"ALL IN THE FAMILY” star SALLY STRUTHERS’ drunk driving arrest has exposed her secret pain – she’s a lonely secret hoarder with a booze problem!
After the hit ’70s series went off the air, the cute-as-a-button blonde packed on more than 60 pounds and filled her home with thousands of strange items!
“What happened to poor Sally is a shame,” a source close to the 65-year-old actress told The ENQUIRER.
“She began to collect almost everything that she came across. It was a sad obsession, a cry for help! Her collecting turned to hoarding, which worried those who knew her.”
The two-time Emmy winner hit rock bottom when she was pulled over at 12:20 a.m. on Sept. 12 in Ogunquit, Maine. She’d been appearing in the musical “9 to 5” at a local playhouse.
Sally was slapped with a misdemeanor charge of OUI – operating under the influence. After posting cash bail of $160, she was released and given a December court date.
A rep for the actress denied the charges, but pals say Sally – who shot to fame playing Gloria Stivic on the classic sitcom – started going downhill years ago when she began to overeat and squirrel away collectibles.
“The warehouse people love me,” Sally told a reporter. “I’ve got so much stuff, a lot of it is in storage. I guess I’m a pack rat.”
Her 3,500-square-foot Los Angeles home is chock-full of masks, cocktail glasses, miniature dolls, teapots, stuffed animals, perfume bottles, tiny shoe replicas, figurines and little books that are 5 inches or shorter. “Sally finds it hard to part with anything,” said the source. “Her bedroom is full to the brim!”
Meanwhile, the star has suffered the indignity of being ridiculed by the irreverent animated TV show “South Park.”
In a cruel send-up, a character learns that Sally – who was a longtime spokesperson for the Christian Children’s Fund – is hoarding the African charity’s food for herself!
While Sally has managed to shed some pounds, she hasn’t kicked her hoarding obsession, although she did pare down her massive shoe collection and got rid of some of her belongings.
“I sold most of them at a yard sale,” she said.
“Now her friends are hoping that the arrest will be a wake-up call.”
