O'Connor moved from All in the Family (1971-79) to Archie Bunker's Place (1979-83), which was based in a bar owned by Archie rather than in the Bunker household. 1 for five years, was top-rated for much of its run and gave birth to two successful spin-offs, Maude and The Jeffersons. Harvard psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint called the show's bigotry "dangerous because it's disarming."Įventually, however, viewers came to embrace Archie and the series as a comedy and a source of debate. ![]() Many found it unsettling and offensive, and tuned it out. O'Connor, whom he had seen in the film What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? Lear considered other actors for the pivotal role of Archie, but said he found the right combination of "bombast and sweetness" in Mr. The actor also managed to give Archie a vulnerability that allowed him to be seen as a beleaguered soul, bound by his unthinking prejudices and buffeted by the changes sweeping Vietnam War-era America.įurther softening the character was his love for wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), lovingly known as "Dingbat," and their daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers), and his grudging affection for Meathead Mike (Rob Reiner).Īll in the Family, adapted from the British series Till Death Do Us Part, shattered the sitcom mold that had produced decades of superficial and bland series featuring, invariably, a wise and kindly paternal figure. ![]() O'Connor didn't flinch at playing an unlikeable character and deftly brought Archie's intolerance to feisty comic life. 12, 1971, Archie began spouting off against minorities, liberals and his long-haired son-in-law (whom he called "Meathead") and kept at it for 13 years. O'Connor had been working for two decades on stage and in TV and movie supporting parts when he was tapped by producer Norman Lear to play a blue-collar worker from New York's borough of Queens with the gift of gab and a big chip on his shoulder.
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