While much of the comedy in All in the Family relies on verbal jokes, there are lots of moments that are excellent examples of physical comedy. Plenty of laughs on the series come from a door being slammed in Archie’s face, or times when Mike and Archie both shove to fit through the doorway at the same time. Not to be outdone, however, Sally Struthers, who played Gloria, was also well known for her physical comedy throughout All in the Family. But while Struthers’ actions resulted in a lot of laughs, it also led to a few accidents as well.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Struthers revealed that she actually broke her arm while on the set of All in the Family after she took a spell down the Bunker’s staircase. Struthers said, “I’ve hurt myself a couple of times just doing All in the Family. I fell down the stairs one week and broke my arms.”
The accident happened before the cast was set to begin filming, and Struthers, ever the professional, refused to go to the hospital and stayed on set to perform. She stated, “I went on with the two shows despite the cracked elbow, and then, after the second show, I was rushed to the hospital and they put a cast on.”
Stranger still, the powers that be decided that Struthers couldn’t be seen wearing the cast as Gloria during the next filming session for All in the Family. The solution was simple in theory, but different in practice.
“The next week they took the cast off right before the show and put it back on again afterward.” the actor explained, “They were worried if they explained my broken arm on the show the audience would be so concerned about it they would lose some of the spontaneity.
I just sort of had to carry my arm around and hope nobody noticed.”
