Edith Bunker Edith Bunker Edith Bunker (nėe Baines) is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on "All in the Family" (and occasionally "Archie Bunker's Place"), played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker (who often called her a "dingbat"), mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic and after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic. Her cousin was Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) who was one of Archie's nemeses. While Edith was typically a traditional and subservient wife (with several notable exceptions throughout the series), Jean Stapleton was a noted feminist. Series creator Norman Lear said on "All Things Considered" that
Archie Bunker II, and by the 1970s he was a foreman. A Protestant, Archie seldom attends church, despite professing strong Christian views. The original pilot mentions that in the 22 years Archie and Edith were married, Archie had only attended church seven times (including their wedding day) and that Archie had walked out of the sermon the most recent time, disgusted with the preacher's message (which he perceived as leftist). Archie's religiosity often translates into knee-jerk opposition to atheism or agnosticism (which Mike and Gloria variously espoused), Catholicism (despite Carroll O'Connor being a devout Catholic), and, until late in the series, Judaism.