Who is edith bunker

Edith was hardly the sharpest member of the family and could be a tad slow on the uptake, but she was certainly the happiest and wisest character on the show. For example, in a conversation with Gloria, Edith stated that she favored capital punishment, "as long as it ain't too severe. Edith was extremely popular because she was easily the sweetest character on the show, unconditionally loving everyone she knew and also managing to keep high spirits even when she faced tragedy. In contrast, in a memorable episode in the show's second season, Edith uncharacteristically snaps at Archie, repeatedly telling him as he frequently did to her to "stifle".

Edith seldom cursed, but this time as in others loudly instructed the family to "Leave me alone, dammit [2]! Later on in the episode, a frustrated Archie yells at Edith "When I had the hernia I didn't make you wear the truss. Now if you're gonna have a change of life, you gotta do it right now. I'm gonna give you 30 seconds! When All in the Family premiered in , Edith was a housewife. In , to help bring in extra money to the Bunker household, Edith got a part-time job as a caretaker at the Sunshine Home.

She later was a partner in Archie's business, Archie's Place , the tavern he purchased in Edith loses her job at the Sunshine Home in for breaking a policy by allowing a terminally ill woman to die and failing to inform the staff , but in an early episode of Archie Bunker's Place , she is able to find a similar caretaker's job at another nursing home.

Edith was most known for her shrill voice her trademark "Oh, Aaaaaaaaaah-chie! The latter character trait caused Archie to call her "dingbat". Frequently, he would consult with her whenever something bothered him such as the episode "Archie and the KKK", where a distressed Archie asks Edith for advice on how to prevent a cross burning.

More than once, Edith sharply chastised Archie for casting judgment against other people, particularly when he mentions God. Two notable examples came in the episodes "Cousin Liz" Archie went on a diatribe about how God hates gays and "California, Here We Are" where, upon learning that Gloria's near-affair had almost destroyed the Stivics' marriage, berates the "Little Goil" and says that the matter is "God's business". In both instances, Edith warned Archie to back off and says that God should be left to deal with those matters and the people involved.

She remained friends with him, despite Archie's discomfort. Edith later had a crisis of faith after Beverly's death protecting Mike from muggers. Edith also serves as the voice of reason for Mike and on several occasions corrects him when, as she says, "He's been acting all stuck up.

Edith also on many occasions helps Gloria to understand that Gloria's feminist views, while correct, do not mean other view points are necessarily any less valid. Edith is described by Archie's father as being "too smart" for him because, while Edith appears to have less-than-average intelligence, she is very wise about life and the way the world works.

Around the house, Edith usually ran everywhere she went, evidently to please others without them having to wait. This included answering the doorbell or phone, and running to the kitchen to get Archie a beer. The character suffers from several physical and emotional traumas throughout the series.

Edith goes through menopause in the second season "Edith's Problem" , discovers a lump in her breast just before Christmas in the fourth season "Edith's Christmas Story" , is nearly raped on her 50th birthday in the eighth season " Edith's 50th Birthday " , and develops phlebitis in the show's final episode in season nine "Too Good Edith". Archie was intensely protective of her and became upset at even the thought of losing her a point driven home in the episode "Too Good Edith", the th and final episode of All in the Family , in which Edith becomes seriously ill while frantically helping Archie cook Irish dinners for a St.

Patrick's Day celebration at the bar; she had been suffering from phlebitis and didn't tell Archie out of love, but he found out anyway and was upset that she'd hidden it from him. Archie's worst nightmare came true in , on the All in the Family continuation series Archie Bunker's Place , when Edith died off-camera of a stroke in the 1-hour second season premiere, "Archie Alone," which originally aired on CBS on November 2, Jean Stapleton had wished to leave her role in interviews, Stapleton has stated the role of Edith had reached its potential.

Her appearances on the prior season sharply declined, having appeared in only four episodes of the season. The — season premiere of Archie Bunker's Place acknowledged Edith's death which had occurred a month before , and focused on Archie's denial and later grieving over Edith's death.

The memorable episode ends with Archie alone in the bedroom in which he finds one of Edith's slippers, at which time he mourns her death. Archie : "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to be the first one to go. I always used to kid you about you going first. You know I never meant none of that and that morning when yous was laying there. She also turned down the chance to star in another popular sitcom, Murder, She Wrote , which became a showcase for Angela Lansbury.

The theater was Stapleton's first love and she compiled a rich resume, starting in as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the s and '60s. In , she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand. Others musicals and plays included Bells Are Ringing, Rhinoceros and Damn Yankees , in which her performance — and the nasal tone she used in All in the Family — attracted Lear's attention and led to his auditioning her for the role of Archie's wife. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies.

In a New York Times interview, she said she didn't think Edith was a typical American housewife — "at least I hope she's not. She is very naive, and she kind of thinks through a mist, and she lacks the education to expand her world.

I would hope that most housewives are not like that," said Stapleton, whose character regularly obeyed her husband's demand to "stifle yourself. But Edith was honest and compassionate, and "in most situations she says the truth and pricks Archie's inflated ego," she added.

She confounded Archie with her malapropos — "You know what they say, misery is the best company" — and open-hearted acceptance of others, including her beleaguered son-in-law and African-Americans and other minorities that Archie disdained. As the series progressed, Stapleton had the chance to offer a deeper take on Edith as the character faced milestones including a breast cancer scare and menopause. She was proud of the show's political edge, citing an episode about a draft dodger who clashes with Archie as a personal favorite.

But Stapleton worried about typecasting, rejecting any roles, commercials or sketches on variety shows that called for a character similar to Edith. Despite pleas from Lear not to let Edith die, Stapleton left the show, re-titled Archie's Place , in , leaving Archie to carry on as a widower. I'm not constituted as an actress to remain in the same role…. My identity as an actress is in jeopardy if I invested my entire career in Edith Bunker," she told The Associated Press in She had no trouble shaking off Edith — "when you finish a role, you're done with it.

There's no deep, spooky connection with the parts you play," she told the AP in — but after O'Connor's death she got condolence letters from people who thought they were really married. When people spotted her in public and called her "Edith," she would politely remind them that her name was Jean. Stapleton proved her own toughness when her husband of 26 years, William Putch, suffered a fatal heart attack in at age 60 while the couple was touring with a play directed by Putch.