Carroll O'Connor of Bunker's long-suffering wife, Edith Bunker, whom Lear remembered from seeing in the play and film "Damn Yankees". The producer sent the show over to ABC twice, but it did not get picked up. They then approached CBS with more success, and accordingly, "All in the Family" was retooled and debuted early in 1971. The show also starred unknown character actors, such as Rob Reiner as Archie's liberal son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and Sally Struthers as Archie and Edith's only child and Mike's wife, Gloria. The cast had a unique on- and off-camera chemistry, especially Reiner, who became O'Connor's best
Archie Bunker her father's marriage to someone not even three years older than she is (although in "Archie Bunker's Place", Billie begins dating someone 15 years her senior). Fred visits again for Christmas in 1982, finally revealing to everyone why he left his first wife and found love with Katherine. Archie is a World War II veteran who had been based in Foggia, Italy for 22 months. During a doctor's appointment it is stated that Archie had an undistinguished military record for his non-combat ground role in the Air Corps, later called the Army Air Forces, which at the time was a