All in the Family

Premise

Cast

Main characters

• Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker: Frequently called a "lovable bigot", Archie is an assertively prejudiced blue-collar worker. A World War II veteran, Archie longs for better times when people sharing his viewpoint were in charge, as evidenced by the nostalgic theme song "Those Were the Days", also the show's original title. Despite his bigotry, he is portrayed as loving and decent, as well as a man who is simply struggling to adapt to the constantly changing world rather than someone motivated by hateful racism or prejudice. His ignorance and stubbornness seem to cause his malapropism-filled arguments to self-destruct. He often rejects uncomfortable truths by blowing a raspberry. Former child actor Mickey Rooney was Lear's first choice to play Archie, but Rooney declined the offer because of the strong potential for controversy and, in Rooney's opinion, its poor chance of success.
• Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, née Baines: Edith is Archie's ditzy but kind-hearted wife. Archie often tells her to "stifle" herself and calls her a "dingbat", and although Edith generally defers to her husband's authority and endures his insults, on the rare occasions when Edith takes a stand, she proves to exhibit simple but profound wisdom. Despite their different personalities, they love each other deeply. Stapleton developed Edith's distinctive voice. Stapleton remained with the show through the original series run but decided to leave at that time. During the first season of Archie Bunker's Place, Edith is seen in five of the first fourteen episodes in guest appearances. After being set forth largely as an invisible character, Edith got written out as having suffered a stroke and died off-screen in the following season, leaving Archie to deal with the death of his beloved "dingbat". Stapleton appeared in all but four episodes of All in the Family. In the series' first episode, Edith is portrayed as being less of a dingbat and even sarcastically refers to her husband as "Mr. Religion here..." after they come home from church—something her character would not be expected to say later.
• Sally Struthers as Gloria Stivic, née Bunker: The Bunkers' college-age daughter is married to Michael Stivic. She has the generally kind nature of her mother but also the stubbornness of her father, which early in the series manifests as childishness and later as a more mature feminism. Gloria frequently attempts to mediate between her father and her husband, generally siding with the latter. The roles of the Bunkers' daughter and son-in-law initially went to Candice Azzara and Chip Oliver. After seeing the show's pilot, ABC requested a second pilot after expressing dissatisfaction with both actors. Lear later recast the roles of Gloria and Dickie with Struthers and Reiner. Penny Marshall, Reiner's wife, whom he married in April 1971 shortly after the program began, was considered for the role of Gloria. During early seasons of the show, Struthers was known to feel discontented with how static her part was, and in 1974, she sued to get out of her contract, but the character became more developed, thereby satisfying her. Struthers appeared in 157 of the 202 episodes during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971, to March 19, 1978. She later reprised the role in the spin-off series Gloria, which lasted one season in 1982–1983.
• Rob Reiner as Michael "Meathead" Stivic: Gloria's Polish-American hippie husband is part of the counterculture of the 1960s. While good-hearted and well-meaning, he constantly spars with Archie and is equally stubborn, although his moral views are generally presented as more ethical and his logic somewhat sounder. He is the most-educated person in the household, which gives him a self-assured arrogance, and despite his intellectual belief in progressive social values, he tends to expect Gloria to defer to him as her husband. As discussed in All in the Family retrospectives, Richard Dreyfuss sought the part, but Norman Lear ultimately cast Reiner. Harrison Ford turned down the role, citing Archie Bunker's bigotry. Reiner appeared in 174 of the 202 episodes of the series during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971, to March 19, 1978. Reiner is credited with writing three of the series' episodes.
• Danielle Brisebois as Stephanie Mills, nine-year-old daughter of Edith's cousin Floyd and a regular throughout the ninth season. In addition to being thought cute and having a sweet side, she is smart and clever and makes her own remarks to Archie from time to time. The Bunkers take her in after her father abandons her on their doorstep in 1978. Her father later extorts money from the Bunkers to let them keep her. She remained with the show through its transition to Archie Bunker's Place and appeared in all four seasons of the continuation.

  Supporting characters

• Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson, Isabel Sanford as his wife, Louise, and Mike Evans as their son, Lionel, Archie's Black neighbors: George is Archie's combative Black counterpart; Louise is a smarter, more assertive version of Edith. Lionel first appeared in the series' premiere episode "Meet the Bunkers"; Louise appeared later in the first season. Although George had been mentioned many times, he was not seen until 1973. Hemsley, who was Norman Lear's first choice to play George, was performing in the Broadway musical Purlie and did not want to break his commitment to that show. Lear kept the role waiting for him until he finished with the musical. Plots frequently found Archie and George at odds with each other while Edith and Louise attempted to join forces to bring about resolutions. George and Louise later moved to an apartment in Manhattan in their own show, The Jeffersons. Lionel appeared in All in the Family as a college student and aspiring electrical engineer who early on did odd jobs around the neighborhood, including television and radio repair.
• Mel Stewart as George's brother Henry Jefferson: The two appeared together only once, in a 1973 episode in which the Bunkers host Henry's going-away party, marking Stewart's final episode and Hemsley's first. After the Jeffersons were spun off into their own show in 1975, Stewart's character was rarely referred to again and was never seen. In the closing credits of "The First and Last Supper" episode, Mel Stewart is incorrectly credited as playing George Jefferson. Stewart was actually playing George's brother Henry Jefferson, who was pretending to be George for most of the episode.
• Bea Arthur as Edith's cousin Maude: Maude, white-collared and ultraliberal, serves as the perfect foil to Archie and one of his main antagonists. She appears in two episodes: "Cousin Maude's Visit", in which she takes care of the Bunker household when all four are sick, and "Maude" from the show's second season, which served as a backdoor pilot. Her spinoff series, Maude, began in fall 1972.
• Betty Garrett and Vincent Gardenia as liberal Roman Catholic next-door neighbors Irene and Frank Lorenzo: Both first appear as a married couple as Irene is trying to use the Bunkers' phone; During an argument earlier in the episode, Archie and Mike had broken the phone wire. Irene being a "handyman" of sorts with her own tools, which she carries in her purse, fixes it. Irene fixes many things at the Bunker house during her time on the show. She also has a sister who is a nun and appears in one episode. "Edith's Christmas Story" reveals that Irene has had a mastectomy. Archie gets her a job as a forklift operator at the warehouse where he works. Irene is a strong-willed woman of Irish heritage, and Frank is a jovial Italian househusband who loves cooking and singing. He is also a salesman, but what he sells is never mentioned. Gardenia, who also appeared as Jim Bowman in episode eight of season one and as Curtis Rempley in episode seven of season three, became a semiregular along with Garrett in 1973. Gardenia stayed for only one season as Frank Lorenzo, but Garrett remained until her character was phased out in late 1975.
• Allan Melvin as Archie's neighbor and good friend Barney Hefner: Barney first appeared in 1972 as a recurring character. His appearances increased during subsequent seasons until he became a regular. He appeared as a regular in all four seasons of Archie Bunker's Place. Melvin also appeared in first-season episode "Archie in the Lock-up" as a desk sergeant at a police precinct.
• Jason and Justin Draeger and Cory R. Miller as Joey Stivic, son of Gloria and Mike. The character first appeared as a newborn baby in a two-part episode of All in the Family that aired in December 1975, then continued to appear until Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner left the show in 1978, with another appearance when Archie and Edith visited Gloria and Mike in the ninth-season episode "California, Here We Are". Joey Stivic later appeared in an episode of Archie Bunker's Place, as a regular character in the spinoff series Gloria, and on the premiere episode of 704 Hauser, played by different actors.