Dark Secrets About 70s Sitcom Stars That They Failed to Cover Up

 

1970s sitcoms varied heavily in terms of content and style. 

You had nostalgic throwbacks like Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days that transported audiences back in time to the 1950s, and then you had sitcoms that weren't afraid to show a little more teeth, by pushing the boundaries and taking on poignant social issues like racism, sexism, equal rights, and economic disparity. In the previous decades, the sitcom was generally speaking aimed at white, suburban middle-class families, and the content and stars you saw on your TV screens reflected this. But in the 1970s, we began seeing sitcoms where the leads weren't the usual white, working-class folks we were used to – even when they were, sometimes they were depicted in a less than favorable light. 

Take All in the Family

for example, in which Archie Bunker was seen more as a bigot than he was a beacon of virtue. Then you had other programs that were starting to show black families who were upwardly mobile. The Jeffersons was a massive hit with audiences of all demographics – showing clearly that American audiences had an appetite for such shows. Women were also beginning to be shown in different roles than they had previously been delegated to. Gone were the days when women were merely housewives, mothers, and submissive homemakers. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was among the first of many programs to show women taking the lead in a previously male-dominated workplace. Speaking of, the workplace was now the setting for the majority of hit television series. 

We were treated to a plethora of series during this decade that moved away from the home setting and into places like police departments, taxi cab garages, newsrooms, schools, and even a mobile Army hospital in war-torn South Korea. Yes, one thing seemed to be very clear. The 1970s was a decade of significant change. This wasn't your father's television anymore. Sure, shows like Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver might have spoken to the previous generation, but the hip culture-crusaders of the '70s wanted to see something that was fresh and new on their color television sets. Now that we're pretty deep into the 21st century, it's fascinating to look back on this culturally significant decade. Much has changed in the 40+ years that have transpired since the 1970s came to a close. And seeing as how we're currently living in the so-called information age, a ton of secrets related to the stars of this decade's classic sitcoms have come to light in recent years.

All In The Family's Jean Stapleton Was An EXCELLENT Singer 

Jean Stapleton won three Emmy Awards for playing Archie Bunker's loyal, sweet-natured, and hopelessly optimistic wife, Edith Bunker. Stapleton's addition to the show's cast was a huge reason why the series was such a success. And when Edith was killed off after Stapleton asked to be written out of the spin-off series Archie Bunker's Place, her devoted fan base was devastated. The opening credit sequence for All In The Family features a duet of the song 'Those Were The Days' sung by Edith and Archie.

 It's widely considered to be one of the most iconic opening theme songs in the history of television, but there's a pretty big secret about Edith's singing voice that you might not be aware of. Although Edith had a pretty lousy singing voice, in reality the actress who played her was quite musically gifted. Stapleton was the daughter of an opera singer, and she had received formal vocal training in her early years.

In fact, some of her first appearances as an actress were in stage musicals like Funny Girl, Damn Yankees, and Bells are Ringing, both on and off Broadway. Redd Foxx 

Was Just 48 When He Was Cast As A 65-Year-Old 

Based on the British sitcom Steptoe and Son, Sanford and Son is considered by many to be NBC's definitive answer to CBS's enormously popular sitcom All in the Family. Both series focused on working-class, middle-aged curmudgeonly bigots who were constantly at odds with their younger, liberal family members. While the sitcom is known for featuring a primarily African American cast, its producers didn't go into it knowing that they would ultimately be working with Black talent. According to the series co-creator Bud Yorkin, they had initially considered an Italian or Jewish cast before they agreed on featuring a Black family after screen testing dozens of actors and actresses. After Yorkin saw Cotton Comes to Harlem, however, he knew that Red Fox was the lead he had been looking for. 

When the pilot for Sanford and Son was being cast, Foxx was only 48 years old, even though the father in the show's script was supposed to be 65. But given Foxx's lifestyle, appearance and mannerisms, the age discrepancy was nothing more than a minor issue. He was already gray and walked in the same way that you see on screen. Additionally, his voice had been coarsened from years of smoking, drug use, and heavy drinking. When Fox x was cast, he had been doing stand-up while developing a cooking show. When he was told by Yorkin about the pilot, however, he was very excited about the opportunity and quickly dropped everything. He was so gung- ho that he reportedly even told Yorkin he would gladly 'take his teeth out' if he wanted him to.

