Before I knew her as Archie Bunker’s little girl Gloria on “All in the Family,” I knew Sally Struthers as Rebecca Cunningham on “TaleSpin.” A loving single mother and ambitious businesswoman whose outspoken personality believes her petite build, Rebecca — aka “Becky,” “Beckers,” and the many other nicknames her responsibility-skirting, party-loving employee Baloo would use to refer to her — was but one of many reasons to love the “Jungle Book”-inspired animated pulp period adventure series and Disney Afternoon staple. After years of trying (and failing) to keep the peace between her stubbornly conservative dad and her liberal, holier-than-thou husband Michael as Gloria in “All in the Family,” Struthers was an expert in the art of sounding flustered, a talent that served her well on “TalepSpin.”
Struthers’ distinct, gently raspy vocals would allow her to carve out a career for herself as a voice actor, resulting in roles on cartoon series like “Fred Flintstone and Friends,” “Tiny Toon Adventures,” “The Wild Thornberrys” and “American Dad,” in addition to her work on “TaleSpin” and her time voicing another daughter of an oafish paterfamilias, Charlene Sinclair, on Jim Henson Productions’ live-action sitcom “Dinosaurs.” This was all on top of the projects where Struthers appeared onscreen as herself, including the short-lived “All in the Family” spinoff “Gloria,” the ’80s film-turned-TV-series “9 to 5,” and her turn as the Gilmores’ charmingly odd neighbor Babette Dell on “Gilmore Girls.” Whether she appeared in the flesh or not, there was no mistaking Struthers’ endearingly unique intonations for someone else’s.
Funnily enough, Struthers’ voice may have even held the key to her casting on “All in the Family” … if not for the reason you might assume.
Living life as Archie Bunker’s daughter
Even before a single episode of “All in the Family” aired, Struthers had already found herself raising her voice in exasperation at her onscreen family’s antics. Speaking to the New York Post in honor of the ground-breaking sitcom’s 50th anniversary in 2021, the actor recalls the less-than-ideal circumstances under which she landed her role on the show (and how wound they up working in her favor):
“I was very young and certainly had no crystal ball — I had just been let go from ‘The Tim Conway Comedy Hour’ […] when I went to read for [the role of Gloria] for this man named Norman Lear. I had laryngitis, and they handed me a yelling scene to do. I’m sure that’s why he reminded me […] It was just another job.
Nor, for that matter, did Struthers foresee growing so close to her onscreen father and mother, Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, in their real lives. “I was so in love with Carroll and Jean. My own father died two years ago I got ‘All in the Family’ and Carroll became my dad, off-screen as well as on-screen,” Struthers told the outlet, later adding that she “loved Jean with all my being. She was such an angel.” That affection arguably shows in Gloria’s interactions with Archie (O’Connor) and Edith (Stapleton) on the show itself, allowing their squabbling and familial dysfunction to ring authentic and proving that Norman Lear’s instincts were right on the money — viewers were, in fact , ready and willing to watch a sitcom that took an honest look at working-class Americans.
Thank goodness Struthers didn’t have to yell at herself hoarse for nothing.
