Notable actress, writer, and director Sara Gilbert made a name for herself as a unique female voice from the time she first appeared on the pilot episode of “Roseanne” (ABC, 1988-1997) at the age of 13. Her “regular girl” looks and independent spirit lent an authenticity to a string of early roles as teenage misfits and outsiders, winning loyalty among real-life counterparts who rarely found anyone they could relate to on the big and small screens. Gilbert held tight to her individuality as she explored a range of acting and production roles, as well as in her non-traditional personal life as a supporter of progressive political and social causes.
Sara Gilbert was born Sara Abeles on Jan. 29, 1975, in Santa Monica, CA. She, her older sister Melissa and her brother Jonathon, made up the third generation of a show business family. Grandfather Harry Crane was a creator and writer of “The Honeymooners” (CBS, 1955-56), and grandmother Julia Crane was a noted dancer who had been named “Miss Brooklyn.” Mother Barbara Crane was a producer and talent manager in Hollywood. In an interview, Sara claimed that she decided to go into acting after seeing the amount of presents that her siblings Melissa and Jonathan received as stars of “Little House on the Prairie” (NBC, 1974-1983). At the age of six, she started making TV appearances – first in a Kool-Aid commercial, and then in the made for TV movie “Calamity Jane” (1984). She continued to go to a regular school and lead a relatively normal life during that time, which she credited with helping her avoid the fate of other child actors, and which no doubt helped give her that striking “real kid” quality.
Indeed, Gilbert was refreshingly real — as well as darkly sarcastic with natural comic timing —when she debuted in the role of Darlene Connor on “Roseanne.” For nine years, audiences watched the middle sister of this working-class, Midwestern family evolve from a basketball-playing tomboy to a budding writer with artistic, political, and sometimes depressive tendencies. Her relationship with her mother Roseanne was forever a source of conflict as this opinionated, domineering, razor-witted daughter mirrored her mom more than any of the other siblings. The similarities became more obvious when Darlene met David, a sensitive, accommodating artist who almost always caved in to Darlene’s will in both their relationship and the graphic novels the pair wrote and illustrated jointly.
In real life, Gilbert was exploring other creative talents and wrote a Roseanne episode called “Don’t Make Me Over,” which aired during season four. In 1993 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in Comedy Series. She had also become a vocal animal activist and vegetarian. In the middle of the series production, she announced that she had been accepted at Yale University – the alma mater of her idol, Jodie Foster. Show producers juggled storylines and taping schedules to accommodate Gilbert’s education, shooting remote segments of Darlene at a soundstage in New York. They were not as open to her suggestion that Darlene, in a reflection of Gilbert’s real life experiences, come out as gay. Gilbert graduated with honors from Yale in 1997, earning a BA in art with an emphasis in photography. That same year marked the series finale of Roseanne, which had fallen in the ratings after taking a bizarre twist into the surreal.
On the big screen, Gilbert co-starred with Drew Barrymore in the notorious film, “Poison Ivy” (1992) and as well as in “Riding in Cars With Boys” (2001). She also landed roles in other feature films such as “Light it Up” (1999), “The Big Tease” (1999) and “High Fidelity.” Amidst her busy schedule, she found time to direct the short film “Persona Non Grata” which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. She continued working in TV, with guest appearances on “The Simpsons” (Fox, 1989-) “Will & Grace” (NBC, 1998-2006) and “Strong Medicine” (Lifetime, 2000-), as well as enjoying regular recurring roles on “24” (FX, 2002-), “The Class”(CBS, 2006-) and “ER” (NBC, 1994-). Gilbert co-starred in the sitcom “Twins” (WB, 2005-2006) for one season and was the creator and director of an unaired ABC sitcom “Even the Losers” (1998).
On a personal note, in 2004, Sara’s life partner, television writer/producer Allison Adler, gave birth to a son, and the two set up house in the Hollywood Hills. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Gilbert kept her personal life out of the spotlight, emerging to voice support for causes such as the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, AIDS Project L.A., PETA and various animal rights organizations.