Image of Sally Struthers

Sally Struthers

Cute as a button and with a petite, porcelain prettiness and vulnerability that endeared her to the American public, Sally Struthers nabbed a series role in the early 1970s and became a solid part of TV history as a member of a dysfunctional family quartet in the milestone sitcom, "All in the Family" (1971). She was born Sally Ann Struthers on July 28, 1948, in Portland, Oregon and raised there, pursuing an acting career following high school. Relocating to Los Angeles, she trained at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts and earned a scholarship as its "most promising student". She performed briefly in regional stock plays until finding her break as both a commercial actress and dancer on TV. She appeared as a regular on such variety shows as "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (1967) and "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" (1970) and showed starlet promise in films, as well as offering ditsy support in the Jack Nicholson starrer, Five Easy Pieces (1970), and the chase film, The Getaway (1972), top-lining Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. And, then came "All in the Family" (1971). Also starring Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton and Rob Reiner, Struthers went on to win two supporting Emmy Awards as Kewpie-doll "Gloria Bunker Stivic". She and Rob Reiner left the show after seven seasons, both eager to grow. While Rob Reiner became a noted director, Sally made her Broadway debut in "Wally's Cafe" in 1981, and returned, four years later, with a gender-bending version of "The Odd Couple" as neat-freak "Florence" opposite Rita Moreno's slovenly "Olive". In addition, she found work in topical mini-series drama with Aloha Means Goodbye (1974) (TV), Hey, I'm Alive (1975) (TV), My Husband Is Missing (1978) (TV), ...And Your Name Is Jonah (1979) (TV), A Gun in the House (1981) (TV), to name a few. But without a hit show as collateral, offers started drying up. Sally returned to the TV series fold in the early 1980s spinning off her "Gloria" character with the self-titled sitcom, "Gloria" (1982), but the ensemble formula that worked so well for her before was missing here and the show died in its freshman year. To compensate, however, Sally's baby-doll voice worked extremely well for her in cartoons. She remained active off-camera, providing little girl voices for Saturday morning entertainment, notably her teenage "Pebbles Flintstone" character. Other voice-over work included "TaleSpin" (1990), as "Rebecca 'Becky' Cunningham", and puppeteer Jim Henson's creative prehistoric sitcom, "Dinosaurs" (1991), playing dino-daughter "Charlene Sinclair". Struthers' significant weight gain in later years moved her quickly into broad character shtick. She showed that she had lost none of the fun for which she was known, by providing broad and hearty comedy relief on both daytime soaps and prime-time episodics, including "General Hospital" (1963) and "Gilmore Girls" (2000). She also filled her time with frequent roles on the musical stage. Over the years, she has practically put a patent on the by-the-book principal "Miss Lynch", with her many "Grease" tours, and as the hissable orphanage operator "Miss Hannigan" in a number of road productions of "Annie". Most recently, she copped a 2002 Los Angeles "Ovation" award for her delightfully over-the-top "Agnes Gooch" in "Mame", starring Carol Lawrence. Divorced, Sally is the mother of one daughter who has made a career for herself as a clinical psychologist. For years, Sally was a prime spokesperson for the Christian Children's Fund on TV, fervently (and often tearfully) appealing for viewer's monetary assistance in finding an end to starvation in under-developed countries. IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]


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Born:
Jul 28, 1948 In Portland, Oregon, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
46
First Appeared:
In the series The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 1967-02-05
Latest Project:
Movie Christmas Harmony 2018-11-24
Known For
Poster of Still Standing
Poster of The Division
Poster of Dinosaurs
Poster of A Different Approach
Filmography
Movie Christmas Harmony Shirley 2018-11-24
Movie You & Me Tilly 2018-03-02
Movie Waiting in the Wings: Still Waiting Lucy 2018-06-09
Movie The Relationtrip Liam's Mom (voice) 2017-03-11
Movie The Last Laugh Self 2016-04-18
Movie Waiting in the Wings: The Musical Lucy 2014-04-01
Movie Those Were the Days: The Birth of "All in the Family" Self 2009-06-09
Movie The Television Revolution Begins: "All in the Family" Is On the Air Self 2009-06-09
Movie What I Did for Love Aunt Trudy 2006-12-09
Series Best Week Ever Unknown 2004-01-23
Movie Baadasssss! Roz 2004-05-28
Movie Reeseville Katie Oakman 2003-03-07
Series Still Standing Unknown 2002-09-30
Series The Division Unknown 2001-01-07
Series Gilmore Girls Unknown 2000-10-05
Series As Told by Ginger Unknown 2000-10-25
Series Cow and Chicken Unknown 1997-09-16
Movie The Others Mrs. Zelov 1997-12-31
Series Duckman Unknown 1994-03-05
Movie The Tin Soldier 1992-01-01
Movie In the Best Interest of the Children Patty Pepper 1992-02-16
Series Dinosaurs Charlene Sinclair (voice) 1991-04-26
Movie Talespin: Plunder & Lightning Rebecca Cunningham (voice) 1990-09-07
Series TaleSpin Rebecca Cunningham (voice) 1990-09-09
Movie A Deadly Silence Aunt Marilyn 1989-04-16
Series Alice in Wonderland Tiger Lily 1985-12-09
Movie The GLO Friends Save Christmas Blanche (voice) 1985-12-21
Series Murder, She Wrote Unknown 1984-09-30
Series Charles in Charge Unknown 1984-10-03
Series 9 to 5 Marsha McMurray Shrimpton 1982-03-25
Series Gloria Gloria Stivic 1982-09-26
Movie A Gun in the House Emily Cates 1981-02-11
Movie ...And Your Name Is Jonah Jenny Corelli 1979-01-28
Movie A Different Approach 1978-01-01
Movie My Husband Is Missing Katherine Eaton 1978-12-05
Movie Intimate Strangers Janis Halston 1977-11-11
Movie The Great Houdinis Bess Houdini 1976-10-08
Movie Hey, I'm Alive Helen Klaben 1975-11-07
Movie The Getaway Fran Clinton 1972-09-20
Series All in the Family Gloria Stivic 1971-01-12
Series The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show Pebbles Flinstone 1971-09-11
Movie Five Easy Pieces Betty 1970-09-12
Movie The Phynx World's No. 1 Fan 1970-03-06
Series The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 1967-02-05
Series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Unknown 1967-09-09
Series Ironside Unknown 1967-03-28