Bea Arthur and Sally Struthers used to gossip in the supermarket when they saw each other
A good coworker can make the work day feel better, but a great coworker is one who eventually becomes a true friend.
As an actor on All in the Family, Sally Struthers had no shortage of good friends. Struthers played Gloria Stivic in the series and was close to various castmates, including Betty Garrett, who played Irene Lorenzo.
Struthers was also close to Bea Arthur, who appeared in All in the Family as Cousin Maude. While Arthur was a guest on the series, her comedic talent was on full display during those episodes of All in the Family. Her appearances led the higher-ups at CBS to develop a spinoff specifically for her character, entitled Maude.
During an appearance on the podcast Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti, Struthers revealed that she and Arthur remained close friends and would often gossip with each other when they were reunited.
“She moved from New York to L.A,” said Struthers. “I would run into her at the supermarket and she would trash everyone we ever knew. We would stand in the aisle and she’d say ‘What do you think about so-and-so?’ People in the store were like, ‘What’s going on in aisle five?'” But I loved how filthy she was. She was a big deal. I loved her.”
“She was so brilliant on the episode when they filmed…they went, ‘Wait a minute. She’s so great as Maude, we should give her her own series.’ So that’s how Maude happened.”
