Wife of
Archie Bunker on
the 70's sitcom All in the Family, played by
Jean Stapleton. Edith is a
truly loveable character who's
trademarks include her
impossibly high and screechy voice, her ability to remain completely aloof to what is really going on, and her
hopeless devotion to her husband (no matter how mean or
pig-headed he manages to be...Edith claims that Archie's
pet name for her is "
ding-bat".)
Aside from her deep rooted sweetness, one of the things that makes Edith such a great character is that she is really not as dense as she seems. She knows her husband better than anyone, though her social ineptness sometimes makes it hard to believe that she's cognicent.
For example, in one episode she explains to her son-in-law Mike why Archie always yells at him. Mike argues that it's simply because Archie hates him, but Edith explains that Archie is subconsciously jealous of Mike because Mike has oppurtunities that Archie never had. Mike is working his way though college and will be able to become something better, while Archie had to quit school to take care of his family and will never be anything better than he already is.