Once Iconic, Now Nearly Gone: TV Classics With Only One Surviving Star

It feels strange to realize that a TV show you’ve watched your whole life — thanks to endless reruns — now has just one surviving cast member.

Iconic shows likeAll in the Family came from a different time, but their special place in popular culture keeps them from ever feeling truly old. They’re always there in the background, still popping up in reruns and conversations decades later.

Time Does Not Stand Still for Classic TV

With the tragic passing of Rob Reiner in December 2025, All in the Family — widely seen as one of the most influential sitcoms, if not television programs, ever made — now has only one surviving core cast member: Sally Struthers.

In a statement to Deadline, the veteran stage and screen actress expressed her heartbreak over the loss, saying, “There are no words. This is beyond devastating, and my heart is with [the Reiner] family.”

Struthers portrayed Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker and the wife of Reiner’s Michael “Meathead” Stivic. While Danielle Brisebois joined the series later as Stephanie, Struthers is the last living member of the show’s original core cast of four.

All in the Family is one of just a handful of classic TV sitcoms where only a single main cast member remains alive today. Below, we take a look at other iconic series that have reached the same bittersweet milestone.

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