Guest Stars On The Golden Girls...

I think the actress who played Blanche's slutty niece died.

R1 I thought that.was Rose’s granddaughter “Charlie...”

How about Yvonne?

Oops I just checked and that actress Hallie Todd is still alive. I think I'm mistaking with another character actress

Bridgette Andersen who played Rose’s granddaughter did die of a drug overdose in 1997.

Both glorias are dead, Angelo and Angela, freida Clayton, and most recently Fidel Santiago have died.

What about David, George’s hung illegitimate son?

Also was anyone puzzled why they cast hallie Todd as Blanches gorgeous niece. She’s not unattractive but is rather plain.

The first kiersten and first Gloria were far better then then second ones.

Mario Lopez is filming another Christmas movie.

That’s Mark Moses r6. He was on desperate housewives and mad men and has built a solid career as a character actor.

Watching the show on streaming I wonder — was there some kind of rule that nobody who appeared on the show could be memorable or funny other than the four leads? There’s never anybody even the slightest bit entertaining.

R10 , Speak for your Self , Sicilian hair lip .

I always wondered what happened to Stan’s Cousin Magda?

Blanche’s gay brother was UGLY.

[quote]There’s never anybody even the slightest bit entertaining.

Disagree, there were a quite a few entertaining guest stars:

Donnelly Rhodes

Inga Swenson

Polly Holliday

Dick Van Dyke

Leslie Nielsen

R10 the older character actors (ie Steve Landsberg as Dr Halperin) were often great. But the relatives were all bland af except for Uncle Angelo. I should say the younger relatives, I guess.

Polly Holliday is still living .

I ❤️ Nancy the hotel desk clerk.

Chick Vennera (Enrique Mas & Kid Pepe) has done voice work and has had bit parts here and there but nothing since 2009.

Lynnie Green who played young Dorothy is still with us. I thought she was great but I remember in some threads on here that a lot of people didn't like her.

Scott Jacoby (also starred in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) played Michael and he's still around, but hasn't been an actor for 30 years.

Blanche’s grandson has had a handful of minor acting roles over the years. His brother who played Dorothy’s son Michael hasn’t do e anything since 1991.

R21 he looks much better as a fully grown adult than and ugly pimple faced skin flint. I still hated his portrayal as David.

R19 she had everything down about Dorothy (her mannerisms, etc) except the one thing that defines her (well, pretty much) - her biting, dry wit. She was deadly dull.

Was cousin Magda the one played by Nancy Beebe? And who did Brenda Vaccaro play? I thought she was Gloria.

One of the police officers that Dorothy wanted to arrest Stan & Gloria in the hurricane episode has worked steadily as a voice actor, actor and writer.

Now that R10 mentions it, most of the guest stars on this show were rather serious or simply used for 1 of the 4 to crack a joke in their direction.

Harry from Empty Nest was a funny doctor but most of the others were serious or dull.

It seems if you were a big get like Dick Van Dyke or Bop Hope, the writers threw punchlines in their direction every minute.

The children of the 4 characters seemed to get table scraps.

Jenny Lewis (the Sunshine girl who held Rose’s teddy bear for ransom) has had a successful music career & has worked steadily as an actress.

R24 , Brenda Vaccaro played BIG SALLY . Sophias , crossdressing Son , Phil's Wife . Sophia was such a bitch to her , for no reason .

Nancy Beebe as Cousin Magda from Russia. Loved her.

Okay... when I say guest stars I don’t mean people like Dick Van Dyke. I mean the no-name people who played their kids, or most of the men they dated. There just doesn’t seem to be have been any desire to make these characters interesting.

R17 , Lucy Lee Flippen is DIVINE !!

Well, he wasn't really a guest star, but was only in the pilot episode - Charles Levin was found dead partially eaten by turkey vultures.

Quentin Tarantino was a no-name at the time.

