Jean Stapleton, from ‘All in the Family,’ dies at 90 in NYC
NEW YORK — Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker’s far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV’s groundbreaking 1970s comedy “All in the Family,” has died. She was 90.
Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her children said Saturday.
Little known to the public before “All In the Family,” Stapleton co-starred with Carroll O’Connor in the top-rated CBS sitcom about an unrepentant bigot, the wife he churlishly but fondly called “Dingbat,” their daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and liberal son-in-law Mike, aka Meathead (Rob Reiner).
Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with “All in the Family.” Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially conscious sitcoms.
Police charge 2nd suspect with slaying
of British soldier
LONDON — British police charged a second suspect Saturday with the murder of a soldier who was hacked to death in a London street, as right-wing and antifascist groups both demonstrated in response to a slaying that has heightened religious tensions in Britain.
The Metropolitan Police said 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo was charged with the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby. Adebolajo also is accused of attempting to murder two police officers, and possession of a firearm.
Adebolajo was released from a hospital Friday after treatment for injuries suffered when he was shot by police in the May 22 attack near an army barracks in southeast London.
Another man, 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, also has been charged with murdering Rigby, who died of “multiple incised wounds,” according to a post-mortem.
Adebowale also spent several days in a hospital being treated for gunshot wounds.
Illinois governor considering separating Great Lakes, Mississippi
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said Saturday that separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems is the “ultimate solution” to prevent voracious Asian carp from overrunning the lakes, a potential step toward resolving a longstanding regional feud.
During a meeting with governors of several neighboring states, Quinn said it would be a massive and costly undertaking to rework the Chicago canal project that linked the two giant watersheds a century ago. He defended Illinois’ efforts to block the advance of silver and bighead carp toward the lakes by hiring commercial fishermen and operating an electric barrier, but acknowledged more needs to be done.
“Ultimately, I think we have to separate the basins,” Quinn said. “I really feel that is the ultimate solution.”
His comment during a Council of Great Lakes Governors panel discussion on this Lake Huron resort island drew applause from government officials, environmental advocates and others in attendance. But Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican whose state has sided with Illinois in opposing separation, told reporters his position had not changed.
By wire sources
