How did the character Edith Bunker on the TV show "All in the Family" die?

Jean Stapleton grew tired of playing Edith Bunker for so many years and wanted to leave the show. She had a meeting with co-creator and producer Norman Lear about leaving the show, and when she was asked how she wanted to die she said she didn't care.

So after being Archie Bunker's wife for so long they decided that she would die of a massive stroke while sleeping. The show continued on without her but was never the same.

All in the Family had many spinoff shows the most successful being The Jeffersons which had a long run on TV and helped break down many racial barriers . The Jeffersons can still be found in reruns today

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

35 Comments

Joseph A. Robitaille

Jean Stapleton what a great actress.. Sad ending to the show Good Q and A.

Gery Tillmanns

Sad episode. Great sitcom.

Wayne Louis Hennie

i guess the whole point is to not delay telling those we love.. that we love them, while we can.

Michael Doherty

Very possibly the best show ever put on TV.

Natalie Baxter

I cried when she died. It was so sad. Even watching Archie break down was hard to watch.

royalsfan

Best sit-com there ever was.

Boyd Tracy

Broke many of the former TV no no's that led to many more "social commentary" sitcoms that followed.

mainjim

What a sad episode...the show was never the same afterwards.

Char

I wouldn't watch it because of Bunker At first then Edith got to me and Gloria and Mike..

Char

robert karel, more like Edith's little dingbat Archie..lol

earlepg

Irma Rivera, You essentially took my comment. Missed Archie Bunker's Place; I would've watched had I known. Guess I chose stroke because I had one twelve years ago. Fortunately not massive. Didn't remember anything after it occured but I was alone and left the house to go to a neighbor two houses down the road. She called the fire station and they got an ambulence. Ended up loosing sight in one eye as well as much of my math ability (I was an accountant). At least I was retired already. Ya never know.

robert karel

Archie’s little Dingbat!

joan musicmasters

Guessed correctly, just because it was the longest answer - it had to be right.

Jill Pearson

While the answer is correct, the explanation is misleading. The character of Edith didn't die on "All in the Family," but on the spinoff: "Archie Bunker's Place," (1979-1983) which focused on Archie after he purchased half interest in Kelsey's Bar, the bar where everyone hung out at on "All in the Family." Jean Stapleton appeared sporadically in the first season and was written out, at her request, in a two-part Season Two opener entitled "Archie Alone."

Arthur Wesselman

Irma Rivera, I basically did the same thing, except I hardly watched any of the shows, and certainly not even one all the way through. But I knew enough about it and its cadence that none of the other answers would have fit the basic character of the show.

Marie Giles

Irma Rivera, same here

Jan Griffin

I love the show! Great acting........

Richard S. Levine

roylynn, The Black Panthers are responsible for the Jeffersons. They boycotted Norman Lear's office & said "Good Times was a "Stereotyped Abomination" of poor blacks. Lear canceled the series & created the WEALTHY Jeffersons. "Movin on Up!