Sally Struthers Mourns Her ‘All In The Family’ Co-Star Rob Reiner: “This Is Beyond Devastating”

Sally Struthers, the Gloria Stivic to Rob Reiner‘s Michael “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family, weighed in on the latter’s death over the weekend, telling Deadline, “There are no words. This is beyond devastating and my heart is with their family.” 

Struthers starred in 157 of 202 episodes of CBS’ All in the Family (January 12, 1971-March 19, 1978) during the first eight seasons playing the good-natured, sweet daughter to outspoken, narrow-minded Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor). Reiner’s Stivic was her Polish-American husband who was often the butt of Archie’s jokes (hence the nickname “Meathead”), and was also a target of the patriarch given his hippie politics and self-assured arrogance (Michael was the most educated in the Bunker household).

Reiner starred in 174 of the 202 episodes of the series during its eight seasons. Michael and Gloria would have a son, Joey. Struthers and Reiner left the show in 1978, their characters divorcing. Struthers reprised the role of Gloria in the 1982-83 spinoff series Gloria for one season, the show focusing on the character’s post-divorce life. Struthers would also make appearances on the second All in the Family spinoff, Archie Bunker’s Place.

At the Emmys held in January 2024, Reiner and Struthers gathered for a tribute to the show’s creator Norman Lear.

“Sally and I were part of a unique television family: not just the Bunkers, but Norman Lear’s extended family,” Reiner said at the time. “Over the decades, Norman brought us together and he created groundbreaking television shows that depicted real people who made us laugh, made us think, made us feel.” 

The bodies of Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner were found at their Brentwood home Sunday with multiple stab wounds. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested in connection with their deaths.