The Cast Of The Big Bang Theory Outside Of The Sitcom

Johnny Galecki has been playing Leonard Hofstadter since day one, when audiences were introduced to the experimental physicist sharing an apartment with the eccentric Sheldon Cooper.  He quickly became lovestruck by their new neighbor, the beautiful Penny.

The following celebrities chose not to leave a dime for their children in their wills, and for a variety of reasons… [post_page_title]Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis[/post_page_title] They might be one of the poster couples of Hollywood, but Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis aren’t planning on leaving any cash for their kids in their respective wills. The dynamic duo reportedly claimed that huge trust funds and inheritance prevent the next generation from working hard to make a living and creating their own legacy. Apparently, Kunis and Kutcher are planning on using their leftover money for charitable endeavors. However, they will financially support their kids while they are still alive…

[post_page_title]Elton John[/post_page_title] As one of the original rock stars who is still with us, it should be no surprise that Elton John is sitting on an absolute goldmine. However, he decided a long time ago, along with husband David Furnish, that they wouldn’t simply hand over their money to their children when they’re gone. Instead, the couple chose to donate over $66 million to charity. They hope the move will teach their kids the value of hard work and respect. “You shouldn’t give kids a silver spoon – it ruins their lives,” John said.

[post_page_title]Richard “Old Man” Harrison[/post_page_title] Richard “Old Man” Harrison is the man who originally founded the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop that the show Pawn Stars is set in. Since its creation, the show has become quite popular among TV audiences in the US and has helped the family amass a sizeable fortune. However, Harrison’s will stated that he would be leaving his youngest son Christopher out of the will. While the family has not given an explanation as to the reason, they say it had to do with “family matters.”

[post_page_title]Gene Simmons[/post_page_title] Legendary KISS bassist Gene Simmons announced his intention to give away almost all of his massive $300 million fortune to non-profit organizations. He said he made his decision so that his children, Nick and Sophie, could learn how to “fly” independently, saying: “Every year they should be forced to get up out of bed, and go out and work and make their own way.” However, they won’t be left completely empty-handed; the two will be getting an annual allowance for rent and daily needs.

[post_page_title]Simon Cowell[/post_page_title] Executive producer and well-known TV host Simon Cowell is well known for his blunt persona. However, having his first child recently seems to have taken a bit of that edge off. Unfortunately for Eric, though, he will not be rewarded for that with a large inheritance. Cowell plans to donate his money to charity, saying, “Your legacy has to be that hopefully, you gave enough people an opportunity so that they could do well, and you gave them your time, taught them what you know.”

[post_page_title]George Lucas[/post_page_title] We’re sure that George Lucas has always been excited to say the following line to his children: “I am your father.” However, you might be surprised to learn that the creator of Star Wars doesn’t want to pass on his royalties to his four kids. Instead, when George sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion, he donated it to “The Giving Pledge” in the name of education. In fact, Lucas is planning to give all of his wealth to the same organization.

[post_page_title]Mark Zuckerberg[/post_page_title] Another celebrity who has joined “The Giving Pledge” instead of giving away his money to his kids is good ol’ Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder started The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with his wife in a hope to aid causes such as development in education, social issues, and healthcare, to name a few. Amazingly, they have decided to donate a whopping 99% of their money to the charity, which as of 2019 was about $63.5 billion. Quite a bold move, even by Zuck’s standards.

[post_page_title]Michael Bloomberg[/post_page_title] Yet again, Michael Bloomberg is another celebrity who has decided to give away much of his money to charity after signing “The Giving Pledge,” instead of to his children. The former mayor of New York is hoping to aid causes such as science, healthcare, and education with a whopping $34 billion. To be fair, Bloomberg seems to have a good explanation for his move. Instead of just offloading billions to his kids, he’d rather make the world around them a better place for them to thrive in.

[post_page_title]Warren Buffett[/post_page_title] Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world with a total net worth of roughly $84.9 billion. The Australian spent most of his years making his profits off the media industry and has gone on to earn his cash the long, hard way. However, despite being one of the richest people in the world, Buffett has stated that he will only leave a total of $2 billion per child. While that may still be a lot of money, it’s nothing compared to his worth.

