Only a few cast members from "All in the Family" are still with us. So what happened
to the rest of the cast of the most influential sitcom of all time? Keep watching to find out!
Born in New York in 1924, Carroll O'Connor tried his hand at a smattering of different careers,
from journalism to a stint in the marines to substitute teaching,
before he established himself as a reliable character actor in the early 1960s.
But he didn't find fame until the age of 46, when he landed the role that
would make him a star: Archie Bunker, the bigoted patriarch on "All in the Family."
Famed writer and producer Norman Lear created "All in the Family" for CBS, and he hired O'Connor,
who brought the character of Archie Bunker to life, making him the cultural touchstone he still
is today. The New York Times wrote that O'Connor's handling of Archie made him, quote, "a complex,
not-always-wrong sympathetic figure to most of the 50 million weekly viewers in America,"
a huge accomplishment considering Bunker was vocal about his hatred for Black people,
Jews, women, and so on. But he also wore his heart on his sleeve.
"I love you daddy!"
“Well, your daddy certainly loves you, little girl."
O'Connor was so successful in the role, winning four Emmy Awards for "All in the Family," that he
was given unprecedented control of the series and its follow-up, "Archie Bunker's Place."
He was consulted about both storylines and dialogue, penned the show's closing theme,
and made $100,000 each episode — an amount no other TV actor was taking home at the time.
Sadly, O'Connor died of a heart attack at age 76 in 2001.
Archie Bunker's better half — his sweet if maybe a little dim-witted wife, Edith Bunker — was
played by Jean Stapleton. According to The New York Times, Stapleton's lead role "made her one
of the foremost women in television comedy in the 1970s" and something of a feminist icon,
especially as her character progressed from housewife to empowered community leader.
Prior to the three-time Emmy winner's success on "All in the Family," which came at nearly age 50,
Stapleton appeared in several Broadway productions, like "Funny Girl," and landed
supporting roles in a number of movies, including "Damn Yankees" and "Klute."
In 1979, after becoming tired of playing Edith, she departed from the series that made her
a household name. She'd go on to accept a number of other roles in many other projects,
looking to distance herself from the role of Edith, as she didn't want to be typecast.
In 2013, Stapleton died at the age of 90. Her kids released a statement that said, in part,
"Being the children of a beloved Mother on Television means sharing
the spirit of who Jean Stapleton was with her friends and fans.
It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother,
with a capital M. Her devotion to her craft and her family taught us all great life lessons."
"All in the Family" wouldn't have worked as well as it did without characters who balanced out
Archie Bunker's bigotry. Maude Findlay, a cousin of Edith's played by Bea Arthur,
was one such foil. An outspoken, liberal feminist,
Maude was everything Archie was not — and fans loved how she gave as good as she got.
"This country was ruined by Franklin Delano Roosevelt!"
"You're fat!"
In fact, Maude was so popular she wound up getting her own spin-off, appropriately titled "Maude."
The series, which ran for six seasons, frequently tackled serious issues that were considered taboo,
like divorce, addiction, LGBTQ+ rights, and women's liberation. In one particularly
memorable episode, which aired two months before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973,
Maude decides to abort a late-in-life pregnancy, a move that both landed Arthur
at the center of a media storm and made her a leading figure in the feminist movement.
Of course, it took some serious work from Arthur to get to a place where she could hold her own
as the star of a series that addressed such intense topics. She got her start on stage,
winning a Tony Award for her role in "Mame" in 1966, before making the jump to TV and film.
Many fans will also remember her as Dorothy from "The Golden Girls," a role she played
for seven seasons. In 1992, after winning two Emmy Awards for her work, Arthur began what
CNN called a sort of "semi-retirement," only electing to take part in a handful of projects
over the next decade and a half. In 2009, she died at age 86 of lung cancer complications.
Born in 1923, Allan Melvin got his start in NBC radio's sound effects department.
After landing roles in a number of radio soap operas, he found work on Broadway,
starring in the original run of "Stalag 17," and then jumped to TV in the mid-'50s. Over the
course of the next five decades, he appeared in everything from "Gomer Pyle" to "The Brady Bunch."
