While Archie Bunker was a menace to biggest of the characters on All in the Family, some of his sweetest moments are usually in scenes with his daughter, Gloria. Albeit, these moments are few and far between. But for the briefest of moments, All in the Family can forget the laughter and cut to a very human and realistic moment between a father and daughter.
Carroll O’Connor took great pains to convince everyone that he was nothing like his character, but one thing that the two men shared was their love for their daughter.
According to an interview with Closer Weekly, Sally Struthers explained that she considered O’Connor to be a father figure to her during their time on the series, after the death of her father.
Struthers said, “In 1968, my own father passed away. I was still feeling bad and fatherless when I got on this show [All in the Family]. Carroll and his wife, Nancy, turned out to be as parental with me as he was in the show.”
She continued, “Carroll gave me advice, laughed at my antics, he hugged me all the time – and he introduced me to my husband! So I gained a father again by doing that show.”
Struthers also called her on-screen mother, Jean Stapleton, “my living, breathing example, of what it’s like to be subtle as a human being..She didn’t think or say a single negative thing. That was glorious to be around !”
While Struthers left the show before its proper ending, her love for Stapleton and O’Connor was so great that, after their deaths, she found herself unable to rewatch old episodes of All in the Family.
Struthers said, “Whenever I see an episode on TV now, I stop for a second, but as soon as I see Carroll or Jean, I get so sad that I have to change the channel.”