I feel like that was pretty common for the time though, R30. The interesting smaller roles were in the hour-long shows, but in the half-hour sitcoms, it was rare. There were some episodes like "Vacation" that had Tom Villard and Keye Luke in good small roles, but it didn't happen a lot.

Magda moved to Los Angeles and became a hostess at the revolving rooftop restaurant at The Westin Bonaventure.

Joe Regalbulto and Mitchell Ryan, who each played an abusive boyfriend (to Rebecca and Blanche, respectively), both did alright for themselves. Joe went onto Murphy Brown and a directing career. Mitchell did Dharma & Greg (hey, he was kinky enough to wear bikini briefs ...)

They had a lot of Susan Harris castoffs too (Marian Mercer, Donnelly Rhodes, the actress who played Rose’s sister Holly, etc)

r12, sadly, Marian Mercer died of Alzheimer's in 2011. I remember seeing a photo of her in the years before she passed; it was very sad.

But not a damn role for me!

Clooney

Marian Mercer not only appeared on Golden Girls, but Empty Nest (as Charley's mom).

Magda took a cruise.

Fred Willard had a pretty good career.

Valente Rodriguez, Fred from this scene...

^ Has had a lot of supporting roles over the years.

R44, he had a good run on The George Lopez Show. Also, the actress who played George's mother was the nurse in Dorothy's hospital room in Season 1's The Operation.

Always glad to hear John Neretti is still alive, and as of 2019 was still working and popping up on shows.

I just did a search in Tom Villard, the one sitting on the bathtub, and learned he died in 1994

[quote]Tom Villard (November 19, 1953 – November 14, 1994) was an actor who died of AIDS in Los Angeles, California. He was 40 years old.

Video at link

[quote]Nancy Beebe as Cousin Magda from Russia.

Magda was from Czechoslovakia.

Yes R48. He died of AIDS but before that had trouble getting his meds paid for so he went on Entertainment Tonight to speak of his health/$$$ troubles.

I guess Avery Brooks a.k.a. Capt. Sisko saw that show & helped get him a guest role on Star Trek DS9 so he could get the medical insurance he needed at the time.

Hallie Todd (Blanche’s niece Lucy) played Data’s “daughter” Lal in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Mitchell Ryan (Blanche’s abusive boyfriend) played Riker’s dad.

R51 funny the things you remember - I was gonna post that same thing (his ET appearance) - it was sad. I think My Girl was his last credit.

Whenever he pops up in that final season episode of TGG, I want to think it was one of the shows that hired him when he needed the work, though it was a couple years before his public plea, so probably not. But his diagnosis may have been known behind the scenes, and I'm just glad the producers were willing to hire an out gay actor (he was certainly out in the Business before that), especially for roles that weren't necessarily gay.

R30 what about r18 and r29 you dumb fuck?!

Kind of always wondered what happened to the Appalappachobee guy.

Ted Tanner, who did use a wheelchair in real life, died in 2001.

Jacob the Mother's Day ticket agent has been working steadily for the past 30 years.

Tom Villard actually did two episodes of The Golden Girls, "Vacation" and "Rose: Portrait of a Woman" (as one of Dorothy's former students).

Ham Lushbough worked steadily in film and TV for 25 years, and passed away in 1999.

Thanks R57 & R60.

I didn't know any of those facts.

May I make a request? Does anyone know what happened to the short, cute guy from "Home Again, Rose," the one who thought Sophia was Mrs. Gonzales the Spanish teacher?

All I know is I plan on outliving all of them.

Marcelo Tubert, who played Sophia’s date (Raoul the florist) when she won the Friends of Good Health's Best Friend of the Year Award has had a long career filled with small supporting roles.

R25, thank you!

I’m at work now, and the TV in the break room was playing “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” right at the Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago scene. I first thought the maitre’d was played by Neil Patrick Harris, but remembered that would have been impossible.

Then I read this thread... quite the coincidence!

Was it Dirk or Derek?

Same thing with the first Clayton episode. Was it Loyce Lamont or Lois Lamont?

Rue's pronunciation could sometimes be very confusing.