On "All in the Family" and "Archie Bunker's Place," Melvin played Barney Hefner,
Archie's neighbor and best friend. The role would mark Melvin's last on-screen acting gig. In 1983,
when the spin-off went off the air, he elected to retire from being seen on the small screen,
choosing to focus on voice acting work and family life.
"One last target and no one will be able to stop me!"
In 2008, Melvin died of cancer. He's buried not far from his former co-star and on-screen pal,
Carroll O'Connor, at the Westwood Memorial Park.
As a character, Archie Bunker is largely defined by his dislike of anyone who
isn't just like himself. And despite his outward differences from his neighbor,
George Jefferson, they were subtly similar people, whether they liked it or not. George,
who was played by Sherman Hemsley, was just as suspicious.
That parallel allowed for some interesting storylines and impactful conversations.
Born in Philadelphia in 1938, Hemsley didn't begin to pursue an acting career until he was
discharged from the Air Force in the '60s. One of his first major roles after moving to NYC
was in the musical "Purlie" on Broadway. Norman Lear happened to catch the production,
and once told the Albany Times Union,
"The cocky energy of the guy was totally in sync with the offstage image we had created of George."
Because of other commitments, Hemsley didn't actually appear
on "All in the Family" until 1973, but the show's creator was so sure of his choice that
he was content to just make references to the character until Hemsley's schedule freed up.
"I happened to call and they said, where are you? We're looking for you,
we're looking for you to be in our show! I said, are you sure?"
After "All in the Family" and Hemsley's equally successful spin-off "The Jeffersons" went off the
air in 1985, the actor worked on a handful of other TV projects, including "Amen" and
"House of Payne." In 2012, TMZ reported that the actor had died of a lung mass. He was 74.
While Archie Bunker and George Jefferson were never exactly friends, Edith Bunker
and Louise Jefferson, George's wife, most certainly were. Kind-hearted and street-smart,
Louise balanced out her hot-headed husband the same way Edith did hers.
Like so many of the other performers on this list, Isabel Sanford didn't begin
acting professionally until later in life. In 1965, she was cast in James Baldwin's play
"The Amen Corner," making her Broadway debut at the age of 47. This role led to a part in
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" which, in turn, caught the attention of major Hollywood players
like Norman Lear. "All in the Family" certainly helped launch Sanford's career to new heights,
but it was the spin-off "The Jeffersons" that made her a household name. In 1981, her work on the
latter show made her the first Black woman to win an Emmy Award for best actress in a comedy series.
Unfortunately, Sanford wasn't able to parlay that success into other major roles.
After "The Jeffersons" wrapped, she was only offered guest-star parts on sitcoms like
"Hangin' with Mr. Cooper." In 2004, Sanford died following months of declining health. She was 86.
On "All in the Family," Mel Stewart played Henry Jefferson, George's brother and a frequent
houseguest of the Bunkers' neighbors. Henry was as outspoken and opinionated as his brother,
with an equally narrow outlook on life. He was a regular cast member of the original sitcom,
but never appeared in "The Jeffersons" spin-off, having been written out before the show began.
Born in Ohio in 1929, Stewart started acting in the '50s, taking bit parts in movies, TV shows,
and an early Off-Broadway production of Langston Hughes' "Simply Heavenly,"
which eventually led to his Broadway debut in the same show. As his career progressed,
Stewart landed bigger and bigger roles, including Billy Melrose in "Scarecrow and Mrs. King,"
and Principal Rockwell in "Made in America," his last on-screen role.
Off-screen, Stewart was a celebrated saxophone player,
who performed alongside jazz icons like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. He was
also a drama professor at San Francisco State University. And outside of the arts,
Stewart was a third-degree black belt in the martial arts discipline of aikido and used his
training to establish a dojo for underprivileged youth in his Bay-area neighborhood. In 2002,
Stewart died of Alzheimer's disease complications at the age of 72.
Lionel Jefferson — the son of George and Louise — is more laid back than his father and uncle.
