The Night I Saved Sally Struther’s Life
All in the Family wouldn’t have been the same without her.
I studied at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts in California after graduating from high school in the late 60s. It was a two-year vocational school that drew aspiring actors and technicians from far and wide. Its alumni include Ruth Buzzi, Jamie Farr, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Leonard Nimoy, and Sally Struthers. The playhouse’s reputation was legendary, and its students were there to get a first-class education, theater experience, and perhaps a lucky break.
Sally Struthers was a first-year student when I was in my second year. I was majoring in stage design and operation, and Sally was an acting major. The distinctive aspect of the training was the opportunity for all students to be part of professional performances because it was the home to a stock theater group that performed from a list of contemporary and classical plays.
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen was in rehearsal in the fall of 1975, and I was assigned to the stage crew, and Sally had a minor acting part as a villager.
Monte Markham and Stuart Margolin played alongside one another in the allegorical…