‘All in the Family’ star Sally Struthers recalls close bond with Carroll O’Connor: ‘I gained a father again’

Sally Struthers played Gloria Stivic in the hit ‘70s sitcom “All in the Family,” which starred Carroll O’Connor as Archie as well as Jean Stapleton and Rob Reiner, among others. The series, which centered on a working-class family, aired from 1971 until 1979.

"I had just come off ‘The Tim Conway Comedy Hour,’" Struthers recently recalled to Closer Weekly. "I should have been on all 13 weeks of it, but after the fifth show, the executives said, ‘Get rid of that dancer girl. She makes the show look cheap!’ So I was let go. I was distraught! I adored Tim Conway and wondered what would happen to me next." "But I went to read for this man nobody knew, [‘All in the Family’ creator] Norman Lear," the 74-year-old continued. "He said it was the role of the daughter, and he gave me a yelling scene. I had laryngitis that day, so my voice was raspy, but I guess it made him remember me. He narrowed it down to four young ladies, and I was one of the final four."