You could have done much better choosing a clip from the show to honor Edith. My choice would have been when they took the trip to the hotel where they spent their honeymoon. Though there was a bit of tension between them in the room because of Archie's usual self-centeredness, in the end he did profess his love for her and the scene closed with them dancing only as people in love can. Thank you for the laughter and the tears Edith, and may you rest in peace Ms Stapleton.
CBS/Landov
Jean Stapleton, best known for her iconic role as Edith Bunker in the 1970s TV series All in the Family, has died, her family tells The Los Angeles Times, TMZ and The Hollywood Reporter.
Stapleton was 90.
Brenda Chase/Getty Images
In an interview with the Archive of American Television, Stapleton said before she took the Edith Bunker role, she was "apolitical."
But surrounded by activists in Los Angeles, things changed.
"I began to get a little educated and became somewhat of an activist," she said.
Her character became an icon of the women's rights movement. Activists took out an ad calling Edith Bunker a second-class citizen. The series also took on bigotry. Edith was the tolerant one and her husband was the bigot.
In the interview with the archive, Stapleton said the series uncovered bigotry through humor.
"Humor reduces it to nothing," she said.
We'll leave you with one of the iconic scenes of the show, when Archie and Edith show up to Lionel Jefferson's engagement party. Lionel, their neighbor's son, was engaged to a woman whose father is white and mother is black:
Update at 6:17 p.m. ET: Rob Reiner And Norman Lear Statements:
Rob Reiner, who played the Bunkers' liberal son-in-law on All in the Family, issued this statement about Stapleton's death:
Norman Lear, who wrote and produced the sitcom, said Stapleton helped him to see his own "frailties and humanity." In a statement, he continued:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/01/187871026/reports-jean-stapleton-who-played-edith-bunker-dies
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