Main characters ) and Michael (
Rob Reiner). Seated, Archie (
Carroll O'Connor) and Edith (
Jean Stapleton) with baby Joey •
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 (then named "Dickie") 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. (seasons 1–4, 8 episodes) •
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. (season 2, 2 episodes) •
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 (as the man who sold his house to the Jeffersons) and as Curtis Rempley in episode seven of season three (as a swinger opposite
Rue McClanahan), 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. (seasons 4–6) •
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.
Recurring characters •
James Cromwell as Jerome "Stretch" Cunningham (1973–1976) "The Funniest Man in The World", Archie's friend and co-worker from the loading dock (Archie claims that he is known as the "Bob Hope" of the loading platform): What Archie did not know was that Stretch was Jewish, evident only after Stretch died and Archie went to the funeral. Archie's eulogy (or "urology" as he called it) for his friend is often referred to as a rare occasion when he was capable of showing the humanity he tried so earnestly to hide. In the episode titled "Archie in the Cellar",
Billy Sands is referred to as Stretch Cunningham, the voice on the tape recorder telling jokes. Sands also appeared as other characters on the show during its run, in Kelsey's Bar as a patron. (season 5, 3 episodes) •
Liz Torres as Theresa Betancourt (1976–1977): A
Puerto Rican nursing student who meets Archie when he is admitted to the hospital for surgery. She later rents Mike and Gloria's former room at the Bunker house. She calls Archie "Papi". Torres joined
All in the Family in the fall of 1976, but her character was not popular with viewers and the role was phased out before the end of the season. (season 7, 7 episodes) •
Billy Halop as Mr. Munson (1971–76), the cab driver who lets Archie drive his cab to make extra money. (seasons 1–3 & 5–6, 10 episodes) •
Bob Hastings as Kelcy or Tommy Kelsey, who owns the bar Archie frequents and later buys: Kelcy was also played by
Frank Maxwell in the episode "Archie Gets The Business". The name of the establishment is Kelcy's Bar (as seen in the bar window in various episodes). Due to a
continuity error, the end credits of episodes involving the bar owner spell the name "Kelcy" for the first two seasons and "Kelsey" thereafter, although the end credits show "Kelcy" in the "
Archie Gets the Business" episode. •
Jason Wingreen as Harry Snowden, a bartender at Kelcy's Bar who continues to work there after Archie purchases it as his business partner: Harry had tried to buy the bar from Kelcy, but Archie was able to come up with the money first by taking a mortgage out on his house, which the Bunkers owned outright. •
Gloria LeRoy as Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner, a buxom, middle-aged secretary at the plant where Archie works: She first appears when Archie is lost on his way to a convention and Mike and Gloria suspect he and she could be having an affair. Archie gave her that moniker as she was walking by the loading dock. He said when she walked, "Boom-Boom". She is not fond of Archie because he and Stretch leer at her and because of their sexist behavior, but later becomes friendly with him, occasionally working as a barmaid at Archie's Place. Gloria LeRoy also appeared in a third-season episode as "Bobbi Jo" Loomis, the wife of Archie's old war buddy "Duke". •
Barnard Hughes as Father John Majeski, a local Catholic priest who was suspected by Archie one time of trying to convert Edith: He appeared in multiple episodes. The first time was when Edith accidentally hit Majeski's car near the local supermarket with a can of cling peaches in heavy syrup. (seasons 2, 3 & 4, 3 episodes) •
Eugene Roche appeared as practical jokester friend and fellow lodge member "Pinky Peterson", one of Archie Bunker's buddies, in three episodes, first in the episode "Beverly Rides Again", then the Christmas Day episode "The Draft Dodger" (episode 146, 1976), and finally the episode "Archie's Other Wife". (seasons 7 & 9, 3 episodes) •
Sorrell Booke as Lyle Sanders, personnel manager at Archie's workplace, Prendergast Tool and Die Company. Booke had previously appeared on the series as Lyle Bennett, the manager of a local television station, in the episode "Archie and the Editorial" in season three. •
