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Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles; January 29, 1975) is an American actress best known for portraying Darlene Conner on Roseanne (1988–97; 2018) and its sequel, The Conners (2018–25), a role for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She created and was a co-host of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk, and had the recurring role of Leslie Winkle on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.
Gilbert graduated from Yale University in 1997, with honors, majoring in art with an emphasis on photography.
Gilbert has appeared on The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, and Private Practice. Starting in 2004, she had a recurring role as smart and sarcastic medical student Jane Figler on the long-running hospital drama ER; her appearances spanned seasons 11–13. Gilbert regained a regular spot on prime time television in the fall of 2005 in the sitcom Twins on The WB network. The show was canceled after one season, when the WB and UPN networks merged as The CW and dropped a number of series. She also had a recurring role on the short-lived CBS sitcom The Class as Fern Velch.
From 2007 to 2010, Gilbert appeared in episodes of the CBS TV series The Big Bang Theory as Leslie Winkle, a scientist friend of Leonard Hofstadter. Hofstadter was played by Johnny Galecki, who had previously played Gilbert's love interest David Healy on Roseanne. In the second episode of the second season of The Big Bang Theory, Gilbert was elevated to the show's main cast, portraying 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 reduced from regular to recurring. Winkle was discontinued after Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette Rostenkowski became prominent characters.
Gilbert was a co-host and executive producer of The Talk, a talk show that premiered October 18, 2010. Gilbert won a Daytime Emmy in 2016 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show as producer and creator of the show. Her final appearance as co-host was August 2, 2019.
An eight-episode revival series of Roseanne was developed, with Gilbert as an executive producer. The eight episodes, picked up by ABC, began airing March 27, 2018. Due to the revival's strong ratings and positive critical reception, a second season was announced. However, on May 29, 2018, in the wake of controversial remarks made by Roseanne Barr on Twitter regarding Valerie Jarrett (an advisor to former president Barack Obama), ABC cancelled the revival after a single season. Gilbert distanced herself and the show from Barr's tweets.
On June 21, 2018, ABC announced that the network had ordered ten episodes of a spin-off of Roseanne. That series, The Conners, featuring all of the regular cast except Barr, premiered in October 2018, with Gilbert starring and serving as an executive producer. Gilbert would continue to reprise her role as Darlene and also serve as an executive producer for The Conners until the series concluded in 2025. In 2019, Gilbert and Tom Werner, both of whom had been involved in the production of The Conners (she through her TV arm, him through Werner Entertainment), formed the production company Sara+Tom. Sara + Tom was involved in the production of the eight-episode streaming sitcom The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.
In 2001, Gilbert began a relationship with television producer Ali Adler. They have two children: a son, born to Adler in October 2004, and a daughter, born to Gilbert in August 2007. For many years, Gilbert remained private about her sexuality, choosing not to publicly discuss her personal life. In July 2010, as she prepared to launch her talk show, The Talk, Gilbert confirmed that she was a lesbian. In August 2011, Gilbert announced that she and Adler had separated amicably.Jordan, Julie. "The Talk's Sara Gilbert, Partner Break Up" . People. August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
Following the breakup, Gilbert began a relationship with songwriter, music producer and former 4 Non Blondes frontwoman Linda Perry.Grossberg, Josh "Sara Gilbert Talks Relationship With Linda Perry on The Talk" . E Online. November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011. Gilbert announced their engagement in April 2013, and the pair married on March 30, 2014. Gilbert gave birth to their son on February 28, 2015. On December 27, 2019, Gilbert filed for legal separation from Perry.
| 1992 | Poison Ivy | Sylvie Cooper | Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1994 | Dead Beat | Martha | Film is based on the killings of Charles Schmid. |
| 1997 | Walkin' on Sunshine: The Movie | Neural Nurse 256 | |
| 1998 | $30 | Emily / Michelle | Short film |
| 1999 | Desert Blue | Sandy | |
| Light It Up | Lynn Sabatini | ||
| The Big Tease | Gretle Dickens | ||
| 2000 | High Fidelity | Anaugh 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 appearance |
| 2023 | 80 for Brady | Sara |
| 1984 | Calamity Jane | Jean | Television film |
| 1988 | ABC Weekend Special | Stephie | Episode: "Runaway Ralph" |
| 1988–1997; 2018 | Roseanne | Darlene Conner-Healy | 190 episodes Executive producer 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 in a Comedy Series (1993–1994) 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 |
| 1989 | A&E's An Evening at the Improv | Herself | Season 4, Episode 6 |
| 1990 | Sudie and Simpson | Sudie Harrigan | TV movie Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Cable Special |
| 1992; 1994 | The Simpsons | Laura Powers (voice) | Episodes: "New Kid on the Block" and "Another Simpsons Clip Show" (archival recordings) |
| 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 | Rugrats | Cindy (voice) | Episode: "Cynthia Comes Alive/Trading Phil" |
| 24 | 5 episodes, Season 2 | ||
| 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 | Television pilot | |
| The Clinic | Mrs. Jennings | Episode: 3.1 | |
| 2005–2006 | Twins | Mitchee Arnold | Lead role |
| 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" |
| The Big Bang Theory | Leslie Winkle | Recurring role (season 1) Main role (season 2) Guest role (seasons 3, 9) | |
| 2008 | Caitlyn Ryan | Episode: | |
| 2010 | HawthoRNe | Malia Price | 3 episodes |
| Grey's Anatomy | Kim | Episode: "Suicide is Painless" | |
| 2010–2019 | The Talk | Herself | Also creator and executive producer |
| 2014 | Bad Teacher | Irene Dudek | Main role |
| 2016 | Supergirl | Herself | Episode: "Falling" |
| 2018 | Jane the Virgin | Herself | Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Four" |
| Living Biblically | Cheryl | Main role | |
| 2018–2025 | The Conners | Darlene Conner-Healy | Main role; 112 episodes |
| 2019 | Weird City | Jathryn | Episode: "Smart House" |
| Atypical | Professor Judd | Recurring role (season 3) | |
| 2020 | Equal | J.M. From Cleveland | Docuseries |
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