What happened to the shrimp?

Hallie Todd's mother was Millie Helper/Grandma Yetta.

Marg-u-reet was my fave!

[quote]Watching the show on streaming I wonder — was there some kind of rule that nobody who appeared on the show could be memorable or funny other than the four leads? There’s never anybody even the slightest bit entertaining.

Yeah Marg-you-reet was very memorable and funny!

Frieda Claxton.

Donnelly Rhodes was the sexiest man on Golden Girls by a mile. I still get a hard-on when I see him in that episode.

There were a few screenshots of a fully-frontal Chick Vennera in an army shower in the film "Yanks" on the internet, but they've disappeared. If you're a body hair lover, you'd LOVE Chick Vennera.

R67 he spent his remaining years hanging out at TOPS with Felicia Gallant. And then he died.

r62, he's still around and still active.

Do I have to slap you all silly?

Not working but happily married to a woman!

My body may have left the earth, but I'm doing the road company of "The Full Monty" on the north side of paradise. Mary Wickes and I just finished doing "Nunsense".

As long as Jerry Lewis movies are popular, I'll be around, so save it Sister Suck Up.

I'm also gone, but I'm on four episodes as four different characters, and also provided you with Nestle crunch bars and roasted marshmallows and bloody childbirth on two episodes of "Designing Women", and I played three roles on "General Hospital", subbing for Anna Lee as Lila Quartermaine, having played two characters involved in Laura's earlier trauma on "GH". I'm playing at the Copacabana now, so Betty White will not have my mic when she gets up here.

Tom Villard's partner Scott Chambliss is still with us.

Scott Villard's NYT obit

Lloyd Bochner's "Patrick Vaughan" the hammy actor they all slept with was funny.

Character actress Meg Wyllie was on the show several times most notably as “Candy” the really old stewardess. She was hilarious.

Alice Ghostley was freakin' hilarious as Stan's nasty mom.

Ruby Dee as "Mammy" was...well, not a character you could get away with today but she was very good in it.

And, of course there's Edie McClurg's bitch nurse.

And, the one and only Nan Martin as Frieda "I did it for the Danish" Claxton.

Allison “Curly Sue” Porter played Blanche’s granddaughter Melissa and auditioned on The Voice” several years ago.

Tim Thomerson, Blanche’s baseball player boyfriend (who even looked hot wearing drag in his episode) is probably best known for his Trancers role.

Don Mirault was the piano player in the Rusty Anchor episode and the sky dive instructor when Rose and Miles jumped out of a plane. He’s also a dancer, at theater producer and a book publisher.

I loved the Mama’s Family reunion when Ken Berry guess starred, but found it kind of weird that he was a love interest for Rose when he and Betty had previously played brother and sister.

Stephen Lee, who was the guy shaving in the Tom Villard episode, is also dead.

R82 in fact, she won that year of THE VOICE.

Only watched it in reruns as I was too young to watch it during its original run. I had a big crush on Monte Markham who played Blanche's brother Clayton, Edward Winter who played the blind guy Blanche dated in one episode and handsome daddy Leslie Nielsen who played Blanche's uncle.

And also the blond actor who played Rose's cousin Sven or Lars or something, who had an affair with Blanche.

R6/R9 incidentaly, Mark's younger brother, Burke Moses, originated the role of Gaston in the Broadway production of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. He is also known to THE NANNY fans as Fran's mobster boyfriend Tony.

R88/R89, Casey Sander, who went on to play Bernadette's dad on Big Bang Theory. Thanks for the update, R75.

[quote] Edward Winter who played the blind guy Blanche dated

Winter had a nice ass, as seen when he guest starred on SOAP.

r91 And who was also a regular on "Grace Under Fire" for five seasons.

Ed Winter was Tony nominated for the original "Cabaret" on Broadway.

What about Dorothy’s high school student, Kevin? Dorothy wanted to give him a D but the coach wasn’t having it.

Mrs Zbornak eats Shiitake mushrooms.

