Education
Gilbert attended Yale University and graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in art with a concentration in photography.
Gilbert attended Yale University and graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in art with a concentration in photography.
Television career
Gilbert decided at age six that she wanted to be an actress after her older sister, Melissa Gilbert, got a plaque on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Following appearances in television movies and a commercial for Kool Aid, at thirteen she landed the role of Darlene Conner, the sarcastic middle child, in Roseanne. Sara was a cast member in the show's nine-year run from 1988 to 1997, for which she wrote a fourth-season episode story (the teleplay was written by the Guild Writers for the show) called "Don't Make Me Over". Her contribution was considered so important to Roseanne that the show's producers juggled storylines and taping schedules to allow her to study at Yale University while remaining in the cast, shooting remote segments of Darlene at a soundstage in New York. At Yale, she majored in art with an emphasis on photography; she graduated with honors in 1997.
Gilbert has appeared on The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Private Practice. Starting in 2004, she had a recurring role as smart but sarcastic medical student Jane Figler on the long-running hospital drama ER; her appearances spanned seasons 11-13.
She returned to prime time television in the fall of 2005 in the sitcom Twins on The WB network. The sitcom was canceled after one season, when the WB and UPN networks merged as The CW and dropped a number of shows. She also had a recurring role on the short-lived CBS sitcom The Class as Fern Velch.
From 2007 to 2010 she has appeared in episodes of the CBS TV series The Big Bang Theory as Leslie Winkle, a scientist friend of Leonard Hofstadter played by Johnny Galecki, who had previously played Gilbert's love interest David Healy on Roseanne. In the second episode of the second season of The Big Bang Theory, Gilbert was elevated to the show's main cast, portraying again a potential love interest of Galecki's character, and at one point a love interest to Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg). By January 2009, it was announced that the writers did not know how to write for her character full-time and her status was reduced from regular to recurring.
Gilbert is a co-host and executive producer of The Talk, a talk show that premiered October 18, 2010. Gilbert appears alongside Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler.
Film career
Gilbert appeared in two films alongside Drew Barrymore, in Poison Ivy in 1992 and Riding In Cars With Boys in 2001. Gilbert also had a feature role in Light It Up in 1999. She has had several minor roles following Roseanne, including short film $30 (aka 30 Bucks) as part of the Boys Life 3 feature, and High Fidelity. She directed her short film Persona Non Grata in 1998.