Whatever Happened To These '70s Sitcom Moms?

The 1970s gave us sitcom moms who held their ground amid cultural shifts that redefined what it meant to be a woman, a wife, and a mother. These characters had opinions, ambitions, and occasionally, the daring to push back against their husbands or the societal expectations placed on them.

While America was busy debating the Equal Rights Amendment and whether women belonged in the workplace, these characters quietly challenged the status quo. They balanced nurturing their children with the pursuit of their own identities, offering a kind of representation that felt quietly radical in a time when the idea of a "working mother" was still met with skepticism.

Looking back, it's easy to see how the sitcom moms of this decade set the stage for everything that came after, including 1970s celeb style that influenced pop culture. Matriarchal figures in 1970s comedies broke the mold by showing that motherhood wasn't one-size-fits-all, and gave audiences permission to embrace the chaos and contradictions of family life. Decades later, we still remember the actors who brought these hard-hitting characters to life as pioneers in the TV industry.

Known as "America's Mom," Marion Ross earned her place in TV history as Marion Cunningham on "Happy Days," the warm center of the Cunningham household and a steady source of advice for both her kids and frequent visitor Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli.

In 2018, Ross spoke candidly about the practical realities that drove her long career. "It's a tough business, and I was divorced. I had two children to raise. I was lucky to have the job and to have the show become such a hit," she confided to Smashing Interviews Magazine. Ross kept working after "Happy Days," turning up in recurring roles on "The Drew Carey Show" (1997), "Gilmore Girls" (2001), and "Brothers & Sisters" (2006), while continuing stage work and voice roles. In 2011, she and several "Happy Days" cast members sued CBS over unpaid merchandising royalties, ultimately settling for $65,000 and adding terms to ensure future payments. "We are satisfied with the outcome," their attorney Jon Pfeiffer told TheWrap. "We will continue to receive all of the merchandising royalties promised to us in our contracts."

While Ross retired from acting in 2018, she returned to voice Grandma SquarePants in a 2024 episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants." One of her final on-screen appearances was in the Hallmark movie "Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas." In a 2023 Instagram video posted by her son, Jim Meskimen, Ross expressed her contentment with simple eloquence. "I just do whatever I want to do and I'm free," she said. She turned 97 on October 25, 2025, and the following month, her son posted a cozy Thanksgiving photo of the icon, who is still very much the beating heart of any room she's in.

Linda Lavin, forever remembered as Alice Hyatt from "Alice," became a symbol of strength for women both on and off the screen. The show turned her into an unexpected figure in the women's movement, a role she embraced despite her initial surprise. "I was asked to speak at events," she told the Los Angeles Times in 2013, admitting she had to educate herself on issues she hadn't previously engaged with. "I had never been asked to speak in public before. I was a musical comedy actress," she added.

After "Alice" ended in 1985, Lavin returned to her first love — Broadway — where she delivered standout performances in productions like "Broadway Bound" (1986) and "The Sisters Rosensweig" (1993). But she wasn't content to stay in one lane. Defying Hollywood's notorious ageism, Lavin made a triumphant return to network television. "There used to be a saying in the industry that if you made it to 70, things would start picking up," she told The New York Times in 2014. True to her prediction, Lavin enjoyed a late-career television renaissance, including a role opposite Sean Hayes in the 2013 sitcom "Sean Saves the World."

In September 2024, just weeks before her 87th birthday, Lavin was spotted out in Los Angeles, looking stylish and vibrant. However, just a few months later, on December 29, 2024, Lavin died from complications related to lung cancer.

On "Taxi," Marilu Henner played cabbie and single mom Elaine Nardo, the sharp, grounded foil at the Sunshine Cab Company. Today, she still treats her ensemble casts like extended family, and she's not shy about the effort it takes to maintain those relationships. The actor told Fox News that during the COVID-19 pandemic, she began making regular Zoom calls with the "Taxi" crew. "We're about to do our 21st. Nothing is better than friend maintenance," she said.

The 45th anniversary of "Taxi" in 2023 brought some of the cast back together, with a candid moment from the reunion shared on Instagram. While the septuagenarian is best remembered for her role on the Emmy-winning sitcom, she transitioned seamlessly into a variety of projects, from starring in "Evening Shade" to taking on comedic roles in films like "Cannonball Run II" and "L.A. Story."