I’m surprised it took until r81 to mention Nan Martin. She was also philomena on the switched at birth episode. She worked steadily until she had to retire.

Also Ellen albertini Dow who was sophias friend Lillian and a resident of the nursing home Sophia was looking at.

Betty Garrett wanted to play sex games with Sophia.

R95 Chris Daniel Barnes was the voice of Prince Eric in THE LITTLE MERMAID, Greg Brady in THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE and A VERY BRADY SEQUEL, and Peter Parker in SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. He mostly does voice-overs these days.

Nan Martin was the creepy nun (AKA the ghost of Amanda Krueger) in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. She's also the mother of hottie actor Zen Gesner.

R99 I was in love with him in that SINBAD TV series. (Not the one with the black comedian.)

How soon you gays forget...

John "Eddie" Fidler died of cancer in 2005, at age 80. There's no record of him ever marrying. Was the distinct voice of Piglet gay?

R98 YES and also played Greg Brady in the Day by Day episode.

I love the way that Sophia says, "Oh, Eddie..." and then jumps on him at the end of that episode. Every time I see John Fiedler in something else other than TGG it's the voice that's a dead giveaway, and I always scream at the TV, "That's "Oh, Eddie!"

I never watched Its a Living like so many of y’all , but when they used to show it on Logo, I saw that the lounge/piano guy in the opening credits was Sophia’s “its a pleasure to be here” banquet date.

There must have been so many other Susan Harris castoffs that I have no idea about (as I really never watched any of her other shows)

Still so weird to me that Sam Harris is her son; I wonder how much (if at all ) he watched the show.

I kind of wonder if any of the GG's were fans of the show Brothers, and thats why Hallie Todd was cast as the niece.

R104 the pianist on it’s a living is Paul kreppel , see R64 for Raoul the florist.

R107 oooh my bad, they look a lot alike. Was Paul Kreppel ever on GG?

My favorite was Nancy Walker’s portrayal of Sofia’s sister, Angela.

No. The only It's a Living regulars who turned up on TGG were Mercer and her ITG love interest Richard Stahl (the building inspector who tried to kick out one of the girls).

It's not surprising seeing actors from other Harris (and Witt/Thomas) productions appear on TGG, since they also shared the same writers (the original writing staff wrote for Benson; when they left after Season 4 at the same time It's a Living ended, IAL showrunner Sotkin and Tom Whedon came over to TGG). It is interesting to see which actors they had guest. Swenson was the only Benson regular the original writers found a role for. In his first season, Sotkin brought in Mercer, and later Stahl in 7, but no one else. Maybe an indication of who they liked and who they didn't?

Bea didn't have much good to say about the short-lived 1983 sitcom Amanda's (which was pretty bad--the episodes are on Youtube), so it's interesting that several cast members guested on TGG.

- Simone Griffeth, who played her daughter-in-law, turned up as Stan's wife Chrissy in Season 1. She still acts a bit, but according to IMDB she lives in South Carolina and sells real estate.

- Kevin McCarthy, who was brought in during the second half of Amanda's to give Bea a love interest and someone to play against, wooed Blanche in "Second Motherhood," also in season 1. He had a long Hollywood career and died in 2010 at the age of 96.

- Fred McCarron, who played Bea's son on Amanda's, was the PI Blanche hired to spy on Miles in "The Pope's Ring." Evidently it was his last movie/TV credit. He died in 2006.

**sorry--it was spelled McCarren.

This fabulous, yet so poised, cultured and graceful EGOT winner guest starred.

r113, something everyone involved, and everyone who saw the episode, wishes they could forget.

Puke r113

Rita was really awful.

She's not a good actress.

And the backdoor pilot for Empty Nest featured Jay Johnson, previously of SOAP

[quote]Simone Griffeth, who played her daughter-in-law, turned up as Stan's wife Chrissy in Season 1.

Where Bea tried to get her fired for chewing gum on the set.

