If you’re a fan of All in the Family, you’ll recall that Carroll O’Connor’s character, Archie Bunker, had a knack for bestowing less-than-flattering nicknames on everyone in his life. He called his wife Edith (played by Jean Stapleton) “Dingbat,” his daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) “Little girl,” and his son-in-law Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) “Meathead,” a moniker that has stuck with Reiner for over four decades since the classic comedy ended.
Rob Reiner’s Casting as Michael Stivic
Rob Reiner began his career in the entertainment industry as a television writer, his true passion. In a 2004 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Reiner recounted how Norman Lear, the creator of All in the Family, came to cast him as Mike Stivic, a role that catapulted him to fame.
Reiner’s journey to All in the Family started in 1970 when he and his frequent writing partner, Phil Mishkin, were hired to write for a series called Headmaster, starring Andy Griffith. “We wrote six episodes of Headmaster,” Reiner explained. “One of the episodes was about a teacher who has an affair with one of his students. I played that teacher. I was 23 at the time and falling in love with a 17-year-old student.”
Norman Lear saw Reiner’s performance in that episode and was impressed. “That episode was one of the reasons I got All in the Family,” Reiner said. “Norman Lear saw my work in [Headmaster]…he felt that I had matured as an actor, and he gave me the part.”
Reiner’s Perspective on Mike Stivic
Reiner has shared his thoughts on Mike Stivic, the character he played for eight seasons until 1979. “He was a wide-eyed liberal,” Reiner said of Mike. “Kind of a long-haired product of his time. Archie would call him a ‘bleeding heart liberal.’ He was also, oddly enough, a bit of a chauvinist.”
“Even though he was liberal-minded in his stance against the war, civil rights, and so on,” Reiner continued, “when it came to the women’s movement, he was probably like all men…to push back against feminism.”
The Enduring Nickname “Meathead”
Reiner explained that the nickname “Meathead” originated from Norman Lear’s father, who used to call Lear by that name, implying someone who is “dead from the neck up.” Despite his illustrious career as a director of hits like When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride, Reiner has come to accept that the nickname will forever be part of his legacy.
“I thank [Lear] for it! Because, you know, nobody calls me that now,” Reiner joked. “I’m kidding. I get that every day of my life. Literally every day of my life, somebody will say, ‘Hey Meathead.’”
“No matter what I do with my life, I could win the Nobel Prize, they’ll say, ‘Meathead Wins Nobel,’ it doesn’t matter. I have Norman Lear to thank for that.”
Reiner’s good-natured acceptance of his enduring nickname is a testament to the lasting impact of All in the Family and the indelible characters it brought to life.
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