For seven seasons, Sally Struthers played Archie and Edith Bunker’s daughter Gloria Stivic on the groundbreaking series All in the Family. The role made her famous, but for Struthers, it also became confining. By the late 1970s, she was ready to move on and prove that she was more than just Gloria.
According to MeTV, Struthers told the Chicago Tribune that she was “itching to leave” the series by 1978. “I was young, energetic. I figured I could go off and do anything,” she said.
Encouraged by friends who urged her to stretch herself as an artist, she thought Hollywood would welcome her with open arms. Instead, she discovered that leaving a hit show came with new struggles. She added, “I found out life’s not a breeze, that you can’t bet on anything. I started being treated like I was a newcomer, and I had to prove myself all over again. That’s a hard thing. You think you’ve made it and then you realize that at dinner tables all over Beverly Hills, you’re part of a conversation that goes, ‘Whatever happened to Sally Struthers?’”
Part of her frustration stemmed from how her character was written. In an interview on the podcast Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti, Struthers shared that Gloria was often sidelined. She explained, “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.’ 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.”
Still, contracts had to be honored. After season five, Struthers tried to leave and even went through legal arbitration. She spent $40,000 in the process but lost and was required to return. Ironically, she later admitted that those final years were some of her favorites. Gloria and Michael had a baby, they moved into the Jeffersons’ old house and the storylines gave her more to do than before.
In the end, Gloria’s exit was written into the story, first with a move across the street and eventually across the country in her own spinoff, Gloria. While she never found another role quite as popular as Gloria, her career remained busy and diverse. She played Babette Dell on Gilmore Girls, bringing her signature humor to a whole new generation of fans.
She also appeared in stage productions, including national tours of Annie, where she played Miss Hannigan, and lent her voice to animated favorites such as Dinosaurs and TaleSpin. Beyond acting, she gained recognition for her long-standing humanitarian work as a spokesperson for the Christian Children’s Fund, later renamed ChildFund.
