Bonnie Franklin/Mary Wilson - One Day At A Time

She had Florence Ballard fired, not me.

Whatever happened to Bonnie Franklin. After ODAAT, she just disappeared.

I believe that the actress' name is Mary Louise Wilson

Hold me David...I'm scared!

Bonnie has pancreatic cancer.

Bonnie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a couple of months ago. Nothing has been reported since.

We've made fun of her here, but in all seriousness I hope she is well soon.

She probably got fired for the same reason Polly Holliday and Diane Ladd were fired from "Alice" - they were stealing laughs from the star. Though maybe Franklin (or the writers/producers) didn't think the character was working for the show. I was never a big ODAAT fan but I liked Wilson's character. On the other hand, I can see how she could have changed the tone of the show from semi-serious Norman Lear to more traditional sitcom schtick.

If anything I'd think Pat Harrington would have wanted her gone since she would have been getting a lot of his type lines and screen-time.

I thought Ginny was a trannie?

I have a feeling that once Schneider clicked as the surrogate father for the girls, they decided it should be more about the family unit, meaning there was no need for the wacky neighbor type. She and Richard Masur stuck out like sore thumbs those first couple of seasons.

I actually asked MLW why she left ODAT.

She said she hated LA and wanted to get back to NYC and do theater.

Boring but true.

Well, Mary Louise gave one of the best stage performances I've ever seen in Grey Gardens and won a Tony for it, so I'm sure it worked out for her. In the long run, anyway.

I would have loved to have seen that.

I wish Mary had stayed.

It seems a lot of people left that show. Why did Richard Massur leave? Or that guy who played Glenn Scarpelli's father? He was there for a year and then they killed him off leaving the kid in Ann Romano's care.

And yet Nanette Fabray and her real-life niece Shelley Fabares seemed to be on that show FOREVER...

R15 - It only felt like forever.

The Ginny character was actually in the unaired pilot played by Marcia Rodd (who was also the original Carol in Maude)

There was also only one daughter featured, Julie.

Afterwards Norman Lear felt it wasn't working, and dropped the Ginny character and added a second daughter.

After Richard Masuar left, he resurrected the Ginny character to be a love-interest for Schneider and a sounding board for Ann.

But then it was felt it would be better for Schneider to have a date of the week, and Ann was already using her daughters as a sounding board.

So the character was dropped for the second time.

Ah, Richard Masur...loved the episode that TV Guide described as "Ann finds David and a female guest in a state of dishabille". Wish that David had been in MORE "dishabille" than what he showed! Dude was a fucking hot bear!

She was funny.

I always hated Richard Massur

This site said it's because Bonnie was jealous. I hated Bonnie and Ann Romano.

Mary Louise Wilson was a breath of fresh air to the series. Her character, Ginny, was very likable and funny. She added a comic relief to the chronic historonics of the Ann Romano character. The character of Ann Romano needed a friend for support. After Ginny was written off the show, Ann Romano became even more unbearable, shrill and over the top. Bonnie Franklin was jealous of Mary Louise Wilson’s talent. She was a much better actress than Bonnie Franklin and Ms. Franklin knew it.

There is a YouTube video from 2-3 years ago of MLW being interviewed by Alan Cumming discussing her memoir that she had written. I can’t remember if Alan asks or someone in the audience asks but they ask her about why she left ODAAT and she said that it was because she hated living in LA and was miserable and cried all the time. She asked to be let out of her contract so she could go back to NY and Norman Lear let her go. Vincent Gardenia left All in the Family because he hated the process of rehearsing and waiting around. He complained to Norman Lear and told him he wanted out of his contract because he was unhappy and he let him go. That’s why you see the Frank Lorenzo character for a few episodes and then he’s gone. Norman Lear did not want unhappy people on his sets.

I really can't stand Bonnie.

2 cast offs from the Bonnie Franklin regime.

You still have a VCR? Wow.

Mary Louise Wilson reconsidered staying on, but Norman Lear refused to let her back. Let’s put it this way, Bonnie Franklin told him not to allow Miss Wilson come back. Mary Louise Wilson’s character, Ginny, was strong. She stole scenes from Bonnie, and made her look like church mouse. Miss Wilson outshined her and showed the world what a very limited actress that Bonnie Franklin was. Thus, Miss Wilson was promptly banished and Bonnie Franklin continued to carry Norman Lear’s balls in her purse.