Sally Anne Struthers was born July 28, 1947, in Portland, Oregon, the second of two daughters born to Margaret Caroline (née Jernes) and Robert Alden Struthers, a surgeon. She has an older sister, Sue. Her maternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants.
Her father abandoned the family when Struthers was approximately nine years old, after which she was raised by her single mother in the Concordia neighborhood of northeast Portland. Her mother, who supported herself and her two daughters working at Bonneville Power Administration, suffered from significant depression during Struthers' childhood.
In Five Easy Pieces (1970) Struthers was cast opposite Jack Nicholson. She appeared as a restless wife of a veterinarian in The Getaway (1972). Around that time Struthers debuted as Gloria Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. Producer Norman Lear had found the actress dancing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.[citation needed]

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