Edith's 50th Birthday

On Edith Bunker's 50th birthday, her family plans a surprise party for her (though she, in fact, knows about the party and is in the process of baking her own birthday cake). She waits alone in the house, and a young man appears claiming to be a detective searching for a rapist. He soon reveals that he is the rapist and tries to sexually assault Edith. When Archie appears to claim a punch bowl, the man hides in the closet and threatens to kill him if Edith says anything. Once they are alone, the man is about to begin the assault but a burning smell comes from the kitchen. Edith's cake is in the oven and the man allows her to pull it out. She suddenly strikes him in the face with the burning cake and runs from the house. She confides to her family what has happened and enters into a state of constant fear and depression. Her daughter Gloria urges her to identify the man or the police will drop charges against him and give him the opportunity to assault more women. Edith refuses and Gloria declares her "selfish" and no longer considers Edith her mother. Edith slaps her, which helps her to realize she must identify the man. She leaves for the police station with Archie, hoping that her actions may keep the rapist away for good.

"Edith's 50th Birthday" originally aired as a one-hour episode. In syndication, it is aired as a two-part episode.

Norman Lear consulted with Gail Abarbanel, the founder and director of the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica Hospital, and hosted advance screenings for police and hospitals across the country.[1]

It was originally suggested that this storyline be written so that Ann Romano (portrayed by Bonnie Franklin) would be the one attacked on an episode of One Day at a Time. However Norman Lear changed it to Edith Bunker because he wanted to make a statement that this could happen to anyone, even someone as simple and naive as Edith.

The episode mentions events from the third season's "Gloria The Victim", in which Gloria was sexually assaulted while walking home from work. In that episode, Edith relates an incident where she herself had been the victim of an attempted date rape as a teenager in the 1940s, during a double date visit to Rockaway Beach, but due to the social norms of the time she had not pursued justice.

The New York Police Department showed this episode, along with other films, to convey the woman's side of rape. It was also shown at rape crisis centers.[2]

In 1996, TV Guide included this episode as part of its "100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History", ranking it # 64.[3]

The scene where Edith uses the burnt cake to attack the rapist and then escape prompted the loudest cheers and applause from the studio audience in the history of the entire series. According to an interview in the E! True Hollywood Story, which covered All in the Family, David Dukes maintained that he received persistent death threats from some viewers for years for his character.[4]

• McCrohan, Donna (1987). Archie & Edith, Mike & Gloria: The Tumultuous History of All in the Family. Workman Publishing. ISBN 0-89480-527-4.

• St. Petersburg Times October 18 1977