Sally Struthers
{{short description|American actress and activist (born 1947)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sally Struthers
| image = Sally Struthers 1996.jpg
| caption = Struthers in 1996
| birth_name = Sally Anne Struthers
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|07|28}}
| birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.
| occupation = Actress, activist
| years_active = 1970–present
| spouse = {{marriage|William C. Rader|1977|1983|reason=divorced}}
| children = 1
| known_for = Gloria Stivic in All in the Family
}}
Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker in All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy Awards, and Babette on Gilmore Girls. She was also the voice of Charlene Sinclair on the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs, Pebbles Flintstone on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, and Rebecca Cunningham on the Disney animated series TaleSpin.
Early life
File:Sally Struthers yearbook photo 1965.png
Sally Anne Struthers was born on July 28, 1947, in Portland, Oregon,{{cite book|title=The Odd Couple on Stage and Screen: A History with Cast and Crew Profiles and an Episode Guide|year=2014|page=119|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|last=Leszczak|first=Bob|isbn= 978-1-476-61539-4}} the second of two daughters{{Cite web|last=Tate|first=Toli|title=All in The Acting {{!}} Grant Magazine|date=24 April 2017 |url=https://grantmagazine.com/struthers/|access-date=2022-02-12|language=en-US}} born to Margaret Caroline (née Jernes) and Robert Alden Struthers, a surgeon. She has an older sister, Sue. Her maternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants.{{cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/seniorscommission/pages/hearings/011107/struthers.html|title=Testimony to The Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility: Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century|date=November 7, 2001|first=Sally|last=Struthers|access-date=September 13, 2012|publisher=Federal Depository Library Program}}
Her father abandoned the family when Struthers was approximately nine years old, after which she was raised by her single mother in the Concordia neighborhood of northeast Portland.{{cite web|work=Grant Magazine|title=All in the Acting|url=https://grantmagazine.com/struthers/|date=April 24, 2017|last=Tate|first=Toli|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210418070140/https://grantmagazine.com/struthers/|archive-date=April 18, 2021|access-date=April 18, 2021}} Her mother, who supported herself and her two daughters working at Bonneville Power Administration, suffered from significant depression during Struthers' childhood.
Career
She appeared as a restless wife of a veterinarian in The Getaway starring Steve McQueen (1972). Around that time, Struthers debuted as Gloria Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family; producer Norman Lear had found the actress dancing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}}
According to a WPTT radio interview with Doug Hoerth in 2003,{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}} Struthers thought that Rob Reiner's then-fiancée and later wife, Penny Marshall, would get the role of Gloria, as Marshall more resembled Jean Stapleton, who played Edith Bunker. Actress Candice Azzara had played the role of Gloria in a pilot episode, but was soon dropped. After a shaky start, the series became a hit beginning with its summer reruns, giving tens of millions of viewers the chance to see Gloria defending her viewpoints about negative stereotypes and inequality. Struthers won two Emmy Awards (in 1972 and 1979) for her work on the show. In 2012, Struthers recalled the serendipity that helped her land the role: {{quote|I had just gotten let go from The Tim Conway Comedy Hour because the suits in New York said that I made the show look cheap. 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.{{cite news|title=Sally Struthers on '9 to 5,' Life and Topless Scene with Jack Nicholson|url=http://www.newsday.com/search/sally-struthers-on-9-to-5-life-and-topless-scene-with-jack-nicholson-1.3858275|date=July 24, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2012|first=Alan H.|last=Fallick|work=Newsday.com}}}}
Though Struthers has spoken fondly of All In The Family,{{cite news|url=https://www.metv.com/stories/sally-struthers-argued-that-people-who-found-all-in-the-family-offensive-didnt-actually-understand-the-show|title=Sally Struthers argued that people who found All in the Family offensive didn't actually understand the show|publisher=MeTV|date=June 7, 2024|accessdate=June 5, 2025}} she was also personally discontent with how static her character was portrayed, and only regarded the time between the sixth and eighth seasons of All In The Family, which aired after she made an unsuccessful attempt to sue to get out of her contract with the show, as the best time she had playing Gloria.{{cite web|title=Gloria Bunker-Stivic|url=http://sharetv.org/shows/all_in_the_family/cast/gloria_bunker-stivic|website=ShareTV.org|access-date=June 5, 2025|archive-date=October 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009012358/http://sharetv.org/shows/all_in_the_family/cast/gloria_bunker-stivic|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://people.com/sally-struthers-norman-lear-all-in-the-family-podcast-8775103|title=Sally Struthers Blasts All in the Family's Norman Lear, Says She Spent $40K Trying to Leave the Beloved Show|first=Victoria|last=Edel|publisher=People|date=January 15, 2025|accessdate=June 5, 2025}} In 2025, Struthers stated that Lear regarded her as the show's "fourth banana" compared to the other three leads, never invited her to any of the dinner parties he held, and told her that he only wanted to cast her in the show because she had "blue eyes and a fat face."
