Sara Gilbert

Sara Gilbert
Gilbert at the CBS Comedies Premiere Party Sponsored by Flo TV, Area on La Cienega, Los Angeles, September 17, 2008
Born	Sara Rebecca Abeles (1975-01-29) January 29, 1975 Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Partner(s)	Allison Adler (2001–2011) Linda Perry (2011–present)
Children	2

Sara Gilbert (/ˈɡɪlbərt/; born Sara Rebecca Abeles; January 29, 1975) is an American actress, best known for her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne from 1988 to 1997, as co-host and creator of the daytime talk show The Talk and for her recurring role as Leslie Winkle on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.

Early life

Gilbert was born Sara Rebecca Abeles in Santa Monica, California. Her parents are Barbara Crane (née Cowan) and Harold Abeles. Her two older siblings, Melissa Gilbert and Jonathan Gilbert, were stars of Little House on the Prairie. Melissa and Jonathan both were adopted by Barbara and her first husband, Paul Gilbert; Paul died in 1975. Abeles changed her surname to Gilbert to become an actress in 1984.

Television career

Gilbert decided at age six that she wanted to be an actress after her older sister, Melissa Gilbert, got a plaque on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 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 story (the teleplay was written by the Guild Writers for the show) called "Don't Make Me Over". Her contribution was considered so important to Roseanne that the show's producers juggled storylines and taping schedules to allow her to study at Yale University while remaining part of the cast, shooting remote segments of Darlene at a soundstage in New York. At Yale, she majored in art with an emphasis on photography; she graduated with honors in 1997.

Gilbert has made guest appearances on shows such as The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Private Practice. Starting in 2004, she had a recurring role as medical student Jane Figler on the long-running hospital drama ER.

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 season, when the WB and UPN networks merged to become The CW and had to drop a number of shows. She also had a recurring role on the short-lived CBS sitcom The Class as Fern Velch.

Since 2007 she has appeared in a number of episodes of the CBS TV series The Big Bang Theory as Leslie Winkle, a scientist friend of Leonard Hofstadter played by Johnny Galecki, who had previously played Gilbert's love interest David Healy on Roseanne. Starting with the second episode of the second season of The Big Bang Theory, Gilbert was elevated to the show's main cast, portraying once again a potential love interest of Galecki's character, and at one point a love interest to Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg). By January 2009, it was announced that the writers did not know how to write for her character full-time and her status was then reduced from regular to recurring.

Gilbert is a co-host and executive producer of The Talk, a talk show that premiered October 18, 2010. Gilbert appears alongside Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler.

Film career

Gilbert has appeared in two films alongside Drew Barrymore, in Poison Ivy in 1992 and Riding In Cars With Boys in 2001. Gilbert also had a feature role in Light It Up in 1999. She has had several other minor roles following Roseanne, including short film $30 (aka 30 Bucks) as part of the Boys Life 3 feature, and High Fidelity. She directed her own short film Persona Non Grata in 1998.

Personal life

Gilbert publicly came out as a lesbian in 2010. In 2001, she began a relationship with TV producer Allison Adler. They have two children—a son, Levi Hank, born to Adler in October 2004, and a daughter, Sawyer, born to Gilbert on August 2, 2007. Gilbert and Adler separated in August 2011. Following the breakup, Gilbert began a relationship with songwriter and former 4 Non Blondes frontwoman Linda Perry. Gilbert announced her engagement to Perry in April 2013.

In her teens, Gilbert became a vegetarian, and by 2008, she had adopted a vegan lifestyle. She supports such organizations as PETA, Meals on Wheels, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and AIDS Project Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Poison Ivy	Sylvie Cooper	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress
1994	Dead Beat	Martha
1997	Walkin' on Sunshine: The Movie	NeuralNurse 256
1998	Desert Blue	Sandy
1999	Light It Up	Lynn Sabatini
2000	The Big Tease	Gretle Dickens
	High Fidelity	Annaugh Moss
	"Boys Life 3"	Emily/Michelle	Short film Segment: $30
2001	Riding in Cars with Boys	Tina Barr
2004	Laws of Attraction	Gary Gadget's Assistant	cameo

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
Role	Notes
1984	Calamity Jane	Jean	TV-Movie
1988	ABC Weekend Special	Stephie	Episode: "Runaway Ralph"
1988–1997	Roseanne	Darlene Conner-Healy	219 episodes 2x Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series TV Land Award for Innovator Award Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series Nominated — TV Land Award for Character Most Desperately in Need of a Timeout Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Television Series
1990	Sudie and Simpson	Sudie Harrigan	TV Movie Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Cable Special
1992	The Simpsons	Laura Powers	Voice only Episode: "New Kid on the Block"
1994	Saturday Night Live	Herself – Host	Episode: "Sara Gilbert/Counting Crows"
1996	ABC Afterschool Special	Jessie	Episode: "Me and My Hormones"
1997	Broken Record		TV Movie
2000–2001	Welcome to New York	Amy Manning	13 episodes
2002	24	Paula Schaeffer	5 episodes
2003	Will & Grace	Cheryl	Episode: "Fanilow"
2004	Strong Medicine	Charlayne	Episode: "Cinderella in Scrubs"
2004–2007	ER	Dr. Jane Figler	15 episodes
2005	In the Game		Unsold TV-Pilot
	The Clinic	Mrs. Jennings	Episode: 3.1
2005–2006	Twins	Mitchee Arnold	18 episodes
2006	Girls on the Bus	Helen	Episode: "Pilot"
2006–2007	The Class	Fern Velch	6 episodes
2007	Private Practice	Kelly	Episode: "In Which Sam Gets Taken For a Ride"
2007–2010	The Big Bang Theory	Leslie Winkle	recurring season 1, season 2 regular and then back to recurring in season 3
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Caitlyn Ryan	Episode: "Trials"
2010	HawthoRNe	Malia Price	Episode: "No Excuses" Episode: "The Match" Episode: "A Mother Knows"
	Grey's Anatomy	Kim	Episode: "Suicide is Painless"
2010–present	The Talk	Herself	Recurring, Show Producer

External links

• Sara Gilbert on Twitter
• Sara Gilbert at IMDb
• Sara Gilbert at Emmys.com