Terrific article.
I never found her convincing, there were a lot of great character actors on the old westerns like Rawhide and Gunsmoke, and other shows, charectors that looked real and that you could see meeting in real life and them being part of a group, but Edith never seemed real to me, there were many moments where she could be convincing, but there were moments where you could see the actress, and many moments where you wondered about the character itself.
Yes, she was really excellent in that show. Her acting, like her character, reallly was the center that held it all together.
Although I can’t say I remember that episode where she said “damn” (For sure I saw it), even now I can get how shocking it would be.
She imbued Edith with great dignity, a dignity that was never damaged even by her rather verbally abusive husband or somewhat condescending daughter. But she was never “hard”, like Alice Cramden was.
And I may be wrong about this, but my impression is that Meathead Mike was the sweetest of them all to Edith.
Thanks for posting this. It really was a very good article. I’ve noticed a lot has been said about what excellent actors Carroll O’Connor & Jean Stapleton were. I haven’t seen as much about the dynamic between them. They really did seem to play off each other to a rare degree. Each of them gave the other an extra spark, so that together they were inimitable.
Here is a good piece from the LA Times: