All in the Family alum Sally Struthers said that many fans of the show believed she was actually married to Rob Reiner, who played her husband on the iconic series, even decades after it went off the air.
The Portland, Oregon-born actress, 76, spoke with Page Six on Tuesday about the series, weeks after she and Reiner, 76, reunited in an Emmys tribute to the late creator of the series, Norman Lear.
Struthers portrayed the role of Gloria Bunker-Stivic on 184 episodes of the show from 1971–1978, later appearing in the spinoffs Gloria and Archie Bunker’s Place.
‘When they saw me with my real-life husband, they go, “Where’s your husband?”‘ she told the outlet.
Struthers said that fans would have a difficult time digesting the information when she would inform them that she was married to Rader, and not Reiner.
‘People are so funny,’ Struthers said. ‘They get an idea in their head, they’re like an old dog with a bone.’
Even decades after the series ended, people continued to think she and Reiner were married.
She said that she and Reiner at one point began meeting regularly for lunch at the Los Angeles shopping center The Grove (which opened in 2002).
‘Within two months, we couldn’t do that anymore,’ Struthers explained of the attention from fans.
Struthers told the outlet that the success of the TV series was life-changing for her: ‘It became apparent rather quickly that my life had completely turned upside down.’
Struthers explained why she felt the characters on the landmark show, which starred the late Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor as Edith and Archie Bunker, resonated so strongly with fans.
‘The Bunkers came along and they flushed toilets,’ Struthers said. ‘They didn’t have good manners at the table. They reached over one another for food … and they talked about real things.’
She continued: ‘They peeled off the veneer. And you saw the less-than-perfect side of human beings. You saw the arguing and the vehemence and the bigotry. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle now. Everything got more honest after that.’
Struthers said she continues to be ‘grateful’ for the impact the show had on her life and career.
‘Over the years the gratitude has grown because it continues to open doors,’ she told Page Six. ‘It sounds like I’m bragging. I’m not bragging.’
She added, ‘I’m always dumbfounded. I don’t have to audition for theater. I get offered parts. I get people who call and say, “We want Sally to do this for us this year.”
‘And that’s because they know that my name sells tickets and fills the seats. That wouldn’t have happened without the renown of All in the Family. So, I’m grateful every day.’
Struthers has been busy in recent years working in theater, and is slated to star with Ted Danson on a forthcoming Netflix comedy titled A Classic Spy.
‘That’s what I do,’ she said. ‘I keep moving, and I think that my favorite adage is, “You rest, You rust!”‘
