114 Fun Facts About Sons of Anarchy

Who created the television series "Sons of Anarchy"?

Kurt Sutter wrote the show for FX and gave himself the recurring role of Otto.

What does the acronym SAMCRO stand for?

SAMCRO stands for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original; the mother charter is nicknamed Sam Crow or Redwood, and the show's working title was Forever Sam Crow.

How many seasons did "Sons of Anarchy" originally run for?

The series aired for seven seasons, from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, totaling 92 episodes.

Which actor played the main protagonist, Jackson 'Jax' Teller?

Charlie Hunnam starred as Jax Teller, the Vice President who later becomes President of SAMCRO, as he grapples with the club's direction and his father's legacy.

What is the title of the main theme song for "Sons of Anarchy"?

The theme, 'This Life,' was co-written by Curtis Stigers, Dave Kushner, Bob Thiele Jr. and Kurt Sutter, and opens every episode.

Which classical work is often cited as a major influence on 'Sons of Anarchy'?

Jax is the Hamlet figure, with Clay as the usurping uncle Claudius and Gemma as Gertrude, which is why the show has been called "Hamlet on Harleys".

Who played Gemma Teller Morrow, Jax's mother and the club's matriarch, in Sons of Anarchy?

Katey Sagal, married to creator Kurt Sutter, won a Golden Globe for the powerful, manipulative Gemma.

What role does Juice Ortiz fill for the club when the series begins?

Juice Ortiz is SAMCRO's intelligence officer, the club's hacker and tech man, which is why Sheriff Roosevelt later leans on him as an informant.

Which actor played Harry 'Opie' Winston, Jax's best friend since childhood, in Sons of Anarchy?

Ryan Hurst played Opie Winston for five seasons; the other three actors here played Tig, Juice and Chibs.

Jax finally marries Tara Knowles in which of the show's seven runs of episodes?

By then Tara has raised Abel as her own and given birth to Thomas; the marriage lasts barely a season before her death.

Which actor portrayed Clarence 'Clay' Morrow?

Veteran actor Ron Perlman played Clay Morrow, a central figure in the club's leadership and a complicated antagonist.

Who were the two co-founders of SAMCRO?

The two were high-school friends who started the club in 1967 after coming home from Vietnam.

What officer position does Jax Teller hold when the series begins?

Vice President is Jax's seat; he does not take the gavel himself until the end of Season 4.

What is the name of Jax Teller's first son?

Abel is delivered prematurely by emergency C-section in the pilot, weeks early, after his mother's drug use during pregnancy.

The show's creator also had a recurring acting role as which incarcerated SAMCRO member?

Kurt Sutter, the creator of the series, played the role of Otto Delaney, an incarcerated member of SAMCRO who often provides key information and faces brutal consequences.

Which SAMCRO member was responsible for the murder of Piermont 'Piney' Winston?

Clay Morrow shoots Piney with a shotgun at Piney's cabin in Season 4 to stop him exposing the letters that tie Clay to John Teller's death.

Who leads the Oakland-based rival club that SAMCRO clashes with from Season 1 onward?

Emilio Rivera's Alvarez goes from adversary to uneasy ally over the series and carries the character into the spin-off.

What business did SAMCRO primarily rely on to fund the club in Sons of Anarchy?

Illegal arms dealing across the western United States was the club's main income, bringing it up against rival gangs, politicians and the law.

Which Sons of Anarchy character served as SAMCRO's Sergeant-at-Arms for the first four seasons?

Alexander 'Tig' Trager held the enforcer's seat, known for erratic behaviour and fierce loyalty.

Who was Charming's long-serving police chief in Sons of Anarchy, whose relationship with SAMCRO was famously cosy?

Wayne Unser, played by Dayton Callie, kept the peace in Charming his own way through a long, often corrupt understanding with the club.

What was the initial cause of Jax Teller's growing disillusionment with the club's direction?

Discovering his father's manifesto in a storage locker in the pilot is what starts Jax questioning; John Teller's pages shadow his choices to the series finale.

Which SAMCRO prospect was killed while protecting Jax's infant son?

Kip 'Half-Sack' Epps is stabbed in the Season 2 finale while guarding baby Abel, who is snatched in the same attack; the club patches him in posthumously.

