Al Bundy (Married With Children) High School Legends Football Card

Al Bundy is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series Married… with Children, played by Ed O’Neill. He is a misanthropic, working-class father of two who is portrayed as a tragicomedic figure. He laments his lot in life, but nevertheless stands by his family, displaying wit, self-sacrifice, and resilience in times of crisis.

He and his wife Peggy were rated the 59th best characters on television by Bravo. In a 2016 interview, O’Neill said that he based his interpretation of Al Bundy on one of his uncles.

Al Bundy was born on November 7, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois. Al’s mother may have been an alcoholic: as shown in flashback sequences he recalls a moment when his mother tells him that he can become anything and then, in real-time, remarks “Yeah right, Mom, try saying that when you’re sober!”. He was a star fullback on the Polk High School Football team and was offered a scholarship to play college football. However, a broken leg and his subsequent marriage to high-school sweetheart Peggy Wanker while intoxicated changed his fortunes.

Al and Peggy live in Chicago and have two children: Kelly (Christina Applegate), a promiscuous, dim-witted blonde, and Bud (David Faustino), an intelligent but sex-obsessed and unpopular schemer named after Budweiser beer. Al works as a shoe salesman at the fictional Gary’s Shoes and Accessories for Today’s Woman in the fictional New Market Mall. He loses or quits the job several times throughout the series, yet always ends up re-hired.

Al has a sarcastic and cynical sense of humor, and he frequently makes sardonic observations. He is also often criticized by Peggy for his poor hygiene. Allegedly, Al showers and brushes his teeth as rarely as he has sex, which is extremely infrequent, as he continually avoids Peggy’s advances.