Entertainment

‘Modern Family’ drama

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Ariel Winter co-stars on TV’s biggest comedy — but her real-life situation is far from funny.

The 14-year-old “Modern Family” co-star, who plays brainy middle kid Alex Dunphy, was court-ordered last month to live with her 34-year-old sister — who claims their mother, Chrisoula “Chris” Workman, is verbally and physically abusing Winter, who signed off on the court order.

Winter’s case is “chronologically tragic” in the words of one source since her sister, former “One Life To Live” co-star Shanelle Gray, claimed similar abuse against Chris Workman years ago — and was removed from Workman’s home by child-welfare officials and placed in foster care for two years.

She never reconciled with her mother.

Now, in addition to trying to gain legal guardianship over Winter, Gray is trying to wrest control of her sister’s “Modern Family” earnings (about $1.5 million per season) away from Workman, pitting a mother against her two daughters in a drama worthy of its own “ABC Afterschool Special.”

According to court papers filed by Gray last month — in which she asks for permanent guardianship of Winter — her sister has “been the victim of ongoing physical abuse (slapping, hitting, pushing) and emotional abuse (vile name-calling, personal insults about minor and minor’s weight, attempts to ‘sexualize’ minor, deprivation of food, etc.) for an extended period of time” by Workman, who’s been barred from contacting Winter.

According to court papers, Winter’s father, Glenn Workman, is “estranged and incapable of properly caring for a minor.”

Winter, whose full name is Ariel Winter Workman, hasn’t missed any work on “Modern Family” during the ongoing off-camera drama.

Yesterday, “Entertainment Tonight” obtained a video showing Chris Workman coming out of her house and approaching her car, where she was approached by an [off-camera] reporter. “I’m sorry. No comment right now,” she said. “The allegations are false.”

Meanwhile, Winter’s brother, 32-year-old actor Jimmy Workman — who played Pugsley in the 1991 big-screen version of “The Addams Family,” and its 1993 sequel — is defending his mother, who reportedly ran a talent agency specializing in young actors.

“This is stemming from a boy who is overage, dating my sister,” he told “ET,” alluding to Winter’s boyfriend, 18-year-old actor Cameron Palatas, who’s appeared in Disney Channel’s sitcom, “A.N.T. Farm.”

“My family had no idea about it until the end part of it. It’s not true,” Jimmy Workman said. “[Chris is] a mother who does everything for her child, so this is just not right right now.”

A ruling on whether Gray can become Winter’s permanent guardian is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 20 in LA.

Winter’s publicist and her lawyer declined to comment for this story.

“Modern Family,” which premiered in 2009 — and has won a slew of Emmys — kicked off its fourth season on ABC in September.