Sally Struthers turns 79 on July 28, marking a milestone for one of television’s most beloved and influential sitcoms. Best known for playing Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, Struthers is now the last surviving main cast member of the groundbreaking series that helped redefine what network television could be.
Premiering in 1971, All in the Family starred Carroll O’Connor as outspoken patriarch Archie Bunker, Jean Stapleton as his kindhearted wife Edith, Rob Reiner as son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic and Struthers as their daughter Gloria. Today, Struthers is the only surviving member of that quartet. O’Connor died in 2001 at age 76, Stapleton died in 2013 at age 90, and Reiner was tragically killed in December 2025 at age 78 alongside his wife Michele in a homicide for which their son Nick Reiner has been charged.
The Norman Lear-created sitcom tackled race, politics, feminism and generational conflict with a boldness that was virtually unheard of on television at the time, becoming one of the defining shows of the decade. It topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive seasons from 1971 through 1976, the first television series ever to accomplish that feat.
Struthers’ journey to the iconic role almost never happened.
Before landing All in the Family, she was a performer onThe Tim Conway Comedy Hour. But executives thought the joke of having Struthers as the only dancer on Tim Conway made the show look “cheap” and they fired her.
“The suits in New York said that I made the show look cheap,” Struthers recalled in a 2012 interview with Newsday. “And the producer said, ‘That’s the whole point, we’re trying to make it look like the Conway show doesn’t have a budget, has no money, and so that’s why there’s only one Tim Conway dancer instead of a line of them like the June Taylor Dancers on The Jackie Gleason Show, and there’s only one musician, and they can’t even afford an instrument for him, so he’s standing at a music stand, humming the opening theme song.’
“That’s funny! And the suits said, ‘No, it makes the show look cheap.’ So they let me, the Tim Conway dancer, go. And if they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been free to read for All in the Family.”
As Gloria, Struthers often found herself caught between her father’s old-school worldview and her husband’s progressive ideals, helping fuel many of the show’s funniest and most memorable debates. Her performance earned five Primetime Emmy nominations and two wins for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, along with four Golden Globe nominations.
Although Struthers later admitted she sometimes wished Gloria’s character had evolved more quickly and even unsuccessfully tried to leave the series during its run, she has also spoken warmly about the lasting impact of the show and the opportunity it gave her, including telling Fox News about the father-daughter relationship she developed off-screen with her on-screen father O’Connor.
Following All in the Family, Struthers reprised Gloria on both Archie Bunker’s Place and the spin-off Gloria. She went on to build a remarkably versatile career, appearing on Broadway and in national touring productions, voicing characters in animated favorites and winning over a new generation of fans as Babette Dell on Gilmore Girls. Since 2024, she’s also appeared as Virginia Foldau on Netflix’s A Man on the Inside.
Nearly 50 years after All in the Family ended its original run, the show’s influence can still be felt across television, and Struthers remains a living connection to one of the medium’s most groundbreaking ensembles. As the last surviving member of the sitcom’s core cast, her legacy is inseparable from a series that forever changed the American family comedy.
Related: Last Surviving Cast Member of Groundbreaking ’70s Drama Turns 86
