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
Archie Bunker visited during the third season (she briefly dated the Bunkers' neighbor Lionel in "Lionel Steps Out"). Archie's father David is said to be the only child while his mother Sarah has one brother named Roy Longstreet that Archie liked more than his own parents. Two of Archie's cousins are depicted: Oscar, who dies off-camera in the Bunker house during a visit, and cousin Bertha (played by Peggy Rea, who appears in the same episode), apparently a somewhat distant cousin, as Archie does not recognize her. Archie celebrates his 50th birthday in a 1974 episode and the character is last seen