Lori Shannon as Beverly La Salle, a transvestite entertainer, who appeared in three episodes: "Archie the Hero", "Beverly Rides Again", and "Edith's Crisis of Faith". In that third episode, Mike and Beverly are attacked and Beverly dies in a hospital from injuries suffered during the fight. •
Estelle Parsons as Blanche Hefner (1977–1979), Barney's second wife: Blanche and Archie are not fond of one another, though Edith likes her very much. The character is mentioned throughout much of the series after Barney's first wife, Mabel, had died, though she only appeared in a handful of episodes during the last few seasons. Estelle Parsons also appeared in the season-seven episode "Archie's Secret Passion" as Dolores Fencel. (seasons 7 & 9) •
Bill Quinn as Mr. Edgar van Ranseleer (Mr. van R), a blind patron and regular at the bar: He is almost never referred to by his first name. In a running joke, Archie usually waves his hand in front of Mr. van R's face when he speaks to him. His role was later expanded on ''Archie Bunker's Place'', where he appeared in all four seasons. •
Burt Mustin as Justin Quigley, a feisty octogenarian/nonagenarian: Mr. Quigley first appeared in the episode: "Edith Finds an Old Man" (season four, episode three, September 23, 1973) where he runs away from an old age home. He temporarily moves in with the Bunkers but quickly leaves to share an apartment with his friend Josephine "Jo" Nelson, played by
Ruth McDevitt. He appeared in several other episodes, including "Archie's Weighty Problem". Mustin previously appeared in a first-season episode as Harry Feeney, the night watchman at Archie's workplace. (seasons 1, 4–6, 5 episodes) •
Nedra Volz as Aunt Iola, Edith's aunt. Mentioned several times in the eighth season, she stays with the Bunkers for two weeks. Edith wants her to move in, but Archie will not allow it, though when he believes Iola does not have any place to go, he tells her privately that she can always stay with them. •
Francine Beers and
Jane Connell as Sybil Gooley, who works at Ferguson's Market: Frequently mentioned, usually by Edith, Sybil predicts that Gloria and Mike will be having a baby boy by performing a ring on a string "swing test" over Gloria's abdomen. Sybil also appeared in the episode "Edith's 50th Birthday" and spills the beans on her surprise party because she had not been invited. She and Archie do not get along, and he refers to her as a "Big Mouth". •
Rae Allen and
Elizabeth Wilson as Edith's cousin Amelia DeKuyper: Archie detests Amelia and her husband, Russell, who are wealthy. Once, she sent Edith a mink and Archie wanted to send it back, until he found out how much it was worth. In another episode, Amelia and her husband visit the Bunkers to bring them gifts from a recent trip to Hawaii, but in a private moment, Amelia shares with Edith that, despite appearances, she and Russell are considering a divorce. The character was played by two different actresses in three episodes of the show. •
Richard Dysart and
George S. Irving as Russell DeKuyper, Amelia's husband. He is a plumbing contractor who continued the business started by Amelia's father and uncles. He constantly flaunts his monetary wealth in front of Archie and looks askance at the way Archie lives, forgetting that he walked into a profitable plumbing business. He appears in two of the episodes that feature Amelia. •
Clyde Kusatsu as Reverend Chong: He refuses to baptize little Joey in season six, and then remarries Archie and Edith, and Mike and Gloria in season eight, and gives counsel to Stephanie in season nine as it was learned that she was Jewish. (seasons 6, 8 & 9, 3 episodes) •
Ruth McDevitt as Josephine "Jo" Nelson: The girlfriend of Justin Quigley, the older man Edith finds walking around the supermarket. She appeared in three episodes from seasons four through six. Gloria and Mike adopted them as their god grandparents. The most of any other characters, Archie takes a liking to Justin and Jo. She dies following the end of the sixth season. (Season 4 & 5, 3 episodes) •
William Benedict as Jimmy McNabb: The Bunkers' neighbor, he appeared in two episodes during the first and second seasons and was referred to many times during the first few seasons. •
Jack Grimes as Mr. Whitehead: A member of Archie's lodge and the local funeral director. The death of Archie's cousin Oscar in a season-two episode of
All in the Family brings the very short, white-haired, and silver-tongued Whitehead with his catalog of caskets. (seasons 2 & 4, 2 episodes) ==History and production==