Making it big in Hollywood isn’t easy, just ask Katey Sagal. Before Sons of Anarchy put her back in the spotlight, she’d already built a solid career in music and acting. Most people remember her as Peg Bundy in Married… with Children or the tough-as-nails Gemma Morrow, but her memoir, Grace Notes, spills the tea on the journey behind the scenes!
In her memoir, Grace Notes, Sagal opens up about her decades in the industry, the ups and downs of fame.
Katey Sagal’s battle with addiction growing up in Hollywood
Katey Sagal’s road to stardom wasn’t all glitz and glamour, it was filled with some serious struggles. Growing up in Hollywood, she was surrounded by prescription pill abuse from an early age.
Her mom, Sara Zwilling, better known as Sara Macon, who was a singer, producer and a big time writer, relied on them, and by 14, she was following in her footsteps as well, popping diet pills that gave her a false sense of control.
What started there spiraled into a 15-year battle with addiction, including cocaine and alcohol. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, on how it started, she explained,
For me to talk about my addictions means I have to start — talk about where it started, which definitely was body image. And I became addicted to diet pills. Then I became addicted to alcohol. I’m sure the influence of growing up in Hollywood had a lot to do with that. You had to have a certain — this is a very hard town to grow up in, and my body image became sort of something that not only I focused on, but my parents focused on too.
As a kid, she was neighbors with Judy Garland’s daughter, Lorna Luft, and the two became fast friends (more on that in a bit). But Hollywood had its silver linings too. It was on a TV set that she met a sober mentor who helped her find a different path. Fast forward to 2017, when she wrote her memoir, and Sagal had racked up nearly 30 years of sobriety.
Katey Sagal’s one true friend through the chaos
Although growing up in Hollywood was tough for Katey Sagal, she found friendship in familiar chaos.
At 12, she became fast friends with Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland, bonding over a shared haunting reality, moms who slept till noon and had a stash of pills on the nightstand. In her memoir she wrote (via ET),
When I was 12, we lived on the same block as Judy Garland. Lorna’s mom had a lot of pills on her bedside table and slept past noon just like my mom, We hung tight. And, of course, I thought everyone’s mom took a lot of pills.
She’s certainly grateful she made it through in one piece. And while she sheds light on the struggles of addiction and growing up in Hollywood, her story isn’t just about the dark times, it’s about strength, and self-discovery.
In Grace Notes, Sagal let it all hang, she reflected on the lessons learned, the strength it took to break the cycle, and the life she built beyond the shadows of her past, and fans could be more proud of her.
Grace Notes: My Recollections is available on Amazon.
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