attended and graduated from Ursuline High School and went on to teach Social Studies before he pursued acting. He is a practitioner of Brazilian Ju-jitsu and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 although he was later released during training camp. His first acting break came when he was cast in the television series, All My Children and gained further prominence as Al Bundy on the long-running sitcom, Married with Children.
Usually cast as a police officer on television shows and films, Ed O’Neill had his career start by acting on several TV movies. During the 1980s, he was seen on The Day the Women Got Even, Farrell for the People, and A Winner Never Quits. At that time, he had roles on series like Miami Vice, Hunter, The Equalizer and Midnight Caller. He later got short cameo roles in the films Wayne’s World and its sequel, Wayne’s World 2. Subsequently, he was cast as Relish the Troll King on The 10th Kingdom and made a brief appearance on the comedy variety show In Living Color. Later on, he obtained the part of a recurring character on NBC’s The West Wing, as Gov. Eric Baker. In 2001, he was cast in Big Apple, was seen on several episodes of Dragnet, and had a small role in 8 Simple Rules...for Dating My Teenage Daughter. After roles in In the Game, Steel Valley, Inseparable and Twenty Good Years, he joined the cast of the HBO drama John from Cincinnati. He played the character Bill Jacks, a former cop with the Imperial Beach police force who is preoccupied with the death of his wife, Lois. O’Neill later landed a part in The Unit, as well as in Redbelt.
(Photo courtesy of HBO)