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 "Till Death Us Do Part". In 1999, "TV Guide" ranked Archie Bunker number 5 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list. In 2005, Archie Bunker was listed as number 1 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, defeating runners-up such as Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo, Fonzie, and Homer Simpson. Archie's chair is in the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History. Archie has a gruff, overbearing demeanor, largely defined by his bigotry towards a diverse group of individuals—blacks, Hispanics, "Commies", gays, hippies, Jews, Asians, Catholics, "women's libbers", and Polish-Americans are frequent targets of his barbs. As