For 11 seasons, millions of viewers welcomed Jay Pritchett and his sprawling family into their homes every week. Now, six years after Modern Family said goodbye, Ed O’Neill has made a rare appearance alongside some of the people who became his second family — and the new photos immediately sent longtime fans into nostalgia mode.
O’Neill, now 80, reunited over the weekend with Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson for dinner at SUSHISAMBA in Los Angeles. Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd was there as well. Vergara and Ferguson shared photos from the gathering on August 30, giving fans a new glimpse of an actor who has largely stayed away from the spotlight since the sitcom ended. (people.com)
The new reunion photos everyone is talking about
Vergara couldn’t hide how much the evening meant to her. Alongside the photographs, she described the group as her “American family” and marveled that six years had already passed since the finale. Ferguson kept his own message simple, writing that he loved the people in the photos. (people.com)
Bowen also shared pictures from the evening, including a particularly sweet shot with O’Neill. She joked that she loves her “fake dad” — a reference to the 11 years she spent playing his daughter Claire Dunphy. (thedailybeast.com)
And fans noticed something else almost immediately: Ed looks remarkably youthful at 80.
Comments under the reunion photos quickly filled with viewers marveling at his appearance, with some joking that the actor somehow looks younger now than he did during the series. (tvinsider.com)
Before Jay Pritchett, there was Al Bundy
Long before younger viewers knew O’Neill as the gruff-but-lovable patriarch of Modern Family, another generation knew him as one of television’s most recognizable sitcom dads.
O’Neill became a household name playing Al Bundy on Married… with Children, which premiered in 1987. The sarcastic shoe salesman became one of the defining sitcom characters of the late 1980s and 1990s.
That makes the latest photographs particularly striking for longtime fans: the man they first watched as Al Bundy nearly four decades ago has now celebrated his 80th birthday.
Sofía Vergara marked that milestone earlier this year with an affectionate tribute of her own, calling O’Neill her favorite “husband” and saying how much she missed him. (nz.news.yahoo.com)
Then came Jay and Gloria.
A completely different TV family
When Modern Family premiered in 2009, O’Neill found himself playing a father again — but Jay Pritchett was a very different man from Al Bundy.
Jay was the patriarch of a complicated family that included his much younger wife Gloria, played by Vergara; daughter Claire, played by Bowen; son Mitchell, played by Ferguson; and an ever-growing collection of children, spouses and grandchildren.
The show ran from 2009 until 2020, producing 250 episodes across 11 seasons. It became an awards powerhouse too, earning 88 Emmy nominations and 22 wins, including five victories for Outstanding Comedy Series. (people.com)
For Vergara, however, her relationship with O’Neill extended beyond what viewers saw between Gloria and Jay.
Earlier this year, she revealed that she particularly misses him because most of her scenes during those 11 years were with him. She described O’Neill as a friend and a guiding presence during what she considered her first major acting job. (people.com)
That history makes their newest photograph together especially lovely.
Jay and Gloria — six years later
Among the pictures from the new reunion is a shot of O’Neill and Vergara together — instantly recreating the familiar pairing millions of viewers watched for more than a decade.
Only this time, there are no scripts, no Jay and Gloria costumes and no cameras filming an episode.
They’re simply two old friends smiling together.
The gathering also included Bowen and Ferguson, meaning Jay was effectively reunited with Gloria and both of his fictional adult children.
And Vergara added a little Easter egg for devoted viewers: her post used “In the Moonlight (Do Me),” the deliberately ridiculous song associated with Dylan Marshall in the show’s first season. (people.com)
What has Ed O’Neill been doing since the finale?
O’Neill hasn’t disappeared from acting altogether, but his appearances have become considerably less frequent.
He portrayed disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in the 2024 FX series Clipped and appeared in All’s Fair in 2025. He is also set to appear alongside Cameron Diaz and Danielle Brooks in the Netflix film Bad Day this December. (people.com)
Unlike many celebrities, O’Neill doesn’t maintain a public social-media presence, which makes candid new photographs of him relatively uncommon. Much of what fans see of him now comes through former colleagues and friends. (thedailybeast.com)
Ed through the years
From Al Bundy to Jay Pritchett, O’Neill has now spent nearly four decades associated with two completely different television families.
And apparently, one of those families never really broke up.
The Modern Family cast has continued to stay in touch through a group chat and has reunited in different combinations since the finale. A larger gathering took place at Vergara’s home in 2023, and several cast members reunited onstage at the SAG Awards in 2024. (people.com)
But because O’Neill is seen publicly less frequently these days, his presence at this latest dinner made the photographs feel particularly special.
Six years after viewers watched the Pritchetts and Dunphys go their separate ways in the finale, Jay, Gloria, Claire and Mitchell were sitting together again.
And judging by the reaction to the photographs, plenty of viewers would happily invite the entire family back into their living rooms one more time. (tvinsider.com)
For more heartwarming and surprising family moments, check out My Son and I Secretly Boarded My Pilot Husband’s Flight to Surprise Him – Then He Said Something Over the Speakers That Made Us Both Go Still or read about My 6-Year-Old Son Objected to My Wedding Right Before the Vows – Then He Pulled Something From His Pocket That Silenced the Entire Room.
