Whatever Happened To Bud Bundy From Married...With Children?
Here's the thing about child stars: hopefully, they grow up. David Faustino grew up on television, playing Bud Bundy on "Married... With Children" for ten years. As the mischievous youngest child of Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and his wife Peg (Katey Sagal), Bud annoyed his older sister Kelly (Christina Applegate) in a way we all loved to watch.
But while O'Neill, Sagal, and Applegate went on to have incredibly successful careers after "Married... With Children" ended, Faustino remains stuck with Bud as his most memorable role. He told HipHopDX that he doesn't mind when people call him "Bud," though it used to bother him. "I don't really care," he said. "It just means that people liked the character, and people still love the character." People do still care. Faustino's home is a regular stop on Hollywood star tours, and he told The New York Times that he had to get used to it. "Every day, I have a tour bus that comes around my house and stops. You can hear them on their microphone. If you don't embrace it," he said, "it's going to destroy you."
Fans of Faustino's work on "Married... With Children" may not be aware that Faustino is still working in Hollywood, making a living as an actor. After all, he's no longer the fresh-faced young kid he was in the 1980s. He may be unrecognizable today, but here's what he's been up to since his most iconic role went off the air.
David Faustino almost wasn't in Married...With Children
Before he was cast on "Married... With Children," David Faustino was best known for bit parts on shows like "Little House on the Prairie," "The Love Boat," and "Family Ties." The FOX sitcom about the Bundy family changed everything, but he almost didn't get the part that would make him famous.
Faustino recalled on an episode of "How I Got The Part" that after he auditioned for the pilot, "I don't even think I got a callback, actually." Sure enough, the part of Bud Bundy originally went to a different actor. The pilot didn't quite work, however, and producers were looking to recast the show. "It didn't work out with them, lucky for me, thank God," Faustino recalled. His new agent convinced him to audition again. "My first performance was so memorable," he joked, "that they didn't remember me at all." Things went Faustino's way this time, and he got the part.
He would go on to play Bud Bundy in 259 episodes of the show, which was on the air until 1997. It seems that Faustino would then spend the next several decades of his career defined by that role, asked about it constantly in interviews. "I definitely want to do more acting work, no doubt about it," he told LA Weekly in 2007. "I'm excited for that next great role. I don't know what it will be or when it will be, but I'm definitely open to it."
He was arrested in Florida in 2007
In 2007, David Faustino was arrested in Florida and charged with marijuana possession, a misdemeanor punishable with up to a year in prison. Despite the possible prison sentence hanging over his head, Faustino didn't seem too worried. "It's not the biggest charge in the world," his lawyer Michael Rodriguez said (via Fox News).
Faustino was originally also charged with disorderly intoxication after police saw him try to climb out of a car window and run away. "I took on an attitude that I never ever take on with cops," Faustino later told LA Weekly. "But when I was drinking, I thought I was Mr. Big Shot, and they put me in cuffs, and that was that." He spent the night in jail, and the disorderly intoxication charge was dropped.
The following year, The Associated Press reported that Faustino was no longer in any legal trouble. "He successfully completed the deferred prosecution agreement, which included a drug treatment program," a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office named Linda Pruitt told the wire service. Rodriguez, Faustino's attorney, wanted to make sure the press knew that Faustino wasn't treated any differently by the court because he was a celebrity. "He did what was asked of him," the lawyer said, "and he fulfilled all of his conditions."
David Faustino's Married... With Children money dried up
While you might expect that one of the main stars of one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time would be rolling in dough for the rest of his life, that's not the case for David Faustino. "We all made really good money while we were doing it," he admitted to Access. "We made great weekly paychecks." In most cases, actors would continue to be paid whenever the show is re-run, but the "Married... With Children" cast didn't get that deal. "We all got screwed over because Fox at the time was not a network; it was a cable network," Faustino explained. That meant no residuals. "The show 'Married... With Children' has made over a billion dollars, and we didn't really get a piece of that."