What was the name of the white supremacist organization that became a major antagonist in Season 2?

Businessman Ethan Zobelle fronts the group while A.J. Weston supplies the muscle; their aim is to push the club out of town for selling guns to people of color.

How did Jax's father, club founder JT, die in 1993?

Sideswiped by a semi-truck, JT was dragged 178 yards and died two days later; Jax suspects Clay sabotaged the bike, and in the finale Jax dies on the same highway.

Which character ultimately became President of SAMCRO after Jax Teller?

Filip 'Chibs' Telford takes the gavel in the series finale, Papa's Goods, after Jax steps down and hands it to him; Tig becomes his Vice President.

What significant event happened to Gemma Teller Morrow in Season 2 that she initially kept secret?

Gemma hides that she was sexually assaulted by A.J. Weston and two others on Ethan Zobelle's orders in the Season 2 premiere, to keep Clay and Jax from starting a war.

Which phobia does the club's sergeant-at-arms share with the show's creator, who has it himself?

Tig's pediophobia is played for laughs more than once, including a scene where a doll is left in his bed.

What role does ex-con Chucky Marstein fill for SAMCRO at the CaraCara porn studio?

He was a bookkeeper and counterfeiter for a Triad gang before prison, and later ends up working at a junkyard in Mayans M.C.

Which real-life Oakland Hells Angels founder played First 9 member Lenny 'the Pimp' Janowitz?

Lenny is the only First 9 member still alive at the end of the series; Barger's casting was a nod to the club's Hells Angels roots.

What was the profession of Tara Knowles before she became involved with Jax and the club?

Dr. Tara Knowles was a respected pediatric surgeon before her return to Charming and renewed relationship with Jax Teller, which ultimately jeopardized her career.

Who was president of the Grim Bastards Motorcycle Club, an ally of SAMCRO?

Michael Beach's character had been childhood friends with SAMCRO's Bobby, and in the finale Jax pushes to let him patch into the Sons.

Which obsessive ATF agent, ex of Jax's high-school sweetheart, follows her to town in Season 1?

Josh Kohn, Tara's ex-boyfriend from Chicago, only pretends to be investigating the club; after he attacks her at home, Jax shoots him dead and the body is quietly disposed of.

What was the name of the spin-off series set in the same universe as "Sons of Anarchy"?

A spin-off series titled "Mayans M.C." premiered in 2018, focusing on the Mayans Motorcycle Club and set a few years after the events of "Sons of Anarchy."

Jax's younger brother Thomas died in 1990 at age six from what?

Thomas Teller died of a congenital heart defect, the 'family flaw' that runs on Gemma's side; Abel is born with the same condition.

What was the primary focus of John Teller's manuscript, 'The Life and Death of SAM CROW'?

The manuscript's full title is 'The Life and Death of SAM CROW: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way', and it drives Jax's doubts about the club for the whole series.

Which Sons of Anarchy member gets a new smiley-face tattoo every time he kills someone?

Happy Lowman's smiley faces each mark a kill made on the club's behalf, and the collection grows visibly across the seasons.

Who is Jax's estranged first wife, whose drug overdose in the pilot forces an emergency C-section?

Wendy Case, played by Drea de Matteo, is a recovering addict whom Gemma despises; she gets clean and returns to Charming in Season 4.

Which porn star becomes Opie's second wife?

Lyla Dvorak, one of Luann Delaney's CaraCara performers, marries Opie in the first episode of Season 4.

Which self-described 'companionator' becomes Gemma's lover after her marriage falls apart in Season 5?

Nero Padilla, Jimmy Smits' pimp-with-a-conscience, becomes Jax's closest adviser outside the club and buys a farm in Norco where he hopes to retire.

Which federal agent was a recurring antagonist, often manipulating and double-crossing the club?

ATF Agent June Stahl was a cunning and deceitful federal agent who repeatedly caused problems for SAMCRO through her manipulations and betrayals.

Opie's first wife is killed in Season 1 in a case of mistaken identity. What is her first name?

Tig shoots up the truck on Clay's orders believing Opie is behind the wheel, a killing that poisons the club from the inside for years.

Which First 9 member was president of SAMBEL when the club travelled to Ireland in Season 3?