A teenager at the beginning of "All in the Family," Lionel typically laughs
off the more ignorant things that come out of his father and neighbor's mouths,
a move that works to illustrate just how misinformed those ideas are.
When he won the part of Lionel in 1971,
Evans was a drama student at Los Angeles City College with no professional experience,
per The New York Times. Practice makes a quick teacher though, and Evans excelled in the role,
remaining with the franchise on-and-off for the next 14 years. He also helped create and
write "Good Times," a spin-off of "Maude" that was executive produced by Norman Lear.
In the end, all of this success may have actually been Evans' downfall. "Good Times" star Jimmie
Walker claimed to The Television Academy that Evans' over-the-top demands about screen time
and his own spin-off wound up getting him fired. After telling Lear at a Christmas
party that he needed more lines on "The Jeffersons" or he was quitting,
the famed producer apparently replied, quote, "Okay Michael, you're gone. Thanks."
While he'd eventually return to The Jeffersons, in 2006,
the 57-year-old actor-turned-real estate investor died of throat cancer.
Another liberal foil to Archie Bunker was Irene Lorenzo, a neighbor and co-worker.
A proud Irish Catholic woman, who was incredibly handy, strong-willed,
and dismissive of prescribed gender roles, Irene was well-liked by the Bunkers,
as well as viewers. She remained a regular presence on the series through 1975.
Betty Garrett, who played Irene, trained at NYC's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1930s, before
landing roles in a series of Broadway shows. After signing a contract with MGM, and appearing in a
number of the studio's movie musicals, it seemed that she was destined to be a big star. However,
it all came to an abrupt end when her husband, Larry Parks, was outed as a former member of the
Communist Party, a connection that resulted in Garrett being blacklisted in Hollywood.
Garrett was eventually able to return to professional acting, and wound up working on
shows like "Laverne & Shirley" and "The Golden Girls." She also helped found the Theater West
theater in Los Angeles, where she taught classes and directed and starred in several
plays and one-woman revues. In 2011, Garrett died of an aortic aneurysm at the age of 91.
Irene Lorenzo's husband, Frank, was an affable Italian man who worked as a salesman but preferred
his household duties to his career work. Vincent Gardenia, a bona fide Italian who was born in
Naples, Italy and immigrated to Brooklyn at a young age, brought the character to life.
Gardenia got his professional start on stage in the '50s,
later appearing in shows like "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," which won him a Tony Award in
1972. Eventually, he moved to TV and movie work, earning Academy Award nominations for
"Bang the Drum Slowly" and "Moonstruck," and winning an Emmy Award for "Age-Old Friends."
Gardenia's time on "All in the Family" was short-lived, lasting only a single season,
because he was reportedly unhappy with the gig. Co-star Betty Garrett confirmed to The Television
Academy that he wanted out, and producer Norman Lear granted the actor his freedom,
though Frank's disappearance from the show wasn't explained.
He never stopped working. According to The Washington Post, he claimed he'd played 500 roles,
starting his career at 5 years old. At the time of his death at age 72 in 1992,
he was just beginning a new stage show when he suffered a heart attack before opening night.
Bert Munson, owner of Munson's Cab Company and a drinking buddy of Archie's,
appears sporadically throughout the first few seasons of "All in the Family." The character, who
was typically employed to provide comic relief, was played by former teen actor Billy Halop.
Born into a family of performers in Brooklyn in 1920, it was only natural that Halop began
pursuing a career in the arts at a young age. By the time he reached double digits,
he was already an established radio star, having won parts in multiple serials,
including "Romeo and Juliet." In 1935, he landed the lead role in the Broadway play "Dead End," a
part he reprised in the film version, as well as its handful of sequels, throughout the rest of the
decade. It was as a member of "The Dead End Kids" that Halop became something of a household name.
However, adulthood saw fewer roles for Halop, who began a second career as a nurse. In 1971,
after experiencing heart problems for some time,
he underwent open-heart surgery. His health never fully recovered and,
in 1976 while still a regular on "All in the Family," he died in his sleep at the age of 56.
