Sally Struthers

Cute as a button and with a petite, porcelain prettiness and vulnerability that endeared her to the American public, Sally Struthers nabbed a series role in the early 1970s and became a solid part of TV history as a member of a dysfunctional family quartet in the milestone sitcom, Tudo em família (1971). She was born Sally Ann Struthers, the daughter of a surgeon, on July 28, 1948, in Portland, Oregon. Raised there, she pursued an acting career following high school. She eventually moved to Los Angeles and trained at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, earning a scholarship as its "most promising student." She performed briefly in regional stock plays until finding her break as both a commercial actress and dancer on TV. A recurring dancer/performer on such variety shows as The Smothers Brothers Summer Show (1970) and The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970), the pert-nosed, blue-eyed, curly blonde cutie showed starlet promise in films, offering ditsy support in the Jack Nicholson starrer, Cada um Vive como Quer (1970), and the chase film, Os Implacáveis (1972), top-lining Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. And, then came the iconic series Tudo em família (1971). Also starring Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton as conservative parents Archie and Edith, and Rob Reiner as liberal husband Mike, Struthers went on to win two supporting Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe nominations as kewpie-doll Gloria Bunker Strivic, Archie Bunker's "little goil." Seen occasionally guesting elsewhere on such popular TV programs as "Love, American Style," "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "Ironside," "Laugh-In," "Sonny and Cher" and as the voice of teenage Pebbles Flintstone on the spin-off cartoon series Bam-Bam e Pedrita (1971), Sally, along with Rob, finally left the popular family show after seven seasons, both eager to grow away from their strong TV images. While Reiner stepped away from the camera and became a noted director, Sally continued to act. She made her Broadway debut in "Wally's Cafe" in 1981 and returned, four years later, with a gender-bending version of "The Odd Couple" as neat-freak "Florence" opposite Rita Moreno's slovenly "Olive". In addition, she found steady work in both topical and light-hearted 70's TV movies with Aloha Means Goodbye (1974), Hey, I'm Alive (1975), The Great Houdini (1976), My Husband Is Missing (1978), E Seu Nome é Jonas (1979), A Gun in the House (1981), to name a few. When offers began to dry up for Sally, she returned to the TV series fold in the early 1980s spinning off her "Gloria" character, sans Rob Reiner, with the self-titled sitcom, Gloria (1982). Without Reiner (the plot had the couple split and her focusing on raising son Joey), the ensemble formula that worked so well for her earlier was missing here and the show died in its freshman year. To compensate, however, Sally's baby-doll voice worked extremely well for her in cartoons. She remained active off-camera, providing little girl voices for Saturday morning entertainment, notably her teenage "Pebbles Flintstone" character. In addition to A Turminha do Zé Colméia (1991) and Tiny Toon (1990), other TVanimated voice-over work included Esquadrilha Parafuso (1990) as "Rebecca 'Becky' Cunningham" and, notably, puppeteer Jim Henson's creative prehistoric sitcom, Família Dinossauros (1991), playing dino-daughter "Charlene Sinclair." As she grew older, Sally continued delighting fans with broader shtick in plus-sized parts. She showed that she had lost none of the fun for which she was known, by providing hearty comedy relief when she joined the prime-time series 9 to 5 (1982) and as a guest in "Charles in Charge," "Sister Kate" and "Murder, She Wrote." The musical stage was another popular venue. Over the years, she has patented the by-the-book principal "Miss Lynch", with her many "Grease" tours, and as the scheming orphanage operator "Miss Hannigan" in a number of road productions of "Annie." She went on to cop a 2002 Los Angeles "Ovation" award for her delightfully over-the-top "Agnes Gooch" in "Mame", starring Carol Lawrence and in 2012, she performed in both "Always...Patsy Cline" as Louise Segar, and "9 to 5: The Musical" as nosy Roz Klein. In 2014, Struthers toured in the 50th anniversary production in the title role of "Hello, Dolly!" Into the millennium, Sally has guested on such series as "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" and "The Division," had recurring roles on Apesar de Tudo (2002) and Gilmore Girls: Tal Mãe, Tal Filha (2000), and was seen in featured or cameo roles in such independent films as the drama A Month of Sundays (2001), the mystery thriller Reeseville (2003), the Mario Van Peebles biopic O Retorno de Sweetback (2003), the comedy Monster Heroes (2010), and the musical comedies Waiting in the Wings: The Musical (2014), Hollywood Musical! (2015), Waiting in the Wings: Still Waiting (2018) and Voltando para Casa (2018). Divorced, Sally is the mother of one daughter who has made a career for herself as a clinical psychologist. For years, Sally was a prime spokesperson for the Christian Children's Fund on TV, fervently (and often tearfully) appealing for viewer's monetary assistance in finding an end to starvation in under-developed countries.