Actress Jean Stapleton, best known for her role as Archie Bunker’s wife in the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” has died, her son said Saturday.
She was 90 years old.
Her son John Putch told CNN about her passing and, along with his sister Pamela Putch, wrote an obituary saying that she “passed away peacefully of natural causes” on Friday at her New York City home “surrounded by friends and her immediate family.”
Her breakout role was as Edith Bunker, the kindhearted foil to husband Archie, played by the late Carroll O’Connor.
“All in the Family” was one of television’s most popular shows as it broke ground while tackling a host of social issues such as racism, sexuality, life and death. Edith Bunker, played by Stapleton, for instance revealed that she had breast cancer on the show, a rare occurrence at the time.
“I just loved doing it from the very beginning,” Stapleton told CNN in 2001, shortly after O’Connor’s death.
She won three Emmy awards — in 1971, 1972 and 1978, in addition to five other nominations in which he she fell short — for her performance in that Norman Lear-helmed show.
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Source: CNN
