From sitcom titans to Oscar nominees and the character actors in between, these are the
people behind All in the Family who have sadly passed away since their time visiting the Bunker household.
Before playing Archie Bunker, Carroll O'Connor started his acting career on the stage in
Dublin, Ireland, and his native New York City.
After making his TV debut on Sunday Showcase, he went on to appear on the likes of Gunsmoke,
Bonanza, and The Outer Limits, among others.
But O'Connor's most successful role was of course Archie, whom he played on both All
in the Family and the spinoff Archie Bunker's Place.
After his time as the Bunker patriarch came to an end, O'Connor went on to star on the
TV version of In the Heat of the Night.
He also became one of a select few to win Primetime Emmys in both the comedy and drama categories.
Offscreen, O'Connor and his wife Nancy Fields had an adopted son named Hugh, who died by
suicide in 1995 after a long struggle with addiction.
That inspired his father to do a number of public service announcements in the 90s for
Partnership for a Drug Free America.
"Get between your kids and drugs any way you can."
O'Connor died in 2001 at the age of 76 from a heart attack and complications of diabetes.
As Edith Bunker, Jean Stapleton was kind and understanding, though she also had to endure
the constant ridicule of her husband.
Nevertheless, Edith was the heart of All in the Family, and there were times when she
would prove Archie wrong and help him find his empathy.
Like Carroll O'Connor, Stapleton was also born in New York City and also started out
on the stage.
As the daughter of an opera singer, the performing arts were in her blood.
She eventually made it to Broadway as part of famous musicals like Funny Girl and Damn Yankees.
Stapleton's pre-All in the Family TV credits includes the likes of The Patty Duke Show,
My Three Sons, and Dennis the Menace.
She only appeared on five episodes of the spinoff Archie Bunker's Place, and the decision
was then made to have Edith die from a stroke.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this, you know."
Stapleton herself died in 2013 at the age of 90 after a long and extensive career.
Sherman Hemsley played George Jefferson, who proved to be popular enough to become the
lead on his own spinoff show, The Jeffersons.
On All in the Family, George was Archie Bunker's neighbor whom he often butted heads with.
As The Jeffersons theme song made famous, George and his family moved on up from their
former neighborhood in Queens to a deluxe apartment in the sky in Manhattan.
The Jeffersons ran for a whopping 11 seasons from 1975 through 1985.
Hemsley also enjoyed an extensive stage career and appeared on other TV shows, like Dinosaurs
and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
When Hemsley died in 2012 at the age of 74 from lung cancer, his will left everything
to a woman named Flora, his dear friend and business partner.
Hemsley wasn't buried for over a month after his death, because a Philadelphia man named
Richard Thornton claimed to be his long-lost brother.
The drawn-out legal proceedings were eventually resolved when the court ruled in Flora's favor.
Isabel Sanford played George Jefferson's wife Louise, who was lovingly known as "Weezy."
Whereas Archie and George were hot-headed and frequently sparring, Edith and Louise
were always trying to figure out how to calm their husbands down.
Isabel is portrayed as kind and sensible like Edith, though much sharper.
Sanford was born in New York City and joined Harlem's American Negro Theater and The Star
Players after graduating from high school.
She made her stage debut in 1946, as she appeared in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
In 1960, after separating from her husband, she and her three children moved to Los Angeles,
where her movie and TV career really kicked off.
After appearing in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, she caught the attention
of Norman Lear, who then cast her on All in the Family.
"I got something to say to you, boy.
Just exactly what you're trying to pull here."
During her time on The Jeffersons, Sanford earned five Golden Globe and seven Emmy nominations.
When she won an Emmy in 1981 for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, she became
the first Black actress to triumph in that category.
She died in 2004 in Los Angeles at the age of 86.
George and Louise Jefferson's son Lionel initially appeared on the first episode of All in the
Family's first season, "Meet the Bunkers."
Lionel is notable for being a positive depiction of an opinionated Black man, which was rather
revolutionary for the time.
Lionel doesn't let Archie's casual racism bother him, as he instead laughs it off as
a sign of his neighbor's backwards thinking.
He sees Archie as more ignorant than evil, and often patronizes him.
Still, Archie considers Lionel a friend and even something of a mentee.
"What are friends for, Lionel?"
Lionel was played by Mike Evans on both All in the Family and The Jeffersons.
During the first few seasons of the latter, he marries his biracial wife Jenny, and they
have a daughter named Jessica.
Evans eventually left The Jeffersons to work on the sitcom Good Times, which he helped create.
He was replaced on The Jeffersons by Damon Evans, who was not related to Mike despite
their shared last name.
Mike Evans returned for the final season of The Jeffersons and died of throat cancer at
the age of 57 in 2006.
Allan Melvin played Archie's neighbor and best friend Barney Hefner.
Before he played Barney, though, he showed up in the Season 2 episode "Archie in the
Lock-Up" as a desk officer at a police precinct.
Melvin's popularity rose during his time as Barney, and he ended up becoming a series
regular on all four seasons of the spinoff Archie Bunker's Place.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Melvin had the sort of expressive face that TV was invented for.
He appeared on such classic sitcoms as Gomer Pyle, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith
Show, and My Favorite Martian.
