Angela on The Golden Girls

[quote] She was played by Nancy Walker. How about you?

I was never played by Nancy Walker.

I thought it was the veal shank I was bringing home for Mother’s Day.

Why did, she only appear twice?

Comma.

I enjoyed her way more than Sofia.

Terrific casting.

Was it ever explained why Sophia had a brother called Angelo (the ex priest) and a sister called Angela? Were they twins?

Was it ever explained why Sophia and Angela had strong East Coast American accents, while Angelo had a Sicilian one?

I hate Nancy Walker.

R8 Angela lived in the US for 30 years before moving back to Sicily. Angelo only immigrated to the US recently.

I hated Angela. Annoying character.

[quote]Why did, she only appear twice?

Because Susan Harris gave Nancy Walker her own show. And they introduced Angelo in the meantime.

R11, May your marinara sauce never cling to your pasta!

She always played the same character, no matter what she was in. (I'm talking about Nancy Walker, not Bea Arthur.)

Tony was Sofia’s boyfriend and Angela’s roommate. Kinky!

Tony fucked both Sophia and Angela. Lucky guy!

Nancy Walker was always the same character, that is the truth.

That said, she was a gem. I loved her on Rhoda.

And don't forget, for some God knows reason, she was picked to helm that Village People film.

Future circus freak Brucilla Jenner and ex lesbian hooker Valerie Perrine were perfection. Well, not really.

Loved her.

She was on McMillan & Wife too

It's something else that two goyim like Nancy Walker & Valerie Harper should come to epitomize television Jewry to the extent that they did. Love the woman in whatever she did, including Rosie, the waitress in those Bounty paper towel ads.

Is there any explanation why the name Angela was used for Sophia's sister and her daughter-in-law (played by Brenda Vaccaro)?

The writers really loved that name.

And she was the diner owner in the Bounty commercials

I couldn't stand Angelo. He had no redeeming qualities. Stanley, the loser, was at least a good foil for Dorothy. Angela was a superb foil for Sophia. But Angelo, the loser, was nobody's foil. Everybody just ignored that he was a mess. Nobody was even annoyed by him.

I like Nancy Walker, and she was good in this, but I typically skip these episodes. Too much of a good thing.

Don't forget "Blansky's Beauties".

... "Mama's Boy"

... or "The Nancy Walker Show".

Maybe it was the awful theme songs that were the problem?

Nancy Walker was hysterical on "Rhoda". And I loved her in "Best Foot Forward", too. But in the clip OP posted, Betty White steals the show.

R14 and other dumb shits don't seem to know what a character actor is.

Walker had a broader range but no one wanted to see it.

Ever hear of Walter "Rotten Fascist" Brennan? Or the incomparable Thelma Ritter?

Oh.

I loved Angela, she was so much funnier than Sophia. I loved it when Angela said she couldn’t leave Sicily to live in a “foreign country.