Michael "Meathead" Stivic

Michael Stivic
Mike "Meathead" Stivic (Rob Reiner, top) with rest of Bunkers, Archie (Carroll O'Connor, bottom). Edith (Jean Stapleton, left), and Gloria (Sally Struthers, right) in cast photo
First appearance	"Meet the Bunkers" (All in the Family)
Last appearance	"Thanksgiving Reunion: Part 2" (Archie Bunker's Place)
Created by	Norman Lear Based on Mike Rawlins, a character created by Johnny Speight
Portrayed by	Rob Reiner
Information
Occupation	College student, then professor (1975-)
Family	Edith Bunker (mother in-law) 1971-1980, her death Archie Bunker (father in-law) 1971-1982 (?) Casimir "Cas" Stivic (uncle) Alexsander "Alex" Stivic (uncle)
Spouse(s)	Gloria Bunker Stivic (1971-1982)(?)
Children	Joey Stivic (son)

Michael Casimir "Mike" Stivic is a fictional character on the long-running American television sitcom of the 1970s, All in the Family. He was the live-in son-in-law of the series' lead character, Archie Bunker, who frequently called him "Meathead". Michael was the husband of Archie's daughter Gloria (played by Sally Struthers). Rob Reiner played the role of Michael Stivic throughout the series.

The character of Michael Stivic is an Americanized version of the British original: Till Death Us Do Part's Mike Rawlins, the Trotskyist "Randy Scouse Git" who arouses the passionate ire of his arch-conservative father-in-law Alf Garnett. For the American version of this character, the Trotskyist angle was drastically softened: Michael Stivic is a social liberal and a leftist, but not an adherent of any form of communism and is presented as possibly a Democrat who is sympathetic to the Students for a Democratic Society movement (SDS), which is hinted by his occasional use of SDS ally and Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman's guerrilla theatre antics.

Michael Stivic is a Polish-American from Chicago. He was orphaned at a young age, with his parents having been killed in a car crash. He was raised by his uncle Casimir Stivic, an ex-Marine lieutenant turned florist, who calls him "Mickey" with great affection. He also has an uncle Alex.

When All in the Family begins, Michael is married to Gloria and shares a bedroom with her in the home of her parents, whom he addresses as "Ma" and "Archie" (or "Arch"), while focusing his efforts on earning a college degree in sociology. His first meeting with Archie (seen in a flashback) shows him as a bearded hippie with a tie-dyed shirt. His wardrobe throughout most of the series is much more subdued: most often he wears a denim shirt, jeans, and boots. He shaves his beard for his wedding with Gloria, but keeps his mustache afterwards (on rare occasions later in the series, however, he would go for a clean shaven look) and wears his hair well below the collar. (As Reiner was losing his hair very rapidly early on in the series, he began wearing a toupee when playing his character.) The exact year of the Stivics' marriage is somewhat ambiguous. In season 2, episode 5, "Flashback: Mike Meets Archie" (mentioned above), which first aired October 16, 1971, Mike and Gloria celebrate their first wedding anniversary. A 1972 episode centers on Mike and Gloria's second wedding anniversary: meaning they would have been married in 1970 while the 1978 episode The Stivics Go West it is revealed that Mike and Gloria are coming upon the ninth anniversary meaning they would have been married in 1969.