He also famously played Sam the Butcher, Alice's boyfriend, on The Brady Bunch.
Melvin died in 2008 from cancer at the age of 84, and he just so happens to be buried
near Carroll O'Connor.
Betty Garrett and Vincent Gardenia played the Bunkers' liberal Catholic neighbors Irene
and Frank Lorenzo.
Irene is Irish, while Frank is Italian, thus highlighting the multicultural makeup of their
Queens neighborhood.
Irene is also something of a feminist for the day.
She's handy with tools, and she often fixes things around her own house, as well as the Bunkers'.
Archie even gets her a job as a forklift operator at the same plant where he works.
"I got the job!"
"Oh!"
Another Missouri native, Garrett appeared on Broadway in the 1940s and had a contract
with MGM during Hollywood's studio era.
Her most notable TV role other than Irene was the landlady Edna on Laverne & Shirley.
Garrett won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Irene, though the character was phased
out of the show in later seasons.
Garrett's TV career continued on such shows as The Golden Girls and Murder, She Wrote.
She continued acting into the early 2000s on the likes of Grey's Anatomy and Boston Public.
She died in 2011 at the age of 91 of an aortic aneurysm.
Vincent Gardenia played Frank Lorenzo as a boisterous fellow who loves to sing and cook.
He once worked as a salesman, though what he sold is never actually mentioned.
Before he was Fank, Gardenia appeared on an earlier episode of All in the Family as the
man who sells his house to the Jeffersons, and he also played a swinger in a Season 3 episode.
Gardenia was born in Naples, Italy in 1920.
During the course of his long and varied acting career, he was nominated for two Academy Awards,
for 1973's Bang the Drum Slowly and 1987's Moonstruck.
When Gardenia died in 1992 at the age of 72, it led to quite the theatrical conundrum.
He was in Philadelphia to perform on stage in the comedy Breaking Legs.
He originated the role off-Broadway the year before.
On the morning of the final preview show, it was discovered that he'd died of a heart
attack in his hotel room.
The show went on, though, with the opening performance dedicated to his memory.
George Jefferson's brother Henry was played by Mel Stewart, an actor, director, and musician.
He was introduced along with Louise and Lionel before Sherman Hemsley joined the cast as George.
Henry and George only appear in one episode together on All in the Family, which focuses
on Henry's going-away party for his move to Chicago.
The move was a way of phasing out the character, who never appeared on The Jeffersons.
"I want to thank you, Bunker, for letting me know and letting me see that some white
folks are better than other white folks."
Though Henry was only a bit player on All in the Family, Stewart enjoyed an extensive TV career.
His next project after All in the Family was Roll Out, a short-lived series about Black
soldiers during World War II.
He also appeared on such shows as Good Times, The Love Boat, and The Golden Girls.
His last onscreen role was the 1993 movie Made in America.
He died in 2002 from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 72.
Bea Arthur played Edith's feminist cousin Maude, who went on to have her own eponymous spinoff.
Maude and Archie often butted heads, and unlike Lionel Jefferson, who let Archie's ignorance
slide with a quip, Maude was famous for fighting back.
"You're fat."
Maude appeared on one episode of All in the Family Season 1, and then one more episode
in Season 2, which served as a backdoor pilot for her own show.
Born in 1922 in Brooklyn, Arthur started her career on the stage.
She won a Tony in 1966 for best featured actress in a musical for Mame.
After Maude, she landed another iconic role as Dorothy on The Golden Girls.
She continued acting into the 2000s, appearing on such shows as Malcolm in the Middle and
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
She even returned to Broadway for a 2002 production called Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends.
She died in 2009 from lung cancer at the age of 86.
Bob Hastings played Archie's friend Tommy Kelsey, the owner of the bar that the Bunker
patriarch frequents.
As the place where Archie can go to relax and have a drink, it's basically his home
away from home, so much so that when Tommy puts it up for sale, Archie mortgages his
own house to buy it.
This catalyzes the transition from All in the Family to the spinoff Archie Bunker's Place.
The Brooklyn-born Hastings started his acting career on the radio, where he played Archie
Andrews in a 1945 show based on Archie Comics.
He transitioned to TV soon after and showed up on the likes of Hogan's Heroes, Green Acres,
and McHale's Navy.
From 1978 to 1986, he played Captain Ramsey on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
In the 90s, he turned to voice acting, which included the part of Commissioner Gordon on
Batman: The Animated Series, among other roles in the DC Animated Universe.
Hastings died in 2014 from prostate cancer at the age of 89.
Though he never actually acted on All in the Family, creator and executive producer Norman
Lear was obviously indispensable to the show.
You could even go a step further and say that he was essential to an entire era of TV.
In addition to All in the Family, he helped dream up The Jeffersons and Maude, and he
executive produced One Day at a Time, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and Mary Hartman.
At one point, he was responsible for three of the four top-rated TV shows in the country.
Lear caught his big break back in the 1950s penning jokes for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Younger viewers might be more familiar with the times that he collaborated with All in
the Family star Rob Reiner, who's gone on to have a steady directing career.
Lear had a hand in Reiner's classic films This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, and The Princess Bride.
The Oscar-nominated, multiple Emmy-winning Lear passed away on December 5, 2023 at the
age of 101.