Beyond her screen work, Henner also possesses an extraordinary cognitive ability — her highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) — which allows her to recall events from her life in vivid detail. She explained to News 12 Brooklyn, "I just knew that I had this, you know, this propensity for remembering everything." This ability inspired her 2013 book, "Total Memory Makeover," where she shares techniques to help others improve their memory. In 2025, she told Us Weekly that she's considering a soap opera role. "How could you not have done a soap opera with your memory?" people often ask her, she joked. Meanwhile, Henner appeared in the Lifetime thriller "A Husband to Die For: The Lisa Aguilar Story," which premiered in September 2025.

Joyce Bulifant's career might have looked very different with one studio decision. She was lined up to play Carol Brady on "The Brady Bunch," even signing a seven-year contract for the role with the girls in the Brady family cast to resemble her. Then the producers pivoted and handed the role to Broadway and television star Florence Henderson, whose marquee appeal reset the show's equation. Bulifant never carried a grudge. "It all turned out just fine," she admitted to Fox News in 2018.

Bulifant continued to find success in television throughout the 1970s, appearing on shows like "Love, American Style" (1969) and "The Bill Cosby Show" (1969). Her most memorable role came when she joined the cast of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in 1971 as Marie Slaughter, the cheerful and supportive wife of news writer Murray Slaughter. Offscreen, Bulifant has been unusually forthright about the messier parts of her life. "I was addicted to helping people and fixing things ... Which seems like a good thing, but not when it affects you, your health, and your well‑being," she told Fox News, describing how she tried to "save" partners struggling with alcohol.

Stability arrived with actor and longtime friend Roger Perry, whom she married in 2002. After his death in 2018 from prostate cancer, she told Fox News, "I lost the love of my life physically, but spiritually he is still with me." She's still sharing and reflecting — most recently on a November 2025 episode of the "Where Is My Home" podcast. Now nearing her 88th birthday on December 16, 2025, Bulifant remains a vibrant presence in the entertainment world.

Shirley Jones turned 91 in March 2025, and her family celebrated exactly the way fans of TV's most famous band mom would hope. Her son, Shaun Cassidy, marked the day with an Instagram post of Jones beaming over her birthday cake. "Took mom out to lunch to celebrate her 91st trip around the sun, though I've often felt like the sun spins around her," he wrote.

Jones, best known as Shirley Partridge in "The Partridge Family," has often reflected on the impact of that role on her career and personal life. Speaking to AARP in 2013, she admitted her agents strongly advised against taking the part, fearing it would derail her successful film career. "If you do this series, your movie career will be in the toilet," they warned her. While Jones admitted the warning wasn't entirely wrong — "I became Mrs. Partridge forever" — she never regretted the decision. The role allowed her to stay home and raise her children. Jones also embraced the show's progressive themes, particularly that Shirley Partridge was one of the first working mothers portrayed on television.

Beyond "The Partridge Family," Shirley Jones kept busy with roles that fans loved. In 1979, she starred in "Shirley," playing another widowed mom, and later popped up on "Days of Our Lives" in 2008. In 2000, she gave fans a treat with a fun cameo as Shirley Partridge on "That '70s Show."

While "The Brady Bunch" kids are all grown up now, but the older generation of actors from the show have since died. Florence Henderson will forever be synonymous with Carol Brady, the impeccably coiffed mother of three daughters who marries a widower with three sons. Henderson died from heart failure on November 24, 2016, at aged 82, leaving behind an everlasting legacy. Her manager, Kayla Pressman, told NBC4 she was "the most amazing, lively, spirited woman ever."

Although the original run of "The Brady Bunch" ended in 1974, the show's influence never waned. In a 1999 interview, Henderson reflected on its enduring appeal, noting that it represented what people always longed for: a loving family. "It's such a gentle, innocent, sweet show, and I guess it proved there's always an audience for that," she said (via NPR). Henderson stayed connected to the Brady family well into her final days. On November 21, 2016 — just three days before her death — she attended a live taping of "Dancing With the Stars" to cheer on her friend and former TV daughter Maureen McCormick.

Beyond her role as Carol Brady, Henderson had a diverse career that included hosting her own talk show, "The Florence Henderson Show" (2007), and a cooking series, "Who's Cooking with Florence Henderson" (2013), on Retirement Living TV. On February 14, 2024, what would have marked her 90th birthday, a star in the Andromeda constellation was named in her honor by the International Star Registry — a fittingly celestial gesture. After Henderson's death, Maureen McCormick honored her on X, writing, "Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my [heart] forever. Love & hugs to her family. I'll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence."