While most of "All in the Family" was set in the confines of the Bunkers' living room,
Kelsey's Bar was a popular second location. Bob Hastings, a popular character and voice actor,
played the bar's proprietor and namesake, Tommy Kelsey, on Seasons 1 through 6.
Hastings' career began in earnest after he returned from WWII. His first job,
according to Variety, was as the voice of Archie Andrews in a radio show spin-off of the popular
comic strip. From there, he worked on some of TV's first science-fiction and adventure series,
like "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." Hastings found plenty of success in '60s,
'70s, and '80s sitcoms, such as "McHale's Navy," and also provided voices for a number of animated
series, including as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman cartoons.
But work wasn't Hastings' only focus. He was also a family man. Hastings was married to his
wife, Joan Rice, for 66 years, and the couple shared four children.
The Los Angeles Times reports that when he died of prostate cancer
at age 89 in 2014, Hastings was survived by 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Harry Snowden was a popular bartender at Kelsey's Bar, who, after walking out and
taking half the clientele with him, later became Archie's business partner. Harry and
Archie never really saw eye-to-eye when it came to business matters, which resulted in
Harry eventually turning over his share of the business and going back behind the bar.
Popular character actor Jason Wingreen played Harry for almost a decade, both on "All in the
Family" and its spin-off "Archie Bunker's Place." Like co-star Bill Hastings, Wingreen's career
really began after he returned from Air Force service in WWII. He kicked off his career in
the theater in the late 1940s, before jumping over to TV and film. Notable credits include
roles on films like "Airplane!" and in series like "Seinfeld" and "Star Trek." Outside of "All in the
Family," Wingreen's most iconic role was as the voice of Boba Fett in "The Empire Strikes Back."
Wingreen told StarTrek.com that his part in "All in the Family" was intended to be a one-off thing,
but after his episode wrapped, the producers called his agent and asked Wingreen to come back,
which he happily did for seven more years. Wingreen spent his
later years traveling with his wife, and died in 2015 at the age of 95.
When Burt Mustin made his debut on "All in the Family" in a Season 4 episode called
"Edith Finds an Old Man," he was 89 years old. A veteran actor, Mustin played Justin Quigley,
an octogenarian that has run away from the nursing home Edith volunteers at. Eventually, Mr. Quigley
moves in with the Bunkers before finding love with another geriatric Queens resident.
"How come you're all dressed for beddie-byes?"
"Well, at my age you never know when a nap's going to come over you!"
Acting, for Mustin, was a second act. After retiring from his first career as a fiscal agent,
Mustin moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and began performing in amateur theater
productions as a way to fill his newly free days. Per The New York Times, it was here that he was
discovered by director-producer William Wyler. Over the next 25 years, he worked on more than
400 TV shows and 70 movies, including his own short-lived series, "The Funny Side."
One of Mustin's final onscreen appearances was in an episode of "Phyllis," which aired on
December 13, 1976. The Times reports that, while he was shooting the episode, he told his friends,
"This is it. I've had it. But it's a classy way to go."
A little more than a month after his retirement,
Mustin died in 1977, just shy of his 93rd birthday.
Archie Bunker's misogyny was on full display anytime he dealt with Mildred "Boom Boom" Turner,
a dock worker turned waitress at Kelsey's Bar. A chipper, well-endowed blonde,
Mildred was often at the butt end of some of the series' more sexist jokes,
but carried on good-naturedly despite it all.
Gloria LeRoy, the actor who played Mildred, actually got her start as a nightclub
singer-dancer, working alongside Barbara Walters' father, Lou Walters. After starring in a burlesque
show in the early '50s, LeRoy made the transition to the theater, where she was discovered by Norman
Lear. The future "All in the Family" producer cast her in her first film, "The Night They Raided
Minsky's," a musical comedy that was released in 1968. From there, LeRoy went on to work on a
host of other projects ranging from movies like "Cold Turkey" to TV series like "Shameless."
In 2015, LeRoy made her last on-screen appearance in "Getting On"
as Mama Viv. She died three years later at the age of 92.
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