Youngstown’s Ed O’Neill Stars in ‘Clipped’ Miniseries

LOS ANGELES – Ed O’Neill will be back on the small screen in a few months, starring in the six-part miniseries “Clipped.”

The show dramatizes the tumultuous events centered around the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the team’s caustic owner, Donald Sterling.

O’Neill plays Sterling, whose racist remarks got him stripped of his team and all connection to the league.

The first two episodes of “Clipped” will begin streaming on Hulu on June 4. A new episode will then be available every Tuesday.

“Clipped” marks the Youngstown-born actor’s first television series since ABC’s “Modern Family” ended its 11-year run in 2020. O’Neill is also known for his starring role on the landmark Fox sitcom “Married … with Children,” which ran from 1987 to 1997.

The actor grew up on Youngstown’s North Side, where he graduated from Ursuline High School. He attended Youngstown State University, where he played on the football team.

“Clipped” charts the collision between Sterling’s dysfunctional basketball organization and his even less functional marriage.

It starts with famed coach Doc Rivers (played by Laurence Fishburne) taking over as coach of the Clippers in 2013. With a promising roster, Rivers feels he has the players to win the franchise’s first championship.

But Sterling – who is cheap, erratic and a bully – stands in the way.

Meanwhile, a courtside power struggle escalates between Sterling’s ambitious personal assistant, V. Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman) and his wife and business partner of 60 years, Shelly (Jacki Weaver).

The limited series also stars Kelly AuCoin as Sterling’s right-hand man Andy Roeser, J. Alphonse Nicholson as Chris Paul, Rich Sommers as the Clippers’ PR man Seth Burton, Corbin Bernsen as Pierce O’Donnell, Clifton Davis as NBA great Elgin Baylor and Harriet Sansom Harris as “Justine.”

O’Neill took part in the Television Critics Association winter press tour, where he was asked about the difficulty of relating to Sterling.

“I don’t think about that,” he replied, according to an article in remindmagazine.com. “I found everything I needed in the script, in the story. I knew about the scandal. I was in LA when it happened. But I go one scene at a time.”

The actor almost had another role that would have brought him back to northeastern Ohio.

In a phone interview from his California home, O’Neill said he was offered a role in a gangster movie, playing a crime boss.

“I turned it down,” he said. “I wasn’t right for it.”

Pictured at top: Laurence Fishburne, Ed O’Neill and Jacki Weaver in a scene from the upcoming miniseries “Clipped.”

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