Jean Stapleton's Edith Bunker was television's soft‑spoken moral compass, the gentle corrective to Archie's bluster on "All in the Family." Norman Lear, the creator of the sitcom, perhaps summed it up best when he told the Los Angeles Times, "No one gave more profound 'how to be a Human Being' lessons than Jean Stapleton."

After redefining what a "supporting" character could do, she kept working across media. Her final television appearance came in 2001 as Manhattan socialite Irene Silverman in the true-crime drama, "Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes" (2004), and she closed her stage career with Horton Foote's elegiac "The Carpetbagger's Children" in 2002.

Sadly, Stapleton died on May 31, 2013, at the age of 90. Her children, John and Pamela Putch, said in a statement to the Mirror, "It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother, with a capital M." Remembrances poured in from colleagues throughout Hollywood. Bette Midler wrote on X (via CNN), "Jean Stapleton, beloved as Edith in 'ALL IN THE FAMILY,' dies at 90. She was unforgettable in that role ... rest in peace."

Esther Rolle is best remembered as Florida Evans, the no-nonsense matriarch whom viewers first met on "Maude." When CBS initially planned to spin off "Maude" into "Good Times," Rolle made it clear she wouldn't participate unless the family included a father figure. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, she explained that she "couldn't compound the lie that Black fathers don't care about their children." That demand led to the introduction of James Evans, played by John Amos who died in 2024, creating one of television's most iconic families. 

Rolle took pride in showing a strong, united Black family on screen, something that was rarely seen in the media at the time. "I was proud of the family life I was able to introduce to television," Rolle said. However, she became increasingly frustrated with the show's shift in tone, and was particularly concerned about the increasing focus on the character J.J. Evans (played by Jimmie Walker), whom she felt perpetuated negative stereotypes of Black men.

Her frustrations ultimately led her to leave the show after the third season, though she would return for the final season in 1979. In 1990, she received the NAACP Chairman's Civil Rights Leadership Award for her contributions to improving the image of Black people in media. Unfortunately, Rolle passed away on November 17, 1998, at the age of 78.

Across nine seasons of "One Day at a Time," Bonnie Franklin, who starred as Ann Romano, used her storylines to address workplace sexism, financial strain, and family conflict, shaping how a female-led sitcom could handle contemporary issues. Franklin's dedication to the role was well documented by her co-stars. In her 2009 memoir, "High on Arrival," Mackenzie Phillips described Franklin as a perfectionist who took her responsibility seriously, often giving detailed notes on scripts to ensure authenticity. "She didn't want it to be sitcom fluff," Phillips wrote.

Sadly, Franklin died on March 1, 2013, at the age of 69 from pancreatic cancer. Fellow "One Day at a Time" actor Valerie Bertinelli, who played Ann's younger daughter, Barbara, remembered Franklin as a "second mother." Speaking to CBS, she said, "She taught me how to navigate this business and life itself with grace and humor, and to always be true to yourself." The "One Day at a Time" cast reunited for their final group ABC interview in April 2012, a year before Franklin's death, to reflect on the show's legacy.

Isabel Sanford broke a major barrier in 1981, becoming the first Black woman to win the Emmy for lead role in a comedy series. She earned the award for portraying Louise "Weezy" Jefferson on "The Jeffersons." As George Jefferson's wife and Lionel's mother, Weezy was the steady hand in a family that had moved from working-class Queens to a high-rise apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Black actresses were rarely given lead roles on TV at the time, but Sanford told The Interviews for the Television Academy Foundation that she was practical about her work, and that the job paid and she did what had to be done.

After the sitcom's 11‑season run ended in 1985, she kept working with selective guest shots — "The Fresh Prince of Bel‑Air" (1990), "Roseanne" (1988), "Living Single" (1993) — and closed out with a self‑voiced turn on "The Simpsons" in 2004 ("Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore"). Sadly, Sanford died in July 2004 at age 86 after a period of declining health. That same year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, cementing her legacy in the entertainment industry. In the tributes that poured in, Marla Gibbs, Sanford's co-star on "The Jeffersons," called her "a true queen" in a comment to the Los Angeles Times.