Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II veteran, blue-collar worker, and family man.
Bunker lived at the fictional address of 704 Hauser Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City.
[3] In 2005, Archie Bunker was listed as number 1 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters,[4] defeating runners-up such as Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo, Fonzie, and Homer Simpson.
He refers to his son-in-law Michael as "Meathead" and a "dumb Polack" and to blacks as "colored” (a politically correct term during the time of his upbringing, but one that was becoming increasingly outdated and offensive during the show's airing); in earlier episodes, it is noted that he previously called blacks "coons"[5] prior to Gloria's marriage to Michael.
[citation needed] As the show progresses, it becomes evident that Archie's prejudice is not motivated by malice but is rather a combination of the era and environment in which he was raised and a generalized misanthropy.
[citation needed] Archie himself is depicted as a striving, loving father, and basically decent man; nevertheless, he is ill-tempered and frequently tells his long-suffering wife Edith to stifle herself.
[7] After the end of the second season taping, O'Connor said, paraphrasing James Baldwin, "The American white man is trapped by his own cultural history.
In 1978, the character became the guardian of Edith's stepcousin Floyd's nine-year-old daughter, Stephanie (Danielle Brisebois) and came to accept her Jewish faith, even buying her a Star of David pendant.
[11][12] O'Connor was Irish Catholic, and Norman Lear modeled the character on his Jewish father, but Bunker's own ethnicity is never explicitly stated, other than identifying him as a WASP; over the course of the series, he mocks or belittles not just most minorities (including blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, and Asians), but also most white ethnic groups as well.
In season 5, during a three-episode stretch where Archie's whereabouts are unknown, it is revealed that he attended Flushing High School and lettered in baseball.
In the same episode, Mike learns that Archie was mentally and physically abused by his father, who was also the source of his bigoted views.
However, in Fred's return trip to visit Archie and Edith, he arrives with a beautiful 18-year-old wife named Katherine.
Edith elsewhere recollects that Archie fell asleep on their wedding night and reveals that their sex life has not been very active in recent years.
On another occasion, Edith discusses Archie's history of gambling addiction, which caused problems in the early years of their marriage.
His dream was to pitch for the New York Yankees but he had to leave high school to enter the workforce to financially support his family.
[citation needed] Although he is a Protestant, Archie seldom attends church, despite professing strong Christian views.
During the Vietnam War, Archie dismisses peace protesters as unpatriotic and has little good to say about the civil rights movement.
His now-adult grandson, Joey Stivic, appears briefly in the first episode of the series and references his grandfather, but does not state whether he's still alive at this point.
[21] The character's imprint on American culture is such that Archie Bunker's name was still being used in the media to describe a certain group of voters who voted in the 2008 United States presidential election.
[19][20] Bunker's perceived racist and misogynistic views were allegedly the template for the creation of Eric Cartman, one of the characters in the adult animated sitcom South Park;[22] however, it has been acknowledged that South Park greatly served as a bond between Lear and his son Benjamin, and that Benjamin, who was born in 1988, was also not very familiar with his dad's work from the 1970s.