# "All in the Family" death of Edith **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637 "2009-03-07T07:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/1 "2009-03-07T07:31:28Z")
I used to watch “All in the Family” back in the 70s, plus years later in reruns. I know at some point Edith died, but I don’t recall actually watching that episode. Was there actually an episode in which she died, or was her death something alluded to, say, between seasons? ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/2 "2009-03-07T08:05:33Z")
She died off camera between season one and season two of “Archie Bunker’s Place” the retooled and renamed sequel to “All in the Family”. From Wikipedia: > **[Archie Bunker's Place](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Bunker%27s_Place)** > > Archie Bunker's Place is an American television sitcom produced as a continuation of All in the Family. It aired on CBS from September 23, 1979 to April 4, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on CBS in April 1983, the series went into reruns on Wednesdays from June 29 through September 21, 1983. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough audience to last four seasons. It performed so well during its first season that it displaced Mork & Mindy from its Sund... > [@](#): > > Jean Stapleton continued to play Archie’s wife Edith Baines-Bunker when Archie Bunker’s Place premiered. The show featured Edith occasionally during the first season, but Stapleton decided to leave the series late in 1979; her character was referred to but unseen during the rest of the 1979-1980 season. The writers and producers addressed Stapleton’s departure in the Season 2 premiere, explaining that Edith had died of a stroke. Archie reflected on his wife’s passing, and eventually, began dating other women. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/3 "2009-03-07T12:08:54Z")
Death gets glossed over pretty quickly in Comedy Land, which is probably why panache45 couldn’t recall exactly how this happened. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/4 "2009-03-07T12:25:36Z")
Jean Stapleton was tired of the role, and wanted out. So, she was “killed off” between seasons. I recall that, in the first episode without Edith, Archie cries something like, “Aw Edith, I was supposed to be the one to go first…” Otherwise, the show seemed to forget about her fairly quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/5 "2009-03-07T12:41:50Z")
Yes, they did not make a big deal out of her death. I don’t think she was even mentioned much after she died. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/6 "2009-03-07T13:09:23Z")
I thought her plane went down over south Korea. Then didn’t Archie slam down some dinner plates and say “Damn, damn, damn!” I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/7 "2009-03-07T13:26:27Z")
Here’s the [youtube clip.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UKrAYD3zX8) ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/8 "2009-03-07T13:54:09Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > I thought her plane went down over south Korea. Then didn’t Archie slam down some dinner plates and say “Damn, damn, damn!” > > I’m confused. You certainly are…the plane went down over the Sea of Japan. There were no survivors. not exactly related, but one of my favorite TV moments ever was John Amos as a cop on some police drama - don’t recall which. He had arrested someone and was putting him in the car and the kid said “Hey…anyone ever tell you you look like the Good Times dad?”, for which he got shoved forcefully in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/9 "2009-03-07T14:40:42Z")
Reminds me of Happy Days and the parents go to see the Music Man movie and the mom says “that kid looked just like Richie” since Ron Howard was in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/10 "2009-03-07T15:16:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Reminds me of Happy Days and the parents go to see the Music Man movie and the mom says “that kid looked just like Richie” since Ron Howard was in that movie. There was a time on _Arrested Development_ where somebody was arguing with another character and called him “Opie”. The show’s normally dispassionate narrator said that she had better watch her mouth. The joke was that the anonymous narrator was the show’s executive producer, Ron Howard. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/11 "2009-03-07T20:16:02Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Yes, they did not make a big deal out of her death. I don’t think she was even mentioned much after she died. I don’t remember much about “Archie Bunker’s Place,” but I do remember there was an episode in which Archie and a woman have a romantic attraction to each other, but he can’t act on it because he’s “still married.” ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/12 "2009-03-07T23:08:38Z")
Archie had a minor affair when Edith was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-death-of-edith/488637/13 "2009-03-08T07:47:01Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Archie had a minor affair when Edith was still alive. But he didn’t leave Edith for another woman.