Isabel Sanford Was Surprised By Her 'Jeffersons' Husband's Height 

The Jeffersons, a spin-off of All In The Family, was one of the first sitcoms to feature a well-off Black couple. The show was created by television legend Norman Lear, who wrote the part of George Jefferson specifically with Sherman Hemsley in mind. But since he had been away doing a Broadway show when Isabel Sanford was cast to play his wife, she didn't get a chance to meet Hemsley until after she had already played Louise Jefferson on several episodes of All in the Family. When she met him, she was expecting a much larger man. Hemsley was a rather short- statured guy who stood right at 5'6". So, when Isabel laid her eyes on him, her first reaction was that he was so small that she could have "squashed him like a bug". 

Bob Newhart Insisted His Character Be Childless 

Newhart was already a successful stand-up comic touring with his act around the country when he was approached with the opportunity to turn his comedy into a television sitcom. The Bob Newhart Show centered around his character Robert Hartley's work as a clinical psychologist in addition to his home life. Hartley was married to his wife Emily, portrayed by actress Suzanne Pleshette. Emily was an intelligent and independent woman who had a life of her own. Robert and she had no children, which was a break from how most other sitcom families were presented years prior. 

As it turns out, this decision to not feature children in the program was very intentional. Newhart insisted that his character not have kids because he didn't want to be seen as just another sitcom dad who was always playing the idiot. Newhart hated the idea of his show being about a father who is constantly getting into scrapes with the kids just to have mom come in and bail him out. That trope, in his eyes, had long been played out.

 

Christopher Lloyd Came Up With Reverend Jim's Signature 'Distant Look' on Taxi Drawing From His Brother's Facial Expressions 

Even though the ever-stoned street preacher-cabby driver Reverend Jim didn't become a series regular until the second season of Taxi, he quickly became a fan favorite. When Christopher Lloyd auditioned for the role, he hadn't bathed in days and intentionally didn't shave that morning. He came in wearing an old denim jacket from the 60s that a buddy of his had found in a bush. 

When coming up with Reverend Jim's trademarked distant look, Lloyd modeled his expression after his brother's. Whenever he would come back from a break and find himself out of his groove, he would simply picture his brother's face in his mind's eye and suddenly be back into character. 

Suzanne Somer's Side Ponytail Was Covering A Bald Spot 

Somers rose to fame playing the ditzy blonde Chrissy on Three's Company. One of her character's most distinct physical features was her signature side Ponytail, but as it turns out, the hairstyle wasn't a deliberate choice on her part. In truth, it had been conceived as a way of covering up a hairdressing accident that left her with a rather embarrassing bald spot. As the story goes, Somer's hairdresser had been distracted while working on her roots. 

She was on the phone talking to one of her other clients, Rod Stewart, when she accidentally clipped off a huge chunk of Somer's hair. Since she had a show that evening, Suzanne adopted the side ponytail style as a way of temporarily covering up the bald spot, but it proved to be such a hit with the producers of Three's Company that they told her to keep it. 

Danny Devito Used Obscenities At His Taxi Audition 

One of the things that made Taxi such a hit with audiences and critics alike was its strong ensemble cast that included the likes of Danny Devito as the rough-around-the-edges dispatcher Louie. Louie was a nasty guy who made life downright miserable for everyone around him. He was mean-spirited, rude, and always seemed to be in a terrible mood. 

Although, deep down inside, like everyone else, he just wanted to be loved. Danny DeVito shined in the role, but in order to land, he had to give the show's producers what they were looking for. At his audition, Devito pulled no punches. After walking through the door with the script in his hand, he looked at the team of producers and said, 'just one thing I want to know before we start…..who wrote this sh*t?'

While there was a brief pause for a second, and it seemed as if things could go either direction, the producers erupted in laughter, and DeVito landed the role.