Actress Sally Struthers, 78, wants to clear up the misconception that she retired from acting.
In an October 2025 interview with People magazine, the actress, best known for her roles as Gloria Stivic in the ’70s sitcom All in the Family and Babette Dell in Gilmore Girls, said fans have approached her about her career. According to Struthers, some fans incorrectly believe she’s stopped acting.
“I’ve been doing these plays and national tours, and yet people come up to me on the street — they’re always taller, so I’m always looking up at them — and they always sound a little obsequious and they say things like, ‘Oh, it’s so good to see you, dear. We don’t see you on television anymore. We miss you. Are you retired?'” said Struthers with a laugh to the publication.
Struthers shared that she’s let fans know she’s been focused on stage acting.
“Then I go, ‘No.’ They say, ‘Well, we don’t see you.’ ‘Well, that doesn’t mean I’m not working. I do theater all over the country.’ And they’ll say, ‘Oh, well, we don’t go to the theater.’ I said, ‘But you’re just assuming I don’t work anymore. I’m trying to tell you I work all the time!'” said Struthers while laughing.
Sally Struthers Has Discussed Being Approached by ‘All in the Family’ & ‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans
While speaking to People magazine, Struthers said she’s often recognized for her roles as Gloria, Babette, and the character, Virginia Foldau, from the 2024 Netflix comedy series, A Man on the Inside. Struthers explained that fans will approach her about different roles, depending on what generation they’re from. Struthers starred in All in the Family during the show’s nine seasons until its 1979 finale, per IMDb. Struthers also appeared as Babette, Lorelai Gilmore’s (Lauren Graham) neighbor, during all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, which ran until 2007, and its 2016 Netflix revival mini-series, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
“It’s funny, a 20-year-old young lady will approach me and call me Babette because of Gilmore Girls. And then her mother, if she’s with her, will go, ‘No, darling, she’s Gloria.’ And now people are starting to call me Virginia from the Netflix series,” said Struthers in the October 2025 People interview.
Struthers made similar comments about interacting with fans in a February 2024 interview with Page Six.
“Gilmore Girls fans, look out for them,” quipped Struthers in the Page Six interview. “The best part of my life is walking down any street or through any department store or grocery store aisle is when I am met by a mother-daughter team. Because the mother will say, ‘Oh we loved you as Gloria!’ And the daughter will say, ‘No she’s Babette.’ And they have a little argument in front of me.”
Struthers said she finds it “delightful” that she has played two characters that are beloved by “two generations.”
While speaking to Page Six, Struthers also said that All in the Family fans believed she was in a relationship with Rob Reiner, who played Gloria’s husband, Mike “Meathead” Stivic, while the show was on the air. According to Struthers, fans at the time didn’t accept she was married to her now ex-husband, William C. Rader.
“When they saw me with my real-life husband, they’d go, ‘Where’s your husband?’ And I’d say, ‘This is my husband.’ ‘No where’s the Meathead.’ ‘He’s not my husband. I don’t walk around with him in real life.’ People are so funny. They just get stuck when they get an idea in their head and they’re like an old dog with a bone. They won’t let go,” said Struthers to the publication.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