It makes sense that the It's a Living showrunners went to Golden Girls, considering the later years of TGG shared a few episodes with It's a Living. The one where Amy's penpal gets out of prison, which was redone for Blanche. Also the one where Dot stars in a production of Little Red Riding Hood where the cast comes down sick and the others have to fill in.

They also both did dream sequence episodes that guest starred Lyle Waggoner!

r117 Jay Johnson was not on the backdoor pilot for "Empty Nest," but he was on the series in one episode.

That is one massive head wound Rita has in R113’s clip.

r118, according to the Golden Girls Forever book, it was an extra during the "Blanche Delivers" episode who did Debra Engel's birth screams for her who Bea wanted fired for chewing gum. Griffeth said when she guested Bea was surprised she'd been hired and made a comment about whether it was a bad sign (since their last show was short-lived), but otherwise was nice (as were the other girls).

From Debra Engel's comments on "Blanche Delivers:" DEBRA ENGLE: Right after my first episode [season five, “The Accurate Conception”] the producers had told me that they wanted to use me again. But this ended up being a difficult episode for me to do. Not necessarily physically, because they had an extra off camera who did a really great birthing scream for me (although because she had been chewing gum, Bea had wanted to have her replaced). But not long before, I’d had a late-term miscarriage, and so pretending to have a baby on camera was emotionally hard. Especially when they brought in the real baby for me to hold—played by twins, who were screaming in the background. Later, when I came back to do another episode, I had had my daughter. I brought her with me, and all the Girls were very sweet to her.

r118, plus they both did a murder mystery episode written by Tom Whedon. TGG's Libertine Belle is such a classic I hunted down It's a Living's version to see if it was as good...and it's pretty dreadful. It really shows how much better developed the Golden Girls characters were--so much of the humor of that episode is based in their characters. The IAL characters are so thin they simply didn't generate as much comedy (on a plot level, the double mysteries were also weaker in comparison).

R122 that’s Magda!

He even used the same "she had more curves than..." and "her jewels were living testimony that Charlie Chaplin wasn't the only tramp who'd made it big in this town" lines.

[quote] How about Yvonne?

Here's the WEHT thread on Hilary Shepard, the actress who played Yvonne.

The actress who played Marguerite the bad housekeeper is Paula Kelly. She was in the Oprah Winfrey-produced TV mini-series The Women of Brewster Place (based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Gloria Naylor), in which she portrayed one half of a lesbian couple (with Lonette McKee) struggling against homophobia in an inner-city ghetto. She was nominated for a second Emmy for her role in The Women of Brewster Place.

Paula Kelly was a much more accomplished actress/dancer than just The Women of Brewster Place.

Helen Lawson as St Olaf Community College's biggest sorority whore and Homecoming Queen Gerti Kerflugennugen in Rose's Class Reunion

Honorable mentions to Susan Anton, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, Angie Dickinson!

The great Lois Nettleton, who died in 2008, was, of course, Dorothy's old friend who falls in love with Rose. Nettleton is also fondly remembered for "The Midnight Sun" episode of "Twilight Zone."

Mrs. Ahhngie Dickinson, a woman who eats her way from behind the iron curtain.

R130, I like how you worked "fond" into your post!

Don't forget about Debbie Reynolds. Bea decided to stay one more season after she saw they were going to replace her with a bigger name.

R133 shes too much like Betty (the sweet but underhanded delivery) for that to have worked. In my opinion.

Ronald Hunter as Dr. Harris in the "Heart Attack" episode. He was an old boyfriend of mine from the late 60s when we were at NYU.

I agree, R134. The balance would have been out of whack. OTOH, I'd be curious how it would have worked during The Golden Palace, when Rose went back to her Season 1 (relative) sharpness. Speaking of The Golden Palace, that show depended way, way too much on stunt casting. Talk about insecurity.

You do this and we are no longer family. You marry this man and you are out of my life forever!

That’s how it SHOULD have been spelled - if she were really from Sicily. But we all know she was really Jewish anyway, haha.