Archie Bunker three-year old Gloria with her. The inspiration for Archie Bunker was Alf Garnett, the character from the BBC1 sitcom "Till Death Us Do Part", on which "All in the Family" was based. When first introduced on "All in the Family" in 1971, Archie is the head of a family consisting of his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), his adult daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and his liberal son-in-law, college student Michael "Mike" Stivic (Rob Reiner), with whom Archie disagrees on virtually everything; Archie frequently characterizes Mike as a "dumb Polack" and usually addresses him as "Meathead" because, in Archie's words, he is
Edith Bunker Stapleton to think she had hurt him. Finally, Lear said "To me, she isn't [fictional]," but ultimately made the decision to have Edith die. Stapleton later appeared as a presenter on the 1981 Primetime Emmy Awards telecast (after the episode "Archie Alone" aired) and said to the viewing audience: "See! I'm still here!" Edith and Archie's chairs have been noted as famous pieces of history by their inclusion in the National Museum of American History. In 2009, Edith Bunker was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television for the decade 1971–1979. Edith Bunker Edith Bunker