Thankfully, though, Faustino isn't exactly hurting for money these days. Still, he told LA Weekly that he wishes he were more successful again. "I mean, yeah, I've made some pretty decent investments, so I feel comfortable financially. But is that enough?" he pondered before answering his own question. "No, not really because, you know, I like the attention and the fame. That's part of the whole package."
He got married... and divorced
David Faustino first met actor Andrea Elmer at a Los Angeles spiritual center, according to People. That was in 1999; by 2004, they married at a chapel in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last. Faustino filed for divorce in February 2007 and petitioned the court not to have to pay his ex-wife anything. The reason for the dissolution of the marriage, he said, was "irreconcilable differences."
TMZ posted the divorce court documents later that year. By that point, Faustino and Elmer had, apparently, "duly executed a Marital Settlement Agreement."
While their marriage ended a mere three years after it began, Faustino and Elmer seemed to split on relatively good terms. After all, she played herself in "Star-ving," his web series about what it's like to be a grown-up child star. On the show, Elmer runs off with rapper Coolio, which Faustino acknowledged wasn't true to life. "Coolio is not screwing my ex-wife, but I'm sure she's screwing somebody," he joked to Access. "Coolio is sneaky, though; he could've, and I don't know about it."
His web series didn't last
In 2009, David Faustino played a fictionalized version of himself in a web series called "Star-ving," which he also co-created, co-wrote, and co-directed. "My money's gone, my mom's a midget, and my wife left me for my neighbor Coolio," Faustino narrates at the beginning of each episode. In the show, he runs a porn shop, and he frequently runs across celebrity guests that include the aforementioned Coolio, his former "Married... With Children" co-stars Ed O'Neill and Katey Sagal, and Ron Jeremy, among others. Corin Nemec, star of "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," co-created, co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred as well.
"It's a really exaggerated, over-the-top, volume turned up to eleven, sort of show about me and what I'm up to," he told CBS News. Faustino noted that while there was an element of truth in depicting what it's like to be an actor trying to keep going a decade after being in something iconic, the show is fictionalized, too. "It's based in reality, meaning it's a slice of my life," he said, "but we take everything, and we just really exaggerate the s*** out of it."
The show only lasted twelve episodes. Still, it was well-received. It picked up a nomination for Audience Choice Best Show of the Year at the 2010 Streamy Awards, though it unfortunately didn't win. "People really, really love it," Faustino told Access. "And then there's, of course, the people who are offended, but that's to be expected."
He's played himself a few other times, too
In addition to his role in "Star-ving," David Faustino has played himself several times. Perhaps most notably, he appeared on two episodes of "Entourage" and returned for the movie. He also showed up on a 2013 episode of "Modern Family," acting opposite Ed O'Neill, his former TV dad. Finally, Faustino played himself in an episode of "Bones," which saw him come under suspicion of murder after the director of a movie called "Party Panthers" turns up dead.
Faustino has also dipped his toe in the reality television pool. In 2001, he appeared on "Celebrity Boot Camp," a show that put celebs through the paces of a military training camp. At the time, Faustino was proud of how he looked in his military gear. "Because I shaved my head, my hat — my Marine cover — looks really good," he bragged to Entertainment Weekly. "My pants were a little baggy, though."
There are some things, however, that Faustino simply won't do. He happened to be speaking with a reporter from The New York Times when he was offered an appearance on "Celebrity Rehab," which he turned down... not least because he doesn't consider himself any kind of addict. "The money is decent," he acknowledged, "but I don't want to go on TV and spill my guts."
The former Bud Bundy has children of his own
In 2015, David Faustino announced that he'd become a father. He and then-fiancée Lindsay Bronson had welcomed their daughter Ava Marie three months earlier, and in an interview with People, Faustino confessed to being exhausted. "She's an amazing baby, but there are some nights that are crazy," he said. Still, it wasn't all bad; Faustino said that becoming a father gave him a new perspective on life. "For me, growing up in this industry and having everything based on ego, it's great to have something bigger to live for and get outside of myself a little bit," he reflected.