[post_page_title]Phillip Seymour Hoffman[/post_page_title] Phillip Seymour Hoffman is easily one of the most prolific actors of our time and his time on the screen has been legendary. However, despite the glitzy lifestyle, we assume all celebrities live, Hoffman was quite adamant about not leaving his money to his children. His motto was, “There won’t be much money left because we are spending it!” As a result, Hoffman has left all of his money to his partner and wanted to ensure that his kids learned how to work.

[post_page_title]Kevin O’Leary[/post_page_title] Kevin O’Leary has managed to amass himself quite a fortune over the course of his lifetime. He managed to acquire a whopping $300 million by selling off a meal delivery business and has appeared on the show Shark Tank as a main judge. However, O’Leary has always made a point about teaching his children the value of money and has stated that he will not give them any money after supporting them up to the very last day of college. After that, they’re on their own.

[post_page_title]Sting[/post_page_title] Rock legend Sting started from humble beginnings, which is why he sees the value in not spoiling his kids. “People make assumptions, that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but they have not been given a lot,” he claims. It’s just as well because according to him, he is going to spend all of his money before they get to inherit it. Fortunately, a lot of that spending is going to good causes, as well as the 100-odd people on his payroll.

[post_page_title]Heath Ledger[/post_page_title] Heath Ledger is one of the greatest actors of our time and his passing in 2008 has left a mark on Hollywood ever since. While Ledger apparently had created a will for his wife and children, that was only in 2003. Because of the fact that he had not updated his will before his untimely death, he failed to include his daughter Matilda and mother Michelle Williams. However, Ledger’s father assured that both his mother and daughter would be taken care of.

[post_page_title]50 Cent[/post_page_title] 50 Cent, the famous rapper, has been known for having some pretty nasty public disputes with his eldest son Marquise Jackson. After a nasty divorce with his first wife, Shaniqua Tompkins, 50 Cent apparently paid her a sum of $1,360,000.00 as a settlement. However, Shaniqua apparently spent most of it in a short space of time, something that angered the rapper as he wanted his children to have opportunities he did not. As a result of this, the rapper has decided to leave his son out of the will.

[post_page_title]Pierre Omidyar[/post_page_title] Pierre Omidyar has amassed a fortune of $10.9 billion thanks to the website he founded, eBay. He and his wife, Pamela, are well-known philanthropists, having started an organization with Richard Branson as well as their own philanthropic investment firm, the Omidyar Network. “Our view is fairly simple. We have more money than our family will ever need. There’s no need to hold onto it when it can be put to use today, to help solve some of the world’s most intractable problems,” quoted the couple.

[post_page_title]Andrew Lloyd Weber[/post_page_title] Composer and musical theater legend Andrew Lloyd Weber does not plan to leave his near $1 billion fortune to his five children, explaining, “I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work.” Instead, he wants to use his fortune to support struggling composers and artists, saying, “I feel I owe a debt and that is very largely due to the success not only in Britain but also the rest of the world.”

[post_page_title]Nigella Lawson[/post_page_title] Nigella Lawson is one of the most famous female celebrity chefs in the world, and together, her and partner Charles Saatchi are estimated to be worth around £100 million. However, Nigella has been quite adamant about the fact that she does not believe it’s a good idea to let their children inherit any of it! This has actually caused a lot of tension between the two, as Saatchi believes that they should inherit the cash. Nigella believes that it’s best to give it to charity.

[post_page_title]Jackie Chan[/post_page_title] Actor/stuntman Jackie Chan has had kids both in and out of wedlock. However, when it comes to who inherits what, he doesn’t differentiate. None of his offspring will receive a dime of the money he leaves behind in his will. Seeing that he hasn’t been in touch with daughter Etta Ng for a long time, this made sense. However, son Jaycee Chan was surprised to learn that he wouldn’t be inheriting anything from his dad. Instead, Chan donated all of his inheritance money to charity in 2012.

