(L-R) Rob Reiner, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, Carrol O’Connor and Michael Evans on ‘All in the Family Getty Images
Sally Struthers has nothing to hide about her time on All in the Family.
The actress, who played Gloria Stivic on the 1970s TV series, opened up about her treatment on the set and how she tried to leave after the show on the Monday, January 13, episode of the “Let’s Talk About That!” podcast with Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti.
It all started with her working relationship with legendary producer Norman Lear, who died in 2023 at age 101.
“I wasn’t a huge fan of his,” said Struthers, 77.
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“All those years on the show, Norman and his [then] wife [Frances] would have dinner parties,” she added. “They would invite the other stars of the show — Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton and Rob Reiner — and their spouses often … I wasn’t, in eight years, invited to his home. It didn’t feel good.”
Sally Struthers speaks onstage at the 2024 Emmy Awards Monica Schipper/WireImage
The relationship got so bad, Struthers said, that she actually tried to leave the show after its fifth season, taking her contract to arbitration and spending $40,000 in legal fees.
Struthers wasn’t the only All in the Family cast member who had a difficult relationship with Lear. The show’s creator also reportedly butted heads with O’Connor, who portrayed lead character Archie Bunker.
The two “had a very difficult, contemptuous relationship,” according to Tripp Whetsell, author of Norman Lear: His Life and Times.
Norman Lear seemingly had some behind-the-scenes drama with Carroll O’Connor, the actor who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family. Tripp Whetsell, who is the author of the upcoming biography, Norman Lear: His Life and Times, claimed in a recent interview with Cracked that Lear and O’Connor “had a very difficult, contemptuous relationship.” “It […]
“They had a very difficult relationship, but Norman really respected him,” Whetsell said in a November 2024 interview with Cracked. “Deep down, they respected and loved each other, but creatively it was only challenging for them every step of the way.”
(L-R) Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Carrol O’Connor and Sally Struthers on ‘All in the Family CBS
Struthers went on to call herself “fourth banana” on the cast, adding that the show’s writers did not know how to write for “a young lady.”
“I usually had about three lines per show that said, ‘I’ll help you set the table, Ma,’ ‘Michael, where are you going?’ and ‘Oh, Daddy, stop it,’” she said. “And then the next week I’d have the three same lines in a different order. And if they literally didn’t know what to do with me in a scene, they’d have me go upstairs to take a bath or wash my hair. It was very frustrating.”
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Despite her frustrations, Struthers admitted that when she returned to the show after trying to get out of her contract, she had a better experience.
“I went back and had three more seasons, but they were by far the most fun for me,” she said. “Because finally, they had Mike and Gloria have a baby, they had us move next door into the house that [the] Jeffersons lived in.”
When All in the Family ended in 1979, Struthers stayed on for the spinoff, Archie Bunker’s Place, which ran for four seasons. She also reprised her role in the spinoff Gloria, from 1982 to 1983. Lear was not involved with either show.
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