Sally Struthers, 78, Shares the Life-Changing Career Advice Rob Reiner Gave Her: ‘Mike Taught Gloria a Lot’ (Exclusive)
After the tragic death of her 'All in the Family' costar, the beloved actress reveals the Rob Reiner moment that saved her
The show must go on—even when the heart is heavy. Despite the tragic news this week of the passing of her beloved costar and lifelong friend, Rob Reiner, and even with a torn meniscus, two-time Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers, 78, is lighting up the stage as Martha Watson in Ogunquit Playhouse’s Irving Berlin’s White Christmas The Musical in Maine through December 21. While she is set for leg surgery upon her return to Los Angeles, she is delighting audiences nightly, turning her hard times into a powerful performance—especially during her showstopping number, “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy.”
Speaking with Woman’s World before one of her performances, Sally described the audience reaction as both surprising and exhilarating. “It’s thrilling and baffling. I’m not Adele, I’m just loud. People like me don’t usually get that response, but I’m getting it here, and I’m getting it for this role, and it feels fantastic.”
The career-changing advice Sally Struthers got from Rob Reiner
We first fell in love with Sally as Gloria Stivic on the Emmy-winning sitcom All in the Family. The groundbreaking series boldly tackled sexism, menopause and women’s rights. When Gloria last appeared in the early 1980s, she was a single mom—but Struthers always imagined a brighter future for her character. “Gloria Bunker Stivic would have remarried,” she says. “Someone just as inspiring as her first husband, because Mike taught Gloria a lot.”
Rob Reiner, who played Michael “Meathead” Stivic for seven seasons, tragically passed away this week. Sally said he had a profound impact on her on screen and behind the scenes. She credits him as a script-doctor “machine” who offered her invaluable career advice early on, when her lines were being cut on a hit sitcom. “If you can make the show itself more important than your own part, you will wind up offering to give up some of your lines,” Sally shared. That moment, she says, changed her life—and helped shape her Emmy-winning career.
Sally’s heart went out to Rob Reiner’s loved ones after his death, telling Deadline, “There are no words. This is beyond devastating and my heart is with their family.”
Scene-Stealing on Netflix’s ‘A Man on the Inside’ with Ted Danson
This year, Sally is once again a standout on the small screen, as the deliciously sharp Virginia in season two of Netflix’s A Man on the Inside, starring Ted Danson.
Her inspiration for the character comes straight from real life—best friend Brenda Vaccaro, the Oscar-nominated Midnight Cowboy star and Emmy-nominated Golden Girls guest. “I always imitate her,” Struthers says. “She says very assertive bottom-line things that some people can find off-putting, but I always think it’s hilarious—and that’s kind of what Virginia is.”
Cher, contouring and brutally honest friendship
Struthers also delights fans with a snappy Cher impression. Calling Cher “a gem of a human being,” she recalls appearing together on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in the 1970s—and the time the singer gave her unforgettable makeup advice.
Slipping into Cher’s signature drawl, Struthers laughs, “You got to calm down with the contouring! Sally, you look like Emmett Kelly!” She adds, “She’s one of the only friends I’ve ever had who will tell me the painful truth.”
Why Sally Struthers chose single life—and never looked back
Single by choice for more than 30 years after divorcing in 1983, Sally reflected candidly on her journey to self-love. “I constantly put my blinders on and got into horrible relationships,” she shared. After her daughter Samantha turned one, Struthers realized she needed to choose a different path. “I’m going to focus on my family, my friends, my career—and I’ve never, ever missed having a love life.”
A real-life ‘All in the Family’: Sally’s chosen household
Today, Sally’s life is filled with love in her own modern-day All in the Family. Her nephew Matt, his wife and their son Kai live with her—and she has no intention of letting them go. “We have become such a tight unit of family,” she told Woman’s World. “We respect and love one another, laugh and cry together—and it’s better than being married.”
Those were—and still are—the days.
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