McGee had secretly sided with Jimmy O'Phelan, and his betrayal is uncovered and punished during the Ireland trip.

In Sons of Anarchy, what was the club's auto shop called, where most members are on the books as mechanics?

Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair, named for John Teller and Clay Morrow, is the garage that fronts the club's illegal business and carries members on its books as mechanics.

Which club office did Bobby Munson hold when the series begins?

Bobby Munson holds the Secretary/Treasurer seat at the start and keeps the club's books, which is why he is later moved to run the numbers at CaraCara too.

On which US cable network did Sons of Anarchy originally air?

FX ran the show from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, and later its spin-off Mayans M.C.

In which region of California is the fictional town of Charming located?

Charming sits in the Central Valley near Stockton, in San Joaquin County, whose sheriff's department takes over policing the town in Season 4.

Which real-life Hells Angel served as technical adviser and played Happy Lowman?

David Labrava, a member of the Hells Angels' Oakland chapter, served as the show's technical adviser and played Happy Lowman for all seven seasons.

Which season first made Sons of Anarchy FX's highest-rated series ever?

The third season averaged nearly 5 million viewers a week, overtaking FX's earlier hits The Shield, Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me.

Roughly how many viewers watched the series finale on December 9, 2014?

About 6.40 million viewers watched the finale, Papa's Goods, the largest audience for any episode in the show's history.

Which streaming service removed all seasons of Sons of Anarchy on December 1, 2018?

Netflix removed all seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy on December 1, 2018, roughly four years after the series finale.

In what year did John Teller and Piney Winston co-found SAMCRO?

SAMCRO was founded in 1967 by John Teller and Piney Winston, both freshly home from the Vietnam War.

What replaces the scythe handle in the Sons of Anarchy Grim Reaper logo?

The Reaper's scythe blade sits on an M16 rifle in place of a handle, and it holds a crystal ball bearing the anarchist circle-A.

Which patch is worn by members who have spilled blood on the club's behalf?

Juice notably wears the Men of Mayhem flash on his cut.

Which Harley-Davidson model line do SAMCRO members mainly ride?

SAMCRO rides Harley-Davidson Dyna models, mostly Super Glide Sports, painted black and fitted with T-bar handlebars.

What vintage motorcycle of his father's does Jax rebuild and ride in the final season?

Jax rebuilds a 1946 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead that belonged to his father John Teller in Season 7 and rides it in the finale's fatal run down the highway.

Which Mexican drug organisation does SAMCRO begin muling cocaine for in Season 4?

The Galindo cartel later became central to the spin-off Mayans M.C.

Which meth-dealing white supremacist gang, led by Ernest Darby, clashes with SAMCRO?

Darby's crew is the Nordics; Mitch Pileggi, best known as The X-Files' Walter Skinner, played him.

Which Irish paramilitary group supplies SAMCRO with guns in the early seasons?

The True IRA, the show's fictional republican splinter group, runs guns to SAMCRO through Cameron Hayes and later Jimmy O'Phelan; Chibs is the club's link to the Irish.

Where do the Sons hold church after the Irish bomb their clubhouse in Season 6?

Scoops, an ice cream parlor the club takes over, becomes its meeting place after Galen O'Shay's Irish crew blows up the Teller-Morrow clubhouse in Season 6.

Which two porn studios does SAMCRO run over the course of the series?

Cara Cara and Red Woody are the club's two porn studios; Diosa and Diosa Norte were escort agencies, not studios.

Which Season 7 episode title quotes a Hamlet speech from Act II, Scene 2?

'What a Piece of Work Is Man' (Season 7, Episode 9) takes Hamlet's line from Act II, Scene 2; Season 4's two-part finale 'To Be' also quotes the play.

Which Shakespearean queen have reviewers compared Gemma to, citing her constant cleaning?

Lady Macbeth is the comparison: Gemma's compulsive scrubbing echoes the 'out, damned spot' hand-washing, and her scheming completes the parallel.

At which North Hollywood studio was the series primarily filmed?

Occidental Studios in North Hollywood was the show's base; its Stage 5A housed the clubhouse, St. Thomas Hospital and Jax's house.

Which house band backed Katey Sagal on the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack albums?

