Why Edith Was Killed off All in the Family

jean stapleton played the beloved gullible and amicable edith bunker on cbs's all in the family for her work on that program she took home three emmy awards while being nominated for a total of eight impressively she also won two golden globes for best actress in a comedy series for her contribution to the series all in the family wouldn't have been the same without edith her perpetually optimistic attitude was the perfect counterbalance to archie's gruff pessimism she could be a bit flighty at times her naivete could be her downfall and her voice sure was shrill especially when she would utter her trademark oh archie catchphrase but she held the family together and proved to be the perfect foil to her husband's inflated ego and insensitive defiance stapleton stayed with the show throughout all nine of its seasons starting in 1971. when all in the family finally wrapped up in 1979 she continued her role in the spin-off series archie bunker's place but was killed off the show after only five episodes leaving many fans to wonder what happened in a minute we'll talk about her character's death and what was going on behind the scenes that prompted it but first we should explore a little bit more about who jean stapleton was and how she ended up becoming one of the most memorable sitcom characters of the 20th century she didn't find fame until she was in her 50s it's actually really fascinating how long it took for her to finally catch a big break but that just goes to show you that perseverance pays off jean stapleton's early years she was born in manhattan on january 19 1923 to an irish household the daughter of opera singer marie a stapleton and billboard ad salesman joseph e murray gene stapleton started out in life through relatively humble means it seems as if show business was a tradition of sorts in her family her uncle joseph deming performed in vaudeville stage shows and her brother jack stapleton was a theater actor actress betty jane watson was also one of her cousins stapleton attended wadley high school and continued her education at hunter college she worked briefly as a secretary before deciding that she too wanted to become an actress like many in her family when she was 18 she made her stage debut in the off-broadway play american gothic soon enough she found her way onto cast rolls of broadway musicals like funny girl juno damn yankees and belzer ringing the latter two productions would see her reprising her roles when they were brought to the big screen in 1958 and 60 respectively making the jump to television some of stapleton's first television roles included appearances on starlight theater robert montgomery presents omnibus repertory theater woman with a past and my three sons all these parts were relatively small and for quite some time she could only find relatively unremarkable work taking the form of bit parts guest appearances and nothing more substantial in 1962 she guest starred in an episode of the defenders alongside her future co-star carol o'connor for the next several years she appeared on another handful of tv series like dennis the menace the jackie gleason show car 54 where are you and in four films such as something wild up the down staircase cold turkey and klute finally finding stardom even though stapleton had been acting since she was a teenager she didn't become well known until she joined the cast of all in the family in 1971. norman lear who's something of the godfather of sitcoms had another hit on his hands and american audiences couldn't get enough of it for almost a decade stapleton finally had found what she wanted all along that is steady work and to have her talents recognized the show was set in a middle class neighborhood in queens edith was meant to be the voice of reason to counteract archie's backwards views and disdain for the political and social changes that were happening in the late 60s and early 70s she became one of the most important characters not only in all in the family but in all of norman lear's shows audiences adored her despite her lack of sophistication and propensity for miss speaking even with her limited education and vernacular she was able to cut through archie's thick shell and get him to reconsider his short-sighted ways as such she inadvertently became a symbol of change a voice for women's rights and an advocate for progressive ideology many of the show's most timely moments came when her character was at the center of the stage in many different ways all in the family explored issues never before seen on the tv screen it pushed boundaries and opened up doors and edith was the perfect character to break down some of those walls that were well overdue for dismantling for example in season 2 edith went through menopause and then in season 8 she was nearly the victim of sexual assault when edith found a lump on her breast in the 1973 episode edith's christmas story women all across the country were moved to go have mammograms done yes edith may have actually saved a few lives by the way if you're digging this video so far make sure you show us some support by tapping the like button and subscribing to our channel and make sure you keep watching if you want to find out exactly why jean stapleton wanted to call it quits eventually she wanted out there's a certain kind of double-edged sword that comes with being a tv star on a popular program on the one hand you have a remarkably wide audience and your work can be appreciated in living rooms all across the continent but the flip side of the coin is the unfortunate reality where people begin to solely associate you with the character you play on screen after being on a series for quite some time you become completely typecast and finding other work can be difficult when all in the family came to a close in 1979 and archie bunker's place premiered in the fall of that year she agreed to reprise her role but she found out very quickly she really didn't want to keep playing the same character she had already spent almost a decade embodying stapleton knew that if she ever wanted to play any other role than edith bunker she'd have to make an exit from that part before it was too late so after filming five episodes of the series she called up norman and told him she wanted out at first after she told him her wishes he was completely silent speechless even then he replied reluctantly with something to the effect that saying yes to that request would be very difficult stapleton reminded him that edith was only a fictional character and that it wasn't like she was actually going anywhere he quickly replied saying she wasn't fictional to lear she was more than just a character in one of his shows to him she was family someone he had known and loved for nine years but despite this fact he obliged stapleton's request and agreed to kill her character off the washington post did an interview with stapleton shortly after the news broke that edith was going to die they asked her if she felt any sadness about the departure she said she really didn't feel anything about it at all to her edith wasn't someone that could die because she will forever live in the memories and imaginations of fans and through the countless reruns that will keep her alive in syndication she further explains that a painter isn't satisfied with painting the same piece over and over their whole life her decision to move on was about finding new challenges taking on new goals and expanding her repertoire her death was coupled with a good cause lear was always an advocate for different social and political causes when edith died he wanted to make sure her death wasn't for nothing so his production company created the edith bunker memorial fund and contributed 5 million dollars to it the fund was created to raise awareness for the equal rights amendment and women's rights it was the first time in history that such a fund was created in memory of a fictional character from a tv show lear said he created the fun because he felt like the era represents everything that edith bunker was about in later episodes of all in the family she would stand up to archie's hard-headedness and bigotry and audiences ate it up even though stapleton was not much of a feminist in her own personal life edith became a symbol of that movement audiences didn't mind her leaving of course nobody wanted edith bunker to die when she passed away from a stroke in the season 2 premiere archie alone there's no denying some seriously major heartstrings were pulled and archie of course was the one to take the news the hardest despite the fact she was one of all in the family's most beloved characters when she finally was phased out of archie bunker's place after season 1 the ratings didn't take a hit even without edith the program was able to outshine competing shows in its time slot it clobbered mork and mindy nbc's sunday night movies and abc's 10 speed and brown shoe while not as popular as its predecessor archie bunker's place went on for four seasons before coming to a close stapleton went on to get her wish no longer was she confined to playing a submissive housewife she went on to have several dozen tv appearances and guest star roles and starred in a number of tv films before finally retiring in 2001. a year later she was inducted into the television hall of fame we can't really blame someone for not wanting to be typecast their entire life although it is worth noting stapleton never found another role as big as edith bunker that's got to be the hardest part about being on tv people associate you with the person they see each week so after you move on that's still how most folks view you would you rather be a tv star or a film star let us know what you think in the comments section and if you enjoyed this video be sure to give it a like and subscribe to our channel tap the bell icon to turn on notifications so you can keep up with all our latest videos 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Channel: Facts Verse

Views: 975,539

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Id: GyDZfPge9E0

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 02 2020