Originally famous as ditzy bimbo Kelly Bundy on Fox's long-running dysfunctional family sitcom "Married… With Children", Christina Applegate parlayed her comic talents and sexy image into the movie world. Applegate was raised by her actress mother Nancy Priddy after she split from record executive Bobby Applegate. Making her TV debut as an infant with her mother in "Days of Our Lives", Applegate subsequently landed her first movie role aged ten when she appeared with Priddy in the low-grade horror flick Jaws of Satan (1981).

After playing Grace Kelly as a child in the TV biopic "Grace Kelly" (1983), Applegate did the rounds of several TV shows before 1987’s "Married. . .With Children" hit the airwaves. Despite criticisms about its vulgarity, the show became one of Fox's first signature hits and lasted ten seasons. It also spawned a TV movie "It's a Bundyful Life" (1992), spoofing the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

A bona fide teen heartthrob, Applegate attempted to branch out from her brainless Bundy persona, showing her serious side as a prostitute and drug addict in the gritty drama Streets (1990). Teen comedy Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) showcased her as a smart, resourceful, and, more importantly, anti-Bundy character.

Ready to leave the TV-bred teen realm behind after Married went off the air in 1997, Applegate co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in the action comedy The Big Hit (1998) and played the fiancée of a Mob scion in Jim Abraham's parodic Mafia! (1998). Inspired by her experience with her mother growing up, though, Applegate agreed to return to TV to star as a single mom balancing work and family in the sitcom Jesse (1998) which was canceled in 2000.

Applegate returned to movie comedy, co-starring with Jean Reno as a princess in the time-travel yarn Just Visiting (2001). Subsequently holding her own opposite some of her more lustrous film peers, Applegate has earned far better American reviews than the movie itself as Cameron Diaz's levelheaded best friend in the raunchy female bonding romp The Sweetest Thing (2002).