Let's start with Beverly LaSalle herself. She was portrayed by Lori Shannon. Shannon was born Don Seymour McLean in 1938. Shannon became known as a professional female impersonator. She appeared in three episodes of "All in the Family," but also in a 1980 TV movie called "For the Love of It." Lori Shannon died from a heart attack at the age of 46 on 02/13/84. Basically a few months younger than I am right now.
Beverly first appeared in "Archie the Hero." Archie Bunker was driving a cab when one of his fares became non-responsive. He performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the woman and then delivered her safely to the hospital. Of course, Archie immediately told everyone about his heroism and managed to leak news of his good deed to the media. Then he found out that the woman is a female impersonator named Beverly LaSalle.
From the point forward, Archie tried evading others about the story until he, Beverly, and the reporter all came together face-to-face and her true nature was revealed. Ever the lady, Beverly deflected Archie's role in the situation claiming that it was actually a non-existent truck driver who actually performed CPR on her -- thanks to Archie's leadership, of course! This impressed Archie, who told Beverly "for a dame, you're one hell of a guy." Which was actually high praise coming from Mr. Bunker!
Beverly was extremely grateful towards Archie. In fact, her gratitude was repeatedly expressed every time she met up with Archie and his family. She maintained a close friendship with Edith for the next couple of years, returning for a visit one year after Archie save her life. Archie guilted her allowing her to be paired as a blind date for one of his frenemies. Beverly felt conflicted about the deception, but her date Pinky revealed himself as a bigger jerk than Archie!
Finally in "Edith's Crisis of Faith," Beverly returned one final time to visit the Bunkers. She was going to perform at Carnegie Hall and wanted to show off her gown and invite the Bunkers to watch her performance. While there, Edith and Beverly both shared their love for each other. Edith gave Beverly a special scrapbook and invited her dear friend over for Christmas.
Sadly, things went south from here. After leaving the Bunker's home, Beverly (dressed as a man) and Mike were attacked by a bunch of thugs while walking to a nearby subway station. Beverly received the worst of the attack and ended up dying at the hospital. Edith spent the rest of this two-part episode coming to terms with her friend's violent and senseless death -- as well as God's role in it.
I really loved her friendship with the Bunkers. The warmth and affection shared by her and Edith was palpable. And it was clear that Archie liked her too -- even if he was uncomfortable with her female presence.
Beverly LaSalle was notable in that her character was the first positive portrayal of a trans character on network TV. It's just unfortunate that she was killed off. I would have loved to have seen more of her on "All in the Family" or one of the program's various spin-off shows.