In 1977 she portrayed a housewife who was physically abused by her husband (portrayed by Dennis Weaver) in the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers, one of the first network features to depict domestic violence.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}
File:All in the Family cast 1976.JPG
On the short-lived Archie Bunker's Place spin-off Gloria (1982–1983), Struthers reprised Gloria as a new divorcée (she became an "exchange student," when husband Mike exchanged her for one of his students). The series co-starred Burgess Meredith as the doctor of an animal clinic with Gloria as his assistant.{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}} From 1985 to 1986 Struthers starred as Florence Ungar in the female version of The Odd Couple. Struthers later stated in an interview on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, that it was an unpleasant experience until Rita Moreno, who was mean-spirited towards Struthers, left the play and was replaced by Brenda Vaccaro.{{Cite web|url=https://soundcloud.com/gilbertgottfried/sally-struthers-part-2|title=Sally Struthers Part 2|via=soundcloud.com}}
She was a semi-regular panelist on the 1990 revival of Match Game and an occasional guest on Win, Lose or Draw (even filling in for Vicki Lawrence as host for a week). She also had a recurring role as Bill Miller's manipulative mother, Louise, on Still Standing and regularly appeared on Gilmore Girls as Babette Dell. She also provided voices for a number of animated series such as The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (as a teenage Pebbles Flintstone), TaleSpin (as Rebecca Cunningham) and was one of the voice stars on ABC's Dinosaurs produced by Walt Disney and Henson Productions (as Charlene Sinclair).{{cite web|url=https://thegateway.org/online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=8836E2E4-840F-4BD8-8407-A0F0D50E7943|title=Sally Struthers returns to Gateway|publisher=The Gateway|date=2015|accessdate=May 21, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/TaleSpin/Rebecca-Cunningham/|title=Rebecca Cunningham|publisher=Behind The Voice Actors|accessdate=May 21, 2025}}
Struthers starred in the stage production of Annie at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia,{{cite news|last1=Janich|first1=Kathy|title=Annie at the Fox Theatre|url=https://issuu.com/encoreatlanta/docs/jan12_fox|access-date=15 May 2018|work=Encore Atlanta|publisher=Atlanta Metropolitan Publishing Inc.|date=14 January 2012|pages=10–12}} and in the national tour of the production in the late 1990s. She has been a regular since the early 2000s at the Ogunquit Playhouse, in Ogunquit, Maine.{{cite news|url=http://www.pressherald.com/life/audience/waiting-in-the-wings-summer_2012-04-01.html?searchterm=sally+struthers|date=April 1, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2012|title=Waiting in the wings: Summer|first=Bob|last=Keyes|work=The Portland Press Herald|location=Portland, Maine}}
In 2014, Struthers toured in the 50th-anniversary production of Hello, Dolly!, playing Dolly Levi.
In 2024, Struthers began playing Virgina Foldau in the Netflix series A Man on the Inside, starring Ted Danson.
''
In January 2025, The Life and Times of Norman Lear author Tripp Whetsell revealed that Struthers had a tense relationship with Norman Lear and tried to leave All In The Family after the fifth season, spending $40,000 in legal fees in an unsuccessful effort to get out of her contract.{{cite news|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/sally-struthers-spent-40k-trying-to-leave-all-in-the-family-wasnt-a-huge-fan-of-norman-lear/|title=Sally Struthers Spent $40K Trying to Leave 'All in the Family': 'Wasn't a Huge Fan' of Norman Lear|first=Russell|last=Steinberg|publisher=Us Weekly|date=January 16, 2025|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}
Activism
Struthers was{{cite web | url=http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/the-price-of-a-cup-of-coffee,73249 | title=The price of a cup of coffee | date=March 2021 }}{{Cite web | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/05/28/charitys-spending-faulted/5250c688-e3f5-4b01-a799-f485c69956a6/ | title=Charity's spending faulted | newspaper=The Washington Post}} a spokesperson for Christian Children's Fund (later renamed ChildFund), advocating on behalf of impoverished children in developing countries.
