Today, the beautiful actress with the famous blonde hair looks quite different, but she’s still working in the entertainment industry…

A Talented Actress

Many of us will always remember Sally Struthers for playing Gloria Stivic on the ’70s sitcom *All In The Family.* The iconic show was about a working-class white family living in Queens, New York. During its run, the show received an amazing 73 award nominations and won 42 times.

People who were born after the show might not fully understand how groundbreaking it was. There had been funny sitcoms before, but they rarely talked about serious social issues or taboos. *All In The Family* took these issues and made them funny, sad, or both.

Watching old episodes of the show on YouTube can make you feel young again. The episodes make you laugh and help take your mind off things happening today. Many of the issues back then are the same ones we face now, but the show presented them in a funny way.

The main characters in *All In The Family* are Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O’Connor), Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton), Gloria Bunker-Stivic (Sally Struthers), Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), and Stephanie Mills (Danielle Brisebois). They all had great chemistry together.

I think Sally Struthers was very underrated and a versatile actress. She even sang in some episodes of *All In The Family,* and you could see how much she grew as an actress during the show.

“At first, I behaved like an idiot on the set. I thought that was the way to get people to like me. I’ve been educated on the set. I’ve learned to be myself. And now, they respect me,” she told *Longview Daily News* in 1973.

When *All In The Family* started in January 1971, Sally Struthers was just 22 years old and had little TV experience. Producer Norman Lear, who Sally considered a guiding figure, saw her talent while she was dancing on *The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.*

Even though she was new to TV, Sally did a great job, just like the rest of the cast. Six months after the show started, she became a big star as *All In The Family* became the top TV show.

During her peak fame, Sally found it hard to go outside or have dinner without being surrounded by fans. For a young 22-year-old, it was a challenging experience.

In the early seasons of *All In The Family,* Sally Struthers enjoyed playing Gloria Stivic. However, she didn’t get many chances to develop her character or show her full acting skills. During a break from the show, Sally told the producers she wanted to take on more dramatic roles.

“When we go on break, I want to try something different,” she said.

She mentioned wanting to play a variety of characters, like a murderer, an unwed mother, a nun, and an old Jewish mother. Sally hoped that by the end of her career, people would think of her as funny as Judy Holliday and as respected as Ruth Gordon.

Unfortunately, typecasting can hurt an actor’s career. Often, after becoming famous for a specific role, it’s hard for actors to find new opportunities.

For Sally, this happened to some extent. She won two Emmy awards for her role as Gloria and got lead roles in a few other shows after leaving *All In The Family*. But she didn’t receive many new offers, and work soon became scarce for her.

In the 1990s, Sally Struthers was a semi-regular on the game show *Match Game*. Many people might also remember her as Babette Dell from *Gilmore Girls*.

Since the early 2000s, Sally has been a regular performer at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. This theater produces four or more shows each season.

In 2022, she starred as Frau Blucher in Mel Brooks’ *Young Frankenstein* at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, alongside AJ Holmes.

Sally has also been very active in helping poor children in developing countries. She has been a spokesperson for Christian Children’s Fund for many years and has appeared in their well-known TV commercials.

As for her personal life, Sally is a mother to one daughter, Samantha. Although she initially didn’t want children, her perspective changed after meeting famous psychiatrist William C. Rader. The couple married in 1977, and Samantha was born two years later.

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“Before I met Bill, I never wanted a baby. I was always the first one to say that it wasn’t going to make me fulfilled, that I didn’t need a carbon copy of myself. Then you fall in love with someone,” Sally told People in 1981.

“And you want to be the mother of a child that is part of that man, the result of your loving each other.”

Sadly, her marriage didn’t last very long. In 1983, Sally and William C. Rader divorced and went on to live separate lives.

Their daughter didn’t follow in her mom’s footsteps – instead, she became a clinical psychologist, and today has her own practice.

Samantha Struthers Rader is also very active on social media, where she posts advice and shares photos from her travels.

Yet it’s clear that she’s inherited some of her mother’s talents… sometimes Samantha shows off her incredible singing talent, and her voice sounds just as good as Sally’s.

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Sally Struthers today
Today, Sally Struthers is 75 years old and lives in Los Angeles.

She’s still active in the entertainment industry and has been working in theatres for the last 25 years. But she’s open to doing other things as well.

“I’m here. I’m a Los Angeles resident. I have been available. I don’t know why I am never asked to audition. I am never offered a job here. But, you give me Texas, you give me Maine, you give me Virginia, you give me New York, you give me Connecticut and there’s a job for me, always. They clamor to have me back the next year in something else,” she says.

Sally Struthers has had her share of challenges over the years. In 1996, she lost her mother to Alzheimer’s. Her mother passed away in Sally’s arms just two days before Christmas. Sally has also faced mean comments about her looks and weight from people on social media.

Despite these difficulties, Sally has handled everything with charm, integrity, and a sense of humor.

“From the time I was able to walk and talk, my goal in life was to make people laugh,” she told *Spectrum News* in 2022.

“And when I hear other people laugh because of something silly I did or a line I read, it feels like I’m in heaven. That’s what I love—laughter.”

I don’t understand why people leave nasty comments and curse so much. Sally Struthers has made us laugh for years, and she helps children in need with her time. She really seems like a kind and caring person.

Thank you for all the great memories, Sally! You look amazing and seem like a wonderful person. I hope you keep performing for a long time!