‘Married...With Children’ Star, 80, Makes Rare Appearance at Sitcom Reunion

George Rose / Getty Images Modern Family star Ed O’Neill, 80, reunited with his on-screen kin for the first time in years over the weekend.

The Emmy-nominated actor, who originally rose to fame as Al Bundy on the late-1980s sitcom Married...With Children , joined his Modern Family co-stars Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, and Jessy Tyler Ferguson for a reunion dinner at SUSHISAMBA in Los Angeles.

The get-together marked one of the actor’s rare public appearances since the long-running ABC sitcom, in which he played family patriarch Jay Pritchett, ended in 2020.

Vergara , 54, who played his on-screen wife Gloria Pritchett, shared photos from the gathering on Instagram on August 31.

The post included group shots with O’Neill, Bowen, and Ferguson as well as a photo of herself with her former TV husband.

Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd also joined the dinner.

“With my American family!!! ❤️❤️,” she wrote in the caption.

“I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since the Modern Family finale!!!😫😫 I miss u guys!!!” Bowen also shared photos from the dinner, including a group shot where O’Neill is hugging her.

“I love my fake dad… (and my real dad, but he wasn’t at dinner last night…),” she captioned the Instagram post.

Bowen played Claire Dunphy, the daughter of O’Neill’s character.

For O’Neill and Vergara, the reunion brought back one of television’s most famous age-gap couples.

The actors—and the characters they portrayed—had a significant age difference, with O’Neill being 26 years older than Vergara in real life.

Jay and Gloria remained central to the series throughout its 11-season run, even unexpectedly welcoming a son in Season 4.

Fans also had plenty to say about O’Neill’s appearance.