On screen, Laurie Metcalf has played just about every kind of mom imaginable: a harsh critic in Lady Bird, a devout Texan in Big Bang Theory, a revenge-seeking maniac in Scream 2, and now an accidental criminal in Netflix’s Big Mistakes. Off-screen, she’s just a regular mom of four.
…With three Emmys and two Tonys, of course.
Her eldest daughter, actress Zoe Perry (Young Sheldon), once said of her mother, “For me, she’s always been such an inspiration because not only is she incredibly talented — I might be biased — but she’s always been such a good example of having a really strong work ethic and taking pride and value in the work that she does.”
Keep reading to learn more about Metcalf’s children, including how many have followed in her professional footsteps and who their fathers are.
How many children does Laurie Metcalf have?
Metcalf has three biological children — Zoe Perry, Will Roth and Mae Roth — and one adopted child, Donovan Roth.
Who are the fathers of Laurie Metcalf’s children?
Jeff Perry
Metcalf’s first husband was fellow actor Jeff Perry (My So-Called Life, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal), whom she married in 1983. The two met in the 1970s as young performers in Chicago’s theater scene, where they were founding members of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company. They welcomed one daughter, Zoe, before divorcing in 1986.
Though their marriage didn’t work out, Metcalf and Perry remained on good terms. “We just knew we loved this girl, and we weren’t gonna screw that up,” Perry told The New York Post. Metcalf even befriended his second wife, casting director Linda Lowy, whom he married in 1989.
“I don’t know what to call my relationship with Linda, it’s so solid and strong,” Metcalf told The Post. “There’s not really a term for it, but I love her, so I call her my sister-in-law.”
Matt Roth
In a classic case of on-set romance, Metcalf met her second husband, Matt Roth, while filming Season 5 of Roseanne, where he appeared in a six-episode arc as Jackie’s abusive boyfriend, Fisher. They were together for more than a decade before marrying in 2005, then separated in 2008 and officially divorced in 2014. They share three children: Will, Mae and Donovan.
Did Laurie Metcalf have a baby at 50?
Metcalf’s third biological child, Mae, was born via surrogacy on June 3, 2005—13 days before the Getting On actress turned 50.
Who are Laurie Metcalf’s children?
Zoe Perry
Metcalf welcomed her first child, Zoe, on Sept. 26, 1983, when she was 28 years old.
She and Perry, who split when Zoe was 2, had an “unwritten pact” that they wouldn’t let their daughter get into acting until at least after high school. “I didn’t want her to have to deal with the stress,” Metcalf told People.
Although Zoe made two brief appearances on Roseanne as a child, playing a younger version of her mother’s character, Jackie, she showed little interest in acting early on. It wasn’t until after graduating from Northwestern University that she chose to follow in her parents’ footsteps.
She’s since made appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Grey’s Anatomy, and shared the screen with her father on Scandal. But she’s best known for playing Sheldon’s mom, Mary Cooper, on Young Sheldon, the prequel to The Big Bang Theory, and now Georgia & Mandy’s First Marriage, a spinoff of Young Sheldon. The role of Mary was originated by Metcalf, who played it opposite Jim Parsons in the flagship series.
“When I first started pursuing acting professionally out of college, it was very much in my head that there would be comparisons with potentially both of my parents, and I found that pretty intimidating,” Zoe told Backstage. “When one is starting out, you’re trying to do right by them and not embarrass [yourself] and not embarrass them. But with time and with experience and getting some jobs and getting more confident along the way, it’s been more and more of a pleasure to encounter some of those comparisons.”
On the personal front, Zoe is married to producer Gab Taraboulsy, whom she married in 2022. Like her mother, Zoe tends to keep her family life out of the public eye. She doesn’t have a verified Instagram account, so don’t let any fan-run pages fool you!
Will Roth
Metcalf welcomed a son, Will, in 1993, ten years after the birth of her first child. Although Metcalf’s second-born walked a few red carpets with his mom as a kid, he’s now living a decidedly private life out of the spotlight.
A since deleted Instagram post by his sister Mae revealed that Will is married to grant manager Angela Saggiomo. The couple lives in Idaho, where Metcalf and Roth moved with Will in 2003, to an 80-acre ranch in Victor. (By that time, Zoe was in college.)
“We sort of bought it sight-unseen, since it was covered in 6 feet of snow at the time,” Metcalf told The Chicago Tribune in 2004. “It’s a tiny cabin, just one bathroom and two bedrooms. There’s a vegetable garden, a pond, and we’ve got lots of animals: horses, cows, a bull, goats, donkeys, chickens, peacocks and, of course, cats and dogs.”
According to TMZ, Metcalf got the ranch in her divorce from Roth.
Mae Roth
Metcalf’s third child arrived via surrogate in 2005. As with most aspects of the Emmy-winning actress’s personal life, she has not publicly addressed her surrogacy experience.
She has, however, given some insight into the challenges of raising a teen while promoting Lady Bird, which centered around a complicated mother-daughter relationship. “I really related to how much they loved each other but also how difficult it was—how they could aggravate each other,” she told Slant. “Being a mother, of course I could identify with that turbulent time [of adolescence].”
Like her big sister, Mae is following in her mother’s professional footsteps. She’s currently a sophomore in the BFA Musical Theatre program at Marymount Manhattan College. Unlike her family, however, she shares at least some of her personal and professional life on Instagram.
Donovan Roth
Metcalf and Roth fostered Donovan sometime around 2006 and adopted him soon after. He’s now roughly in his mid-twenties and keeps a low-profile.
It’s possible Metcalf fostered another child, or children: The New York Post published a story in 2008 that referred to her “young foster son.”
Was Laurie Metcalf’s daughter on The Conners?
Yes. Zoe appeared in two episodes of the show’s seventh and final season, playing a cop who disapproved of Jackie’s idea to rejoin the police force at her age.
“It was so much fun to watch them play off of each other,” The Conners executive producer Dan Caplan told TV Insider. “I actually think they might be different kinds of actors, but there’s such innate chemistry there that those scenes could have gone on forever, and we would’ve been happy.”
Commenting many years prior on how her famous parents influenced her career, Zoe told Backstage, “I can’t deny that there’s a great privilege in having parents who are established in the field that I’m pursuing. …They’ve been such great role models not only talent-wise, but also in how they lead their lives and the reasons why they’ve pursued this.”