The Forest Rangers, fronted by music supervisor Bob Thiele Jr., recorded the show's covers and originals and backed Katey Sagal on the soundtrack albums.

Which publisher launched a Sons of Anarchy comic book in 2013?

Boom! Studios launched the Sons of Anarchy comic in 2013; the run ended at issue 25, and a prequel, Redwood Original, followed in 2016.

In which fictional border town is the spin-off Mayans M.C. set?

Santo Padre is the fictional California border town of Mayans M.C., which opens two and a half years after the end of Sons of Anarchy.

Who plays Mayans M.C. protagonist Ezekiel 'EZ' Reyes?

EZ rises from prospect to president of the Santo Padre charter.

Which veteran actor plays EZ's father, Felipe Reyes, in Mayans M.C.?

Edward James Olmos plays Felipe Reyes, who runs a butcher shop and is later revealed as Miguel Galindo's biological father.

Which actor shot the entire pilot as Clay Morrow before being replaced?

Sutter re-cast Ron Perlman and reshot Clay's scenes.

Which earlier FX series first featured the One-Niners street gang before Sons of Anarchy?

Sutter produced The Shield and reused several of its directors and actors.

Season 1 was the only one to air on which night of the week?

Season 1 aired on Wednesday nights; the show moved to Tuesdays from Season 2 for the rest of its run.

Which is the only season with 14 episodes instead of 13?

Its premiere 'Out' was one of the highest-rated telecasts in FX history.

Why was Half-Sack killed off in the Season 2 finale, according to Kurt Sutter?

Johnny Lewis asked to leave the show, so Sutter wrote Half-Sack out, saying he wanted 'some noble way for him to go'.

Which screen legend played Gemma's father Nate, who has dementia, in Season 3?

Critics singled out the Holbrook–Sagal scenes in Rogue River, Oregon, as 'beautiful'.

Which shock rocker played neo-Nazi prison sect leader Ron Tully?

Tully was described as a drug addict high in a neo-Nazi prison sect.

Which Glee star guest-starred as a truck stop waitress and single mother in Season 7?

Lea Michele played Gertie, a truck-stop waitress and single mother, in the sixth episode of the final season.

Which Justified star played Venus Van Dam, Tig's transgender love interest?

Walton Goggins played Venus Van Dam, introduced in Season 5; her relationship with Tig turns romantic over the final two seasons.

Which Lost actor played Oakland kingpin Damon Pope in Season 5?

Harold Perrineau, Lost's Michael Dawson, played Pope, whose revenge for his daughter's death drove Opie's prison murder.

Which actor played cartel man Romero 'Romeo' Parada in Season 4?

Danny Trejo played Romeo Parada, who turned out to be working with the CIA, complicating the club's cartel deal.

Which actor played the RICO-obsessed Assistant US Attorney Lincoln Potter?

McKinnon later reprised Potter in Mayans M.C.

Which punk icon played LOAN enforcer A.J. Weston in Season 2?

IGN singled out Rollins' Weston in its 8.4/10 review of the season.

Which future Yellowstone creator played Deputy Chief David Hale?

Sheridan went on to write Sicario and Hell or High Water.

Which award did Katey Sagal win in 2011 for playing Gemma?

Katey Sagal won a Golden Globe in 2011, for Best Actress in a Television Drama, for Gemma; she was never even nominated for an Emmy for the role.

Which animated character does Katey Sagal voice on Futurama?

Katey Sagal has voiced Turanga Leela, the purple-haired Planet Express captain, since Futurama began in 1999.

Which sitcom role did Sagal play for ten years before Sons of Anarchy?

Peg earned her three Golden Globe nominations.

Which 2005 football-hooligan film led Sutter to cast Charlie Hunnam as Jax?

Sutter picked Hunnam after seeing Green Street, in which the actor's attempted Cockney accent landed on several 'worst accents' lists.

In which English city was Charlie Hunnam born?

Charlie Hunnam was born in Newcastle upon Tyne; discovered at 17 in a shoe shop, he was cast in the Newcastle-set children's drama Byker Grove.

Which blockbuster role did Hunnam quit in 2013 over his Sons of Anarchy schedule?

Hunnam dropped Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey in October 2013, citing his Sons of Anarchy workload; Jamie Dornan took the part.

