Actress sally struthers latest appearance of kate
Sally Struthers Says She Landed ‘Gilmore Girls’ Role Of Babette Dell In Part Due To Her “Diminutive” Size
Sally Struthers is looking back at how she landed the role of Babette Dell on Gilmore Girls.
In a new interview, the All in the Family alum recalled her manager calling her about the role in the series.
“’They want you at Warner Brothers to read for this series that’s going on there called Gilmore Girls. And it’s a character that lives next door to the woman and daughter who are the Gilmore girls,’” Struthers said on the Let’s Talk About That! podcast, recalling what her manager told her. “‘And her name is Babette, and they’re looking for a diminutive actress to play it. They’re not seeing anyone over five feet tall. And then they’re gonna cast someone very tall to be your jazz musician husband.'”
Struthers said that when she went into the audition she “just talked and talked about being short and some of my experiences only being this high and all that as an adult.”
“And I mean, I was 20 minutes outside of the Warner Brothers lot, and I got a phone call from my manager saying, ‘You got it!’” she added.
Struthers said she enjoyed her time on Gilmore Girls and working with Liz Torres, who played Miss Patty.
“We got to work together again, but we’re awful together,” Struthers joked. “We [would] make each other laugh really hard, and so they kept splitting us up like teachers do in school. They kept saying, ‘Liz, you go over and sit on that side of the sound stage and Sally, you sit over here, and you can’t sit together…’ Because we were making too much noise.”
Struthers recurred throughout the Gilmore Girls’ seven-season run. She reprised her role of Babette on Netflix’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Cute as a button and with a petite, porcelain prettiness and vulnerability that endeared her to the American public, Sally Struthers nabbed a series role in the early 1970s and became a solid part of TV history as a member of a dysfunctional family quartet in the milestone sitcom, All in the Family (1971).
She was born Sally Ann Struthers, the daughter of a surgeon, on July 28, 1948, in Portland, Oregon. Raised there, she pursued an acting career following high school. She eventually moved to Los Angeles and trained at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, earning a scholarship as its "most promising student." She performed briefly in regional stock plays until finding her break as both a commercial actress and dancer on TV.
A recurring dancer/performer on such variety shows as The Smothers Brothers Summer Show (1970) and The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970), the pert-nosed, blue-eyed, curly blonde cutie showed starlet promise in films, offering ditsy support in the Jack Nicholson starrer, Five Easy Pieces (1970), and the chase film, The Getaway (1972), top-lining Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.
And, then came the iconic series All in the Family (1971). Also starring Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton as conservative parents Archie and Edith, and Rob Reiner as liberal husband Mike, Struthers went on to win two supporting Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe nominations as kewpie-doll Gloria Bunker Strivic, Archie Bunker's "little goil."
Seen occasionally guesting elsewhere on such popular TV programs as "Love, American Style," "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "Ironside," "Laugh-In," "Sonny and Cher" and as the voice of teenage Pebbles Flintstone on the spin-off cartoon series The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971), Sally, along with Rob, finally left the popular family show after seven seasons, both eager to grow away from their strong TV images. While Reiner stepped away
Sally Struthers
Blessed with an appealing vulnerability, Sally Struthers impressed in a "Five Easy Pieces" (1970) cameo but achieved stardom as Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker (Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton) and wife of Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) on the groundbreaking "All in the Family" (CBS, 1971-79). One of the most acclaimed, controversial and popular television series of all time, the show tackled hot-button issues head-on, and as Gloria, Struthers reflected the real-life struggles and successes of younger women in a changing society.
For her appealing performance, she won two Emmys and after leaving the series in 1978, eventually earned her own spin-off, "Gloria" (CBS, 1982-83). She lensed a juicy supporting role in "The Getaway" (1972) but found more success in made-for-TV films and using her distinctively girlish pipes for voiceover work, including as the Flintstones' daughter on "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show" (CBS, 1971-72), Baloo's boss Becky on "TaleSpin" (Disney Channel, 1990, syndicated, 1990-91) and dino-daughter Charlene Sinclair on the live-action puppet series "Dinosaurs" (ABC, 1991-94).
Lampooned for her weight gain and tearfully earnest delivery as the TV spokeswoman for the Christian Children's Fund, Struthers frequently toured in productions of "Grease" and "Annie" and recurred on "Still Standing" (CBS, 2002-06) and "Gilmore Girls" (The WB, 2000-06; The CW, 2006-07). Although her professional success was eventually overshadowed by easy, sometimes cruel punchlines, Sally Struthers built an impressively lengthy career and took a highly visible role in raising enormous amounts of money for impoverished children.
Born July 28, 1948 in Portland, OR, Sally Ann Struthers moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting after high school, training at the Pasadena Playhouse. Her blonde beauty, wholesome appearance and endearing vulnerability helped make her a natural for screen work, and she turned in an affecting cameo as an e American actress and activist (born 1947) Sally Struthers Struthers in 1996 Sally Anne Struthers Portland, Oregon, U.S. William C. Rader Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker in All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy Awards, and Babette on Gilmore Girls. She was also the voice of Charlene Sinclair on the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs, Pebbles Flintstone on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, and Rebecca Cunningham on the Disney animated series TaleSpin. Sally Anne Struthers was born on July 28, 1947, in Portland, Oregon, the second of two daughters born to Margaret Caroline (née Jernes) and Robert Alden Struthers, a surgeon. She has an older sister, Sue. Her maternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants. Her father abandoned the family when Struthers was approximately nine years old, after which she was raised by her single mother in the Concordia neighborhood of northeast Portland. Her mother, who supported herself and her two daughters working at Bonneville Power Administration, suffered from significant depression during Struthers' childhood. In Five Easy Pieces (1970) Struthers was cast opposite Jack Nicholson. She appeared as a restless wife of a veterinarian in The Getaway starring Steve McQueen (1972). Around that time, Struthers debuted as Gloria Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family; producer Norman Lear had found the actress dancing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Ho Sally Struthers
Born
(1947-07-28) July 28, 1947 (age 77)Occupation(s) Actress, activist Years active 1970–present Known for Gloria Stivic in All in the Family Spouse Children 1 Early life
Career