[post_page_title]Gordon Ramsay[/post_page_title] While celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s personality is exaggerated for TV, it seems he runs his family with the same tough-yet-realistic attitude. The fact that he won’t be leaving his $190 million fortune to his kids is just one example of that. The chef rose up from a tough upbringing and thinks that letting his kids enjoy a fortune they didn’t earn will make them lazy. Apart from a 25% deposit on an apartment, the Ramsay children won’t be seeing a penny of the chef’s fortune.

[post_page_title]Tess Daly[/post_page_title] Tess Daly, host of the popular dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing, worries that leaving her daughters Pheobe and Amber with a large inheritance would turn them into “spoiled brats.” She revealed in an interview that she is already busy teaching her kids financial responsibility, saying: “Right now, we’re setting up a pocket money system with my eldest. We’re doing reward charts and we’ve explained that we can’t buy her everything.” She believes that if you make kids’ lives too easy, it removes kids’ will to succeed.

[post_page_title]Ted Turner[/post_page_title] You’d think that most kids who were denied inheritance in their celebrity parents’ wills would feel somewhat cheated. However, Ted Turner’s children are very much on the same page as him when it comes to how he’s distributing his legacy. In 1990, the CNN founder established the Turner Foundation, which was followed by the United Nations Foundation 20 years later. His children also work for the foundations. Turner reportedly claimed that he was “almost to the edge of poverty” after donating so much to charity.

The character of Alex is introduced as a doctoral student placed with Sheldon as a research assistant, but Sheldon often gave her busy work, rather than actually allowing her to help him. When he brings her back to the gang with him, she develops a noticeable crush on Leonard, which Penny takes note of, though Leonard remained oblivious. She eventually tries to ask Leonard out, but he maintains his fidelity to Penny and turns her down.

Prior to her run on The Big Bang Theory, Margo Harshman was a regular on the Disney Channel show, Even Stevens, when she played Louis Stevens’s friend, Tawny Dean. Margo has been working consistently since she finished her arc on The Big Bang Theory. Her most notable role since then has been Delilah Fielding on NCIS, a run which began in 2013 that is ongoing as of this year. This year she also appeared in Love on the Vines as Diana Armstrong.

Barry Kripke established himself from the get go as one of Sheldon’s many nemeses from his first introduction in season two. Aside from constantly antagonizing the gang as a rival physicist, though one who studies plasma and string theory, Barry is still beloved for his sarcastic quips that are always punctuated by his speech impediment that prevents him from properly pronouncing his r’s. John Ross Bowie has made appearances as Barry in every season since his introduction.

John Ross Bowie has had an extensive career on screen from long before he began working on The Big Bang Theory. Bowie has been working in comedy for years, as both a performer and as a writer, prior to moving into film acting. Bowie has continued to participate in a number of other acting projects in the time he’s not filming The Big Bang Theory. Most recently, he has began starring as the father in Speechless, Jimmy DiMeo.

. As the child star of Star Trek, Wil Wheaton was the perfect actor to play an exaggerated version of himself on The Big Bang Theory. His entrance as a celebrity Sheldon had been dying to meet was played perfectly when he turned out to be less than kind, disappointing Sheldon so much that he became yet another of Sheldon’s enemies, for a time at least. Though the two have seemed to set aside their differences now, it’s not always easy being Sheldon’s friend.

Richard William Wheaton III, better known as Wil Wheaton began acting as a child when he was cast in Stand by Me. He followed up the role with a long run as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wil has been acting consistently since his start, and he also often works as a voice over artist. In addition to his current work on The Big Bang Theory, he also  hosts his own YouTube series, titled TableTop.

As written on the show, Mary Cooper, played by another Roseanne alumna, Laurie Metcalf, Mary is almost the antithesis of her genius son Sheldon. Mary is an extremely religious Christian, whose beliefs often directly contrast with Sheldon’s. Even so, she’s a caring mother, always showing up to help Sheldon when he’s most in need, usually when alerted by a concerned Leonard. Metcalf has been playing Mrs. Cooper since the character’s introduction.