Business interests
Struthers has been a spokesperson for International Correspondence School (ICS) in television ads, pitching the famous line "Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do!" ICS was a school with a diverse curriculum that, at the time, had fields of study going from brick laying to personal computers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/414049759484931083/|title=International Correspondence School - Sally Struthers | Sally struthers, Correspondence, School|website=Pinterest}}
Personal life
Struthers married psychiatrist William C. Rader on December 18, 1977, in Los Angeles.{{cite web |title=California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6P3-SWK|quote=Sally A Struthers, Female, 1947, age 30, date: 18 Dec 1977, place: Los Angeles, spouse:William C Rader |publisher=State of California}}{{cite news |title=Sally's Family Life |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20078625,00.html |quote= ... her husband, Dr. William Rader, 42 ... Rader's three children from a previous marriage ...|newspaper=People magazine |date=February 16, 1981 |access-date=2015-03-13 }} After having one child, daughter Samantha, the couple divorced on January 19, 1983.{{cite web |title=California, Divorce Index, 1966-1984 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/en/|quote=William C Rader, date: 18 Jan 1983, place: Los Angeles, spouse: Sally A |website=familysearch.org |publisher=State of California |access-date=2021-03-06}}{{registration required |nolink=y}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row" | 1970
| {{sortname|The|Phynx}} | World's No. 1 Fan | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1970
| Shirley "Betty" | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1972
| {{sortname|The|Getaway|The Getaway (1972 film)}} | Fran Clinton | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1976
| {{sortname|The|Great Houdini|The Great Houdini (film)}} | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1978
| {{sortname|A|Different Approach}} | Cameo | Short film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1979
| ...And Your Name Is Jonah | Jenny Corelli | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1997
| {{sortname|The|Others|nolink=yes}} | Mrs. Zelov | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2001
| Out of the Black | Betty | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2001
| Onida Roy | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2003
| Reeseville | Katie Oakman | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2003
| Roz | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2005
| Granny Abigail Puckett | Unused voice; lines overdubbed by Glenn Close |
| scope="row"| 2010
| Monster Heroes | Kripta | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2014
| Waiting in the Wings: the Musical | Sperm Bank Receptionist | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2015
| Hollywood Musical! | Sally | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2016
| Still Waiting in the Wings | Lucy | | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2017
| data-sort-value="Relationship"| The Relationtrip | Liam's Mom | Voice |
| scope="row"| 2017
| You & Me | Tilly | | style="text-align:center;"| |
=Television=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row" | 1970
| The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | Performer | 8 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1970
| | 13 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1971–1978
| 182 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1971–1972
| The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show | Voice, 16 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1971
| Barbara | Episode: "Love and the Triangle" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1971
| Ironside | Sandy Fonda | Episode: "Love, Peace, Brotherhood and Murder" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1971
| The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Katie O'Hara | Episode: "The Blarney Stone" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1974
| Aloha Means Goodbye | Sara Moore | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1975
| Helen Klaben | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1977–1978
| Pebbles Flintstone | Voice, 95 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1977
| Janice Halston | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1978
| My Husband is Missing | Mrs. Katherine Eaton | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1979
| The 200th Episode Celebration of All in the Family | Herself | Television special | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1979–1982
| Gloria Stivic | 5 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1981
| A Gun in the House | Emily Cates | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1982–1983
| Gloria | Gloria Stivic | 21 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1983
| Poison Ivy | Voice, 1 episode |
| scope="row"| 1985
| The Glo Friends Save Christmas | Blanche | Voice, television special | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1985
| Tiger Lily | Miniseries | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1986–1988
| 9 to 5 | Marsha McMurray Shrimpton | 52 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1989
| Nora Bennington, Nancy Beauman | Episode: "Still at Large" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1989
| A Deadly Silence | Aunt Marilyn | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1990
