“All In The Family” was an amazing show with important lessons that still matter today. It made many actors famous, including Sally Struthers.
Nowadays, Sally looks different from her time on the show, but she’s still working in the entertainment business.
Sally Struthers is best known for playing Gloria Stivic on the ’70s sitcom All In The Family. The show was about a regular family in Queens, New York, and got a lot of awards during its time.
For those who didn’t see it when it was popular, it might be hard to understand how groundbreaking it was. Before this show, funny sitcoms didn’t usually talk about serious social issues. All In The Family changed that by making those topics funny or sad, sometimes both.
If you watch old episodes on YouTube, it can make you feel young again. It’s funny and takes your mind off today’s problems. Many of the issues they talked about then are still relevant today, but they presented them in a humorous way.
The main characters in All In The Family are Archie Bunker, Edith Bunker, Gloria Bunker-Stivic, Michael Stivic, and Stephanie Mills. They all had a special connection that made the show great.
I think Sally Struthers, who played Gloria, doesn’t get enough credit. She could do a lot of different things as an actress. Sometimes, she even sang in the show, and I could see her getting better as the series went on.
Sally Struthers shared in 1973 that when she started, she acted a bit silly on the set, thinking it would make people like her. But over time, she learned to be herself, and now, she feels respected.
When the show started in January 1971, Sally Struthers was a 22-year-old who wasn’t well-known and had little experience on TV. The producer, Norman Lear, discovered her when she was dancing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Even though she didn’t have much experience, Sally did really well, just like the rest of the cast. After six months, she became a big star because All In The Family became the most popular show on TV.
When she was super famous, it was hard for her to go outside or have dinner without fans surrounding her. This was quite challenging for an innocent 22-year-old.
In the beginning, Sally Struthers was happy playing Gloria Stivic on the show. However, she didn’t get many chances to fully develop the character or use her acting skills to the max. During a break from All in the Family, she told the producers that she wanted to try a more serious role.
“When we take a break, I want to do something different,” she said. “There are so many ways to show a woman. I want to play a murderer, an unmarried mother, a nun, and an old Jewish mother. By the end of my career, I want people to say I’m as funny as Judy Holliday and as respected as Ruth Gordon.”
Unfortunately, being known for one type of role can sometimes hurt an actor’s career. You often see people become famous for one show, but everything they do after falls short.
Sadly, it was a bit like that for Sally. She won two Emmy awards for playing Gloria and got lead roles in a couple of other shows after leaving All In The Family. But the truth is, she didn’t get many offers, and soon, there wasn’t much work for Sally.
In the 1990s, Sally Struthers was sometimes on the game show Match Game, and some might recognize her as Babette Dell in Gilmore Girls.
Currently, she’s been performing regularly at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine since the early 2000s. This theater puts on four or more shows every season.
In 2022, she played Frau Blucher in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts alongside AJ Holmes.
Apart from her acting, Sally has been working hard to help kids in poor countries. She has been a spokesperson for Christian Children’s Fund for a long time and has appeared in their famous TV commercials.
Not everyone knows this, but Sally is a mom to one child. Even though she didn’t plan on having kids at first, she changed her mind after meeting famous psychiatrist William C. Rader. They got married in 1977, and two years later, they welcomed their daughter, Samantha.
“Before I met Bill, I never wanted a baby. I always said having a baby wouldn’t make me happy; I didn’t need a copy of myself. But then, you fall in love,” Sally shared with People in 1981.
“When you love someone, you want to be the mom of a child who is part of that man, a result of your love.”
Unfortunately, Sally’s marriage didn’t last long. In 1983, she and William C. Rader got divorced and went their separate ways.
Their daughter didn’t choose the same path as her mom. Instead, Samantha Struthers Rader became a clinical psychologist and now has her own practice. She’s active on social media, giving advice and sharing photos from her travels.
It’s clear she inherited some of her mom’s talents. Sometimes, Samantha shows off her amazing singing talent, and her voice sounds just as good as Sally’s.
Today, Sally Struthers is 75 years old and lives in Los Angeles.
She’s still active in the entertainment industry and has been working in theatres for the last 25 years. But she’s open to doing other things as well.
“I’m here. I’m a Los Angeles resident. I have been available. I don’t know why I am never asked to audition. I am never offered a job here. But, you give me Texas, you give me Maine, you give me Virginia, you give me New York, you give me Connecticut and there’s a job for me, always. They clamor to have me back the next year in something else,” she says.
Over the years, Sally had her ups and downs. She lost her mother to Alzheimer’s in 1996 – she passed away in Sally’s arms two days before Christmas. Sally has also received mean comments about her looks and weight over the years, mostly from random people on social media.
(Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)
But the actress has navigated all the obstacles with charm, integrity, and sense of humor.
“From the time I was able to walk and say a few words, my whole aim in life was to make people laugh,” she told Spectrum News in 2022.
“And when I hear other people laugh, and I know that some silly face I’ve made or some line reading causes them to double over, I’m transported to heaven. That’s my thing. Laughter.”
I don’t understand why people use bad words and say mean things. Sally Struthers made us laugh for many years, and she also helps kids who need it. She seems like a really kind person.
Thank you, Sally, for all the good times! You look great, and I hope you keep performing for a long time!