The Cast of ‘Roseanne’ Then and Now
Roseanne was a beloved sitcom, praised for showing a more realistic version of a middle-class American family, but was not without controversy. The show was not shy about tackling hot-button subjects including abortion. When the show was rebooted in 2018, its main character played by Roseanne Barr was killed off because of Barr’s insensitive tweets at the time. The show was rebranded to The Conners and followed up with the rest of the clan.
The original series debuted in October 1988 and is now celebrating the 36th anniversary of its inception, which begs the question, what are the main cast members up to now? Let’s find out!
Roseanne Barr (71)
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Barr became famous as a stand-up comedian before gaining her own show playing the character Roseanne Harris-Conner. She won several awards during that time including an Emmy and Golden Globe. After the show ended in 1997, she returned to her stand-up roots as well as guest-starring on several popular shows including The Office and Portlandia. On the heels of her Roseanne fame, she hosted The Roseanne Show from 1997 to 2000.
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Barr appeared briefly in the reboot until she was fired after just one season. Now she is outspoken about cancel culture and recently had her own stand-up special called Roseanne Barr: Cancel This! on Fox Nation. Barr currently hosts her own podcast called The Roseanne Barr Podcast and often does episodes with her son and other celebrity guests. She has been married three times and has five children plus several grandchildren.
John Goodman (72)
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Goodman was already famous when he signed on to play Dan Conner, Roseanne’s husband in the show. When he was young, he was a college football player, but an injury led him to get interested in acting. He went on to star in many films during and after the show including The Flintstones, The Big Lewbowski and Monster’s Inc., to name a few.
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He currently acts on The Conners and The Righteous Gemstones. He has several projects in the works including a new Smurfs film set to premiere in 2025. He was also the narrator of the film Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, based on the group from Saturday Night Live. Goodman has been married to Anna Beth Hartzog since 1989 and they have one child, a daughter named Molly.
Laurie Metcalf (69)
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Prior to starring as Jackie Harris in Roseanne, Metcalf mostly worked in theater. After Roseanne, she starred in Norm, the Toy Story franchise, Uncle Buck, Lady Bird, The Big Bang Theory and Meet the Robinsons.
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She is currently reprising her role as Jackie in The Conners. She is set to appear in an episode of a show called Monster in 2025. Metcalf has been married twice and has four children.
Sara Gilbert (49)
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Gilbert got her big break on Roseanne as Darlene Conner. She continued to act after the show ended, guest-starred on several big shows including The Big Bang Theory and Atypical, and also became a cohost on The Talk. She was a cohost for nine years and was an executive producer.
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While Gilbert dated her Roseanne costar Johnny Galecki as a teen, she later married Linda Perry from 2014 to 2019. She has three children, two from a previous relationship. Gilbert has also reprised her role on The Conners. She has been promoting a new show called The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh on her social media accounts because she is an executive producer of the new series, which is streaming on Freevee and Prime Video.
Alicia ‘Lecy’ Goranson (50)
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Goranson played Becky Conner for the first five seasons of the series and made small appearances during Season 8. She was replaced by Sarah Chalke due to attending Vassar College at the time.
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After her time on the show and in college ended, she appeared in a few movies including Boys Don’t Cry and Buck Run. She returned to play Becky in The Conners and is still in the series. While she doesn’t seem to have any other projects in the works, she updates fans on her social media accounts and loves to share photos of her pets.
Sarah Chalke (48)
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Chalke came in to replace Goranson as Becky in several seasons of the show. Afterward, she landed perhaps her most beloved role as Dr. Elliot Reid on Scrubs from 2001 to 2010. She was also a recurring character in How I Met Your Mother. Despite Goranson returning to play Becky in the reboot, Chalke also returned to play the character Andrea.
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More recently, she has appeared in Firefly Lane and Animal Control and voiced characters in the shows Rick and Morty and Paradise PD. She has two kids from her former relationship with Jamie Afifi.
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She has shared a few Scrubs reunion photos on social media in the last year, sparking fan requests for a reboot.
Johnny Galecki (49)
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Galecki was an established actor when he appeared during the fourth season of Roseanne as David Healy. His biggest role to date came years later as Leonard Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory from 2006 to 2019.
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More recently, he reprised his role in The Conners and appeared in Rings and A Dog’s Journey. He has two children, a son with his ex Alaina Meyer and a daughter with his wife Morgan. He was recently seen taking the kids to Disneyland.
Michael Fishman (42)
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Fishman played D.J. Conner, the youngest son of Roseanne and Dan. He appeared during the first few seasons of The Conners but has since left the show. He hasn’t done a lot of acting since Roseanne but appeared in popular shows such as Hey Arnold! and Seinfeld.
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His most recent role was in Abducted by My Teacher: The Elizabeth Thomas Story but he also produces and directs. He has two children from a previous marriage.
Tom Arnold (65)
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Arnold was a writer on Roseanne and was married to Barr from 1990 until 1994. After her suggestion, he wrote himself into the show as the character Arnie Thomas. After leaving the show and his marriage to Barr, he starred in The Jackie Thomas Show.
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He continues to act on television and in films, in projects such as True Lies, FUBAR and NCIS: New Orleans. He has several projects in the works, as an actor, producer and writer. He married three more times after his marriage to Barr and has two children.
Now tell us, did you watch Roseanne? Who is your favorite character in the series?
Favorite TV Families
April 2019
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