Earlier this month, “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter and FX revealed that the hit series was renewed for a sixth season, with a seventh season extremely likely to follow. Given the show’s continued popularity, the announcement wasn’t surprising.
However, Sutter went on to make a very intriguing post on Twitter about a potential “Sons of Anarchy” prequel series. “I informally pitched the 1st 9 idea to FX. We’re mulling if/when it would make sense. It would be a much different show.”
Although the possible “Sons of Anarchy” prequel series is admittedly just a notion at this point, the early response from fans seems to indicate that there is a real demand to discover the story behind the first 9 members of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle club. Over the course of four seasons, fans have gotten a few tantalizing glimpses of SAMCRO’s past. But there’s still a lot we don’t know.
Only five of the original members of SAMCRO have been portrayed onscreen. Consequently, we have a little bit more to go on about their characters.
JOHN TELLER
The founding father of SAMCRO, John Teller died 15 years before the events of “Sons of Anarchy.” Even though John hasn’t been around in the flesh, Victor Newmark appeared in photos and flashbacks while Nicholas Guest provided John’s voice as his letters and manuscript were revealed to his surviving son, Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam).
From what little we know about John Teller through his manuscript, it seems that he created SAMCRO as an expression of freedom and brotherhood rather than the criminal organization it later became. J.T. was also Gemma’s first husband, and they had another son besides Jax, named Thomas, who died at an early age. One of the central mysteries of “Sons of Anarchy” was John Teller’s death; which appears to have been caused by both Gemma and Clay Morrow when J.T. tried to pull the club out of the gun trade in 1993.
CLAY MORROW
Although he is one of original nine members of SAMCRO, Clarence ‘Clay’ Morrow (Ron Perlman) is not considered to be a founding member of the club. Regardless, Clay is easily one of the most important characters in the “Sons of Anarchy” storyline, both through his friendship with J.T. and his later affair with Gemma that led to their eventual marriage following John’s death.
From Clay’s account, we know that SAMCRO was formed in 1967 and that he served in the Army Airborne in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972. If Sutter goes forward with his prequel series, it would probably begin around the early ’70s when Clay returned to Charming and opened the Teller-Morrow auto shop with J.T. Over the years, Clay has done some amazingly reprehensible things and it would be interesting to see the formation of his character and how he became the monster that he is today.
PIERMONT ‘PINEY’ WINSTON
Among Clay Morrow’s latest crimes was the murder of Piney (William Lucking) during the fourth season of “Sons of Anarchy.” Piney wanted SAMCRO to remain true to the ideals that he and John Teller had when they founded the club. J.T. and Piney met each other while they were serving in Vietnam and they were both disillusioned by the welcome that they received in their return to the United States. Thus they formed their own society with the Sons of Anarchy.
Piney also brought his son, Opie (Ryan Hurst) into SAMCRO and foremost among the current members, they both fervently believed in what the club used to represent. But in Charming, sometimes dreams die hard.
KEITH MCGEE
For those of you keeping score at home, Keith McGee (Liam O’Neill) is the third member of SAMCRO to be murdered by Clay Morrow, at least that we know about. But in Keith’s case, Clay’s actions may have been justified.
Keith was a founding member of SAMCRO in the ’70s who moved to Belfast and created the Northern Ireland charter group, SAMBEL. Keith’s ties to the Real IRA were instrumental in setting up SAMCRO’s gun running business. Keith was also married to Maureen Ashby ( Paula Malcomson), after she had given birth to John Teller’s daughter, Trinity.
The reason Clay killed Keith is that he betrayed the Sons during their attempt to reclaim Jax Teller’s missing son. In response, Clay confiscated Keith’s kutte and pushed him off of a roof.
LENNY ‘THE PIMP’ JANOWITZ
Along with Clay, Lenny “The Pimp” Janowitz (Sonny Barger) is the last of the first nine still among the living. Lenny may not look like much now, but back in the ’70s he was a serious contender for the Mr. Olympia title thanks to his near lifelong obsession with bodybuilding. Lenny was also the third member recruited into SAMCRO by John Teller and Piney.
Lenny is currently serving a life sentence for killing three ATF agents, but back in the day he was said to be a real lady’s man, hence his nickname. It sounds like Lenny may have been the Tig (Kim Coates) of his day.
The remaining four members of the first nine all died prior to the start of “Sons of Anarchy.” But it has been revealed that Wally Grazer was the fifth member of SAMCRO, thanks in part to his impressive criminal connections in Redwood County. Wally committed suicide in 1986 rather than face a protracted death from cirrhosis of the liver.
Far less is known about Thomas ‘Uncle Tom’ Whitney, the sixth member of the club and the circumstances of his death are unclear. Although, Thomas is said to have the record for “most stolen anything” among SAMCRO.
Chico Vellenueva was a mechanical genius who first met John Teller and Piney in the late ’60s. The circumstances of his death are also unknown, but he was reportedly addicted to speed.
And finally, Otto ‘L’il Killer’ Moran was found dead in 1985, apparently murdered and left floating in a river. The reason that Otto was called “Lil’ Killer” is that he was only about 5’7″ tall and yet he was still rumored to have killed a 300lb man with his bare hands during a fight. In other words, it probably would have been a mistake to mess with him.
That wraps up the first nine of SAMCRO, but any potential prequel series still has to deal with at least two other characters from “Sons of Anarchy.”
GEMMA MADOCK
The future Gemma Teller Marrow (Katey Sagal) is a Charming native who married John Teller and had two children by him: Jax in 1978 and Thomas in 1984. However, Thomas died when he was six years old thanks to a heart defect passed on from Gemma.
It’s also well known that Gemma was devoted to J.T. until something drove them apart and sent J.T. to Belfast, where he began an affair with Maureen Ashby. And while J.T. was away, Gemma and Clay became an item and possibly plotted John’s death. Gemma has been SAMCRO’s leading old lady almost since the beginning and she certainly doesn’t seem eager to give up her position within the club’s extended family without a fight.
Also of note, Ernest Darby (Mitch Pileggi) of the Nords once said that he used to be romantically interested in Gemma, perhaps before she met John Teller. That could be among the angles explored in any potential prequel series.
WAYNE UNSER
Wayne Unser (Dayton Callie) has been a long time ally of SAMCRO, both from his days as the Police Chief of Charming and also after his retirement. It’s not known how far back his relationship with SAMCRO extends, but he apparently played a role in covering up J.T.’s “accident” in 1993 at the behest of Clay and Gemma. And make no mistake about it, Wayne was a corrupt cop who had few problems working with SAMCRO for mutually beneficial purposes. Regardless of that, Wayne still seems to be a good man who genuinely cares about his town and the people who live there.
At some point, Wayne married a black woman named Della and he eventually had two daughters by her. However, recent events on the show have demonstrated that Wayne has been carrying a torch for Gemma for years. That would almost certainly come up in a prequel series.
Those are all of the major players that we know about, who would presumably headline the potential “Sons of Anarchy” prequel series. And now, we turn it over to you, to cast these roles with your fantasy picks. Send us your casting choices for as many roles as possible in the comment section below, and we will run the best ones in a future column here at Crave Online!