| TaleSpin: Plunder & Lightning | Voice, television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1990
| Mrs. Newberry | Episode: "Sweet Sixteen" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1990
| Nancy La Rue | Episode: "A Body to Die For" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1990–1991
| TaleSpin | Rebecca Cunningham | Voice, 42 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1991
| All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special | Herself | Television special | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1991–1994
| Charlene Sinclair | Voice, 65 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1991
| Yo Yogi! | Additional voices | 9 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1991
| Jerry's Mother | Voice, episode: "Jerry's Mother" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1992
| In the Best Interest of the Children | Patty Pepper | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1992
| Narrator | Television special | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1992
| Shelly | Voice, episode: "Beauty's Only Fin Deep" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1992
| Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa | Bessy Bluebell | Voice, episode: "Another Fine Mesa" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1992
| Rhoda's Mom, Witch Sandy | Voice, 2 episodes |
| scope="row"| 1993–1994
| Additional voices | 13 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1994
| Duckman | Additional voices | Episode: "Cellar Beware" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1995
| The New Adventures of Mother Goose | Voice, television special | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 1998
| Girl Enzyme #1 | Voice, episode: "Journey to the Center of Cow" |
| scope="row"| 1998
| Voice, episode: "Eliza-cology" |
| scope="row"| 1999
| Additional voices |Voice | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"|2000–2007
| 52 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2002
| Jennifer Smith | 6 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2002
| Mrs. Higsby | Voice, episode: "New Girl in Town" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2003
| Aunt Lorraine | Episode: "Ping, Ping a Song" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2003
| Eve Warner | Episode: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2003–2006
| Louise Miller | 10 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2004
| Additional voices | Episode: "Almost Wormless" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row" | 2006
| What I Did for Love | Aunt Trudy | Television film | style="text-align:center;" | |
| scope="row"| 2008–2009
| Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures | Mrs. O'Connor | Voice, 26 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2011
| Clara | Voice, episode: "A Ward Show" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2011
| Herself | Episode: "Beverly D'Angelo/Sally Struthers/Melissa George" | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2016
| Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life | Babette Dell | Miniseries | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2016
| Maron | Shirley | 2 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2018
| Christmas Harmony | Shirley | Television film | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2019–2021
| Rose / various | Voice, 3 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
| scope="row"| 2024–
|Virginia |8 episodes | style="text-align:center;"| |
=Audio dramas=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row"| 2021–2022
|Mrs. Truitt |Voice, 2 episodes | |
=Stage=
- Wally's Cafe (1981) ... Janet (Broadway: Brooks Atkinson Theatre)
- The Odd Couple (1985–1986) ... Florence Ungar (Broadway: Broadhurst Theatre)
- Grease (1994–1998) ... Miss Lynch (Broadway: Eugene O'Neill Theatre)
- Annie (1998–1999) ... Miss Hannigan, 20th Anniversary National Tour
- Nunsense (2008) ... Mother Superior, 25th Anniversary Tour
- Hello, Dolly! (2013–2014) ... Dolly Levi, 50th Anniversary Tour
- Young Frankenstein (2022) ... Frau Blucher (McCoy/Rigby Ent. / La Mirada Theatre, CA)
Awards and nominations
=Primetime Emmy Awards=
=Ovation Awards=
- 2010: Won the award for Featured Actress in a Musical for the role of the "Fairy Godmother" in the Cabrillo Music Theatre production of Cinderella{{cite news|title=2009/2010 Ovation Award Winners.|url=http://www.lastagetimes.com/2011/01/ovationwinners|date=January 17, 2011|access-date=September 2, 2014}}
In popular culture
- Struthers was satirized in South Park, mainly the episodes "Starvin' Marvin" (1997) and "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (1999). In the latter she resembles Jabba the Hutt and eats the Christian Children's Fund's food herself.
- Stuthers was also satirized Season 3 of the comedy show In Living Color, in a sketch titled "Feed Me".
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0001783}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- [http://voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=3459 Sally Struthers] at Voice Chasers
{{EmmyAward ComedySupportingActress 1976-2000}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Struthers, Sally}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Portland, Oregon
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Norwegian descent
Category:American television actresses
Category:American voice actresses