Today marks the birthday of Sally Struthers, so I thought now was as good a time as any to shine the spotlight on one of her characters. And no, it's not who you think. And not her either. And certainly not that one!
Instead.....
From the IMDb:
Ironside, who has invested money in a controversial stage show, brings his team to a rehearsal when it's discovered one of its performers has died mysteriously from a drug overdose. With such a large cast there are any number of suspects.
Among that cast of suspects was Sandy Fonda, a Kewpie doll cutie who also served as the "Cookie" in the mess hall for the troupe. Out of the dozen or so actors in the company, there were only four whom we really got to know. (We never even got to see the murder victim before she died - I guess I've been spoiled by 'Columbo'.) That cuts down the number of suspects even more, but even so, it's hard to picture Sandy as a viable candidate to be a murderer. There was just this air of sweetness and innocence about her that could never be turned to the dark side.
We don't really learn anything of Sandy Fonda's background, which leaves her a canvas upon whom we can adorn possible links to other TV shows and characters.
Here are just some of those possibilities:
The main four members of the Fonda family all have their televersions in the main Toobworld:
- Henry Fonda - 'Maude'
- Jane Fonda - 'The Dame Edna Experience'
- Peter Fonda - 'Californication', 'Space Ghost: Coast to Coast'
- Bridget Fonda - 'The Larry Sanders Show'
And it wouldn't be the first time for real world celebrities to be related to fictional TV characters:
- Tim & Luke Russert - Detective Meghan Russert ('Homicide: Life On The Street')
- Art Carney - Vera Gorman ('Alice')
- Bryant & Greg Gumbel - Sammy ('The Nanny')
So it's not outside the realm of possibility that Sandy could be a cousin of Jane and Peter, with Henry being her uncle.
2] Sandy Fonda could be the half-sister of Gloria Bunker Stivic.
It goes beyond the fact that both Gloria and Sandy were played by Sally Struthers, our birthday girl. They look far too similar to be "identical cousins". Even Patty and Cathy Lane looked slightly different from each other and they were both played by Patty Duke.
Assuming that Sandy Fonda is about the same age as Ms. Struthers, then she was born not long after the Big One - World War II. And it's possible, just possible, that her birth father was Archie Bunker.
Archie didn't marry Edith Baines until some point during 1949-50, depending on which episode of 'All In The Family' you've seen. And they had only been dating for 22 months before that. So Sandy Fonda might have been born around the time Archie's relationship with her mother ended as he became involved with Edith. (Gloria is thus played by Sally Struthers as being about three years younger than she actually was, making Sandy her older half-sister.)
3] Sandy Fonda's acting career did not begin with the play in this episode.
Based on that sweater which Sandy was wearing for most of the episode and which looked so new, it could be suggested that Sandy had been involved with at least the workshop production of "Godspell". The musical opened off-off Broadway in 1971, the same year this episode was taking place.
For whatever reason, Sandy Fonda did not make the transition to an actual performance of the Steven Schwartz musical. Perhaps in the Toobworld version of "Godspell", everybody in that workshop cast wore those sweaters with the Superman logo. I think later it would just be the Jesus figure in the OOB production.
But my friend Maggie Bilder Cooke came up with a suggestion that would make that workshop production of 'Godspell' a musical to be found only in the Television Universe: perhaps it was truly experimental and the Jesus character was female. And the fact that they reverted back to having the role played by a man would be the reason Sandy left the show, rather than being relegated to one of the "apostles".
2] Sandy Fonda could be the half-sister of Gloria Bunker Stivic.
Assuming that Sandy Fonda is about the same age as Ms. Struthers, then she was born not long after the Big One - World War II. And it's possible, just possible, that her birth father was Archie Bunker.
Archie didn't marry Edith Baines until some point during 1949-50, depending on which episode of 'All In The Family' you've seen. And they had only been dating for 22 months before that. So Sandy Fonda might have been born around the time Archie's relationship with her mother ended as he became involved with Edith. (Gloria is thus played by Sally Struthers as being about three years younger than she actually was, making Sandy her older half-sister.)
3] Sandy Fonda's acting career did not begin with the play in this episode.
For whatever reason, Sandy Fonda did not make the transition to an actual performance of the Steven Schwartz musical. Perhaps in the Toobworld version of "Godspell", everybody in that workshop cast wore those sweaters with the Superman logo. I think later it would just be the Jesus figure in the OOB production.
But my friend Maggie Bilder Cooke came up with a suggestion that would make that workshop production of 'Godspell' a musical to be found only in the Television Universe: perhaps it was truly experimental and the Jesus character was female. And the fact that they reverted back to having the role played by a man would be the reason Sandy left the show, rather than being relegated to one of the "apostles".
At any rate, this is my small excuse of a birthday tribute to Sally Struthers, who was always a bright spot when watching 'All In The Family'. But as Gloria, she does have a permanent tribute in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame. Gloria Bunker Stivic, along with her son Joey, was inducted into the TVXOHOF in March of 2002 (the year in which we inducted duos.)
Happy birthday, Ms. Struthers!
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