Laurie Metcalf has had a prolific career over the years, ever since her role as Roseanne’s sister Jackie on the sitcom, Roseanne. She has also appeared on a number of other shows including Desperate Housewives, Getting On, and more recently, the short-lived The McCarthy’s. She has also voiced Andy’s mom in all three of the Toy Story movies, in addition to several other film roles. Most recently, Laurie won a Tony award this past spring for her work on Broadway.

The inimitable Christine Baranski has been appearing on The Big Bang Theory since 2009 when she was cast as Leonard’s psychiatrist mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. Leonard and his mother don’t exactly have a close relationship, as Beverly often considers Leonard a psychiatric experiment before she sees him as a son. He was often humiliated by her use of him as a parenting experiment, and has been constantly working for her approval his entire life.

If you’re as consistently impressed by Christine’s stellar performances as the icy Beverly, it might be because she trained at the exclusive Juilliard School in New York City. Though she excels as the steely psychiatrist on The Big Bang Theory, Baranski has an incredible amount of range as an actress, both on the stage and on film. She has appeared in several musicals, including the film adaptations of Chicago and Mama Mia!. She recently wrapped The Good Wife, and will be seen in its spin off.

Brian George has been playing Raj’s hilarious father, Dr. V.M. Koothrappali since the beginning when he appeared in season one. Given that Raj’s parents are still living and working in New Delhi, they are often seen only over video chat, and usually together. We finally get to meet the senior Dr. Koothrappali, who is a well regarded gynecologist, rather than a Ph.D in an episode of season eight. George has had one appearance per year for the past several seasons.

Brian George has certainly had an interesting life. He was born in Jerusalem to parents who had emigrated from India, but was mostly raised in London. Brian has managed to build an incredible acting resume for himself, and is possibly best known for his run as Babu Bhatt on Seinfeld. In addition to The Big Bang Theory, Brian has recently been appearing as Arjun Avasarala in the series The Expanse, a role he began playing in 2015.

Lucy and Raj first meet at Stuart’s comic book store during a singles event he threw in honor of Valentine’s Day. Like Raj, Lucy also suffered from severe social anxiety to the point that she would often run out in the middle of their first few dates without so much of a hint as to her intentions. They began their relationship in season six, but got off to a rocky start as Lucy needed to the relationship to progress more slowly than it was.

Kate had been working as an actress for a while prior to being cast on The Big Bang Theory, with roles on Scrubs, ‘Til Death and Motorcity. She has also done an extensive amount of voiceover work for animated features and television shows including Clayface in Lego Batman Movie. Micucci is also one half of the musical comedy duo that is known as Garfunkle and Oates. Recently, she’s been voicing Sara Murphy in Milo Murphy’s Law.

Penny is the only one of the girls who has been on The Big Bang Theory since the pilot first began airing in 2007. A very pretty, aspiring actress who financed her ambitions by working at The Cheesecake Factory. Leonard developed a crush on her almost immediately, but never expected her to return his affections. To his surprise, Penny also developed feelings for Leonard and after several road blocks to their relationship, they eloped in Vegas in the ninth season.

Kaley Cuoco started acting as a teenager when she was cast as Bridget Hennessy, John Ritter’s daughter in the sitcom, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Kaley is one of the best paid female actress on television right now, though that list is still topped by Sofia Vergara. Kaley’s personal life hasn’t been quite as smooth as Penny’s, but she’s still doing pretty well for herself with a $900,000 per episode paycheck for the upcoming seasons.

We’re first introduced to microbiologist Bernadette in season three when Penny offers to set her up with Howard. The pair struggled to find common ground early in their relationship, until Bernadette realized that Howard’s mother was similar to her own. The two eventually married, making Howard the first of the gang to settle down and to start a family. Bernadette quickly became an integral part of the formula on The Big Bang Theory and was Penny’s first regular female companion on the show.

Melissa Rauch got her start working as a stand up comedian in New York City, while she studied acting at Marymount College. Though she had performed a successful solo show in New York City, The Big Bang Theory was her breakout role. During the course of her run on The Big Bang Theory, she has also had roles in several other TV shows and films, including True Blood and The Bronze. She also voiced Francine in 2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course.