Whose mother is Happy revealed to have killed, in the Mayans M.C. Season 1 finale?

The Reyes brothers eventually track Happy down and kill him in Season 5.

Which crime kingpin murders Bobby Munson in Season 7?

Marks had taken over Damon Pope's operation after Pope's death.

What are the names of Tig Trager's two daughters?

Tig's daughters are Dawn and Fawn; Dawn is burned alive by Damon Pope in the Season 5 premiere in retaliation for his own daughter's death.

In which branch of the military did Tig serve before joining the Sons?

Clay, by contrast, was an Army paratrooper in Vietnam.

In which city was Chibs Telford born?

Chibs was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Belfast, hence his ties to SAMBEL and the Irish.

Who gave Chibs his facial scars and stole his wife Fiona and daughter Kerrianne?

Chibs served five months as a British Army combat medic before being court-martialled.

How did Half-Sack Epps earn his nickname?

Half-Sack lost a testicle in the Iraq War; a former armed-forces boxing champion, he earned the club money in fights.

Which rogue IRA figure stabbed Half-Sack to death?

Half-Sack was posthumously patched in as a full member in Season 3.

Which liquor is Piney's drink of choice?

Piney drinks Patrón tequila, bottle in hand in nearly every scene; he was also the only member who kept the club's original denim cut.

Which New York City borough is Juice Ortiz from?

He is of Puerto Rican and African-American descent and wears a short mohawk with head tattoos.

Which three characters die in the penultimate episode 'Red Rose'?

Juice, Unser and Gemma all die in 'Red Rose': Tully kills Juice in prison, and Jax shoots Unser and then his own mother.

Besides being police chief, what business does Wayne Unser own?

Wayne Unser owns a trucking company, Unser Trucking, whose rigs the club uses to haul guns early in the series; he later lives in a trailer on the Teller-Morrow lot.

Which Mexican gang does Nero Padilla head?

Nero Padilla heads the Byz Lats, a Stockton Latino street gang; his escort business Diosa becomes a hideout for the Sons in Season 5.

Marcus Alvarez's president patch is later changed to which title?

Alvarez's patch becomes El Padrino, the title he carries as national leader of the Mayans in the spin-off Mayans M.C.

How does the club remove Kyle Hobart's SOA back tattoo after he returns to Charming?

Given the choice of 'fire or knife', Kyle chose fire.

Which real-life former Hells Angel played Nomad Frankie Diamonds in Season 5?

Chuck Zito played Frankie Diamonds; with GoGo and Greg the Peg he secretly ran Clay's home invasions in Season 5.

Whom does Jax patch in as SAMCRO's first Black member in his last act as president?

Cross had led the allied Grim Bastards.

Which member does Jax force to get arrested so he can kill Henry Lin in prison?

Juice then reveals to Jax that Gemma killed Tara and he helped cover it up.

Who does Jax give custody of Abel and Thomas to before his death?

Jax signs custody of Abel and Thomas over to Wendy, asking Nero to take them all out of Charming and make sure the boys grow up hating their father.

What is Gemma's maiden name?

Her father Nate Madock appears in Season 3.

Which chronic condition in his hands does Clay try to hide with cortisone injections?

Clay's osteoarthritis in his hands, masked with cortisone shots, threatens to force him off his bike and out of the presidency within a year or two.

Which Hamlet character is Clay Morrow explicitly modelled on?

Like Claudius, Clay killed his best friend and married the widow.

Which Season 5 episode features Opie's death in prison?

Ryan Hurst said he 'couldn't stop crying' and tried to talk Sutter out of it.

What tattoo did teenage Tara get on her lower back to mark her connection to SAMCRO?

A crow, the mark of a member's 'old lady', was tattooed on Tara's lower back as a teenager when she was first with Jax.

Chibs actor Tommy Flanagan got his real facial scars how?

The Glaswegian had been working as a DJ when a gang slashed both sides of his mouth; he later played Cicero in Gladiator and Tullk in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Juice actor Theo Rossi went on to play Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez in which Marvel Netflix series?

Theo Rossi played Shades across both seasons of Luke Cage; he later played Dr. Julian Rush in HBO's The Penguin and starred opposite Aubrey Plaza in Emily the Criminal.