Sally Struthers rips 'All in the Family' creator Norman Lear, reveals she spent $40K trying to leave show
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Sally Struthers got candid about her experience working on the 1970s hit sitcom 'All in the Family' during a recent appearance on the 'Let's Talk About That!' podcast.
The veteran actress revealed to hosts Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti that she did not share a good relationship with the show's creator, Norman Lear, as per People.
Sally Struthers admits she 'wasn't a huge fan of' Norman Lear
Norman Lear died in December 2023 at the age of 101. On the podcast, Sally Struthers said that now that "he’s gone," she can say that she "wasn't a huge fan of his."
The 77-year-old explained, "All those years on the show, Norman and his wife would have dinner parties," which included other stars of the show but she "wasn't, in eight years, invited to his home."
"It didn't feel good," Struthers, who played Gloria Stivic – the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker — in the beloved show, expressed.
Norman Lear told Sally Struthers he hired her for her 'blue eyes and a fat face'
The 'Gilmore Girls' actress went on to share an unpleasant exchange she had with the late film producer.
She mentioned that when she asked Lear if he chose her to play Gloria because she was "really the funniest one," the screenwriter simply replied, "No."
Lear further told her, as per Fox News, "We thought Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs. So, we thought we could soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter, and she could be daddy's little girl. So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O'Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face."
Later in the episode, Struthers disclosed that she called herself the "fourth banana" on the TV series that ran for nine seasons on CBS from 1971 to 1979.
"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," she said.
Sally Struthers could not leave the show even after spending $40,000
After doing five seasons, Sally Struthers thought it was enough and decided to quit the show. She even hired a lawyer and spent $40,000 on legal fees but could not win.
"I went back and had three more seasons, but they were by far the most fun for me. Because finally, they had Mike and Gloria have a baby, they had us move next door into the house that [the] Jeffersons lived in," the actress added.
Struthers appeared in 182 episodes of 'All in the Family' and also appeared in the spinoff, 'Archie Bunker's Place'. She also got her own spinoff, 'Gloria', which ran for a single season.