The "Married... With Children" star frequently shares his daughter on his social media. In 2022, he posted an Instagram snap of the two of them hugging, captioning the adorable photo, "Here's to my little woman on #internationalwomensday #IWD May you do big thangs [sic] while you're here."
Eagle-eyed fans will note that Faustino also has a second child, one that he hasn't spoken about nearly as much. In November 2021, he posted an Instagram video of his daughter behind a DJ board, noting in the caption, "Don't mind pregnant wifey scooting through our vid." The following February, he shared a picture of a yawning baby, writing, "Introducing Cassius Bronson Faustino. Welcome to planet Earth, little man."
If you don't recognize his face anymore, you still might know his voice
These days, even if you're no longer familiar with David Faustino's face, there's a chance you might recognize his voice. "I've had a lot of success in voiceover," he explained while appearing on a podcast called "The A-Game." He added, "It's been great to me. It's been, you know, my second career ... It's been a great, great gift." Faustino works from home in a studio that can be connected online to any recording session anywhere else.
At first, Faustino said, he wasn't sure about switching lanes. "In most cases, there's not a lot of flash and flair about it," he said, missing the recognition that comes with on-camera work. "In that sense, my ego was bothered by it." When he became a father, however, Faustino began to treasure the freedom that a voiceover career affords him to spend more time with his family.
The former Bud Bundy acknowledged that he does get some recognition for some of his roles, which include "Winx Club" and "Dragons: Race to the Edge." Most famously, he provided the voice of Mako in "The Legend of Korra," set in the world of "Avatar the Last Airbender." In an interview with ScreenCrush at Comic-Con 2014, Faustino marveled, "It's always mind-boggling when you see the amount of fans that are in that ballroom ... We're a little tired, but it's been a blast."
You might spot him behind a DJ booth
Back in the day, Bud Bundy was into music; who can forget Grandmaster B? Unsurprisingly, David Faustino was into rap, too. As a child star growing up in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Faustino got involved in the up-and-coming hip-hop scene, even throwing a series of legendary rap parties called Balistyx at the historic Whiskey A Go Go. The parties were attended by icons like KRS-One and N.W.A, and the rap battles that closed the event helped launch will.i.am's career. "He took it every night," Faustino told LA Weekly. "He won for weeks in a row; people couldn't beat him. He became a big star at Balistyx, and then Eazy-E signed him."
Faustino is still involved in music these days. He DJs regularly, including opening for Method Man in Vegas as his old alter ego's alter ego, Grandmaster B. He also runs a record label called Old Scratch Records, and he has even released his own music as a rapper. His stage persona is "this little short Italian muthaf***a named Lil' Gweed," he told HipHopDX. "What's dope is that I've been really writing a lot more, which has been so great. It's been something I've been wanting to do but putting off for years."
He's disappointed in the Married... With Children reboot news
For years, David Faustino has spoken about wanting to get a "Married... With Children" reboot off the ground. He threw out a couple of ideas in an interview with HipHopDX, suggesting that in an ideal world, the show would now focus on Bud, considering Faustino is now older than Ed O'Neill was when "Married... With Children" started. "We've kicked around the idea of bringing the Bud character back and what would that look like," he said. "At this age, would he have a kid? Would he still be living in that house? Would Al and Peggy be somehow ... they got some money, and they're gone living in Florida?"
In 2022, Deadline reported that an animated reboot of "Married .. with Children" was being shopped around Hollywood. All four of the original leads were expected to return to voice their characters, including Faustino. Still, even though he's been making a living as a voiceover actor, Faustino told The Associated Press that he was a bit let down by the news. "At first, I was disappointed because I wanted to do ... cause I'm young enough to still play like the father ... so I was disappointed in that," he said. Faustino acknowledged that he sees one upside to the show continuing in this format. He reasoned, "[Voice acting is] a lot easier work, I'll tell you that."