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Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the FOX sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations. She has had major roles in several films including Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Big Hit, The Sweetest Thing, Anchorman, Farce of the Penguins, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Hall Pass. She has also starred in numerous Broadway theatre productions such as the 2005 revival of the musical Sweet Charity. As of May 2011, she is set to star in NBC's comedy, Up All Night...
Applegate was born in Hollywood, California. Her father, Robert W. Applegate, was a record producer and record company executive, and her mother, Nancy Lee Priddy, was a singer and actress. Her parents split up shortly after her birth. She has two half-siblings (Alisa and Kyle) from her father's remarriage. Following her parents' divorce, her mother had a relationship with musician Stephen Stills. It was through Stills' friendship with fellow musicians Paul Kantner and Grace Slick that Applegate became friends with their daughter, China Kantner.
Applegate made her TV debut with her mother in the soap opera Days of Our Lives and a commercial for Playtex baby bottles at three and five months respectively. Her first big screen appearance followed at age 7 when she was seen in the 1979 film, Jaws of Satan (a.k.a. King Cobra), followed by 1981's Beatlemania. She debuted in a television movie as young Grace Kelly in the biopic, Grace Kelly (1983, opposite Cheryl Ladd) and appeared on her first TV series in Showtime's political comedy, Washingtoon (1985), in which she played a Congressman's daughter. She was also spotted as a guest in the shows, Father Murphy (1981), Charles in Charge (1984 and 1985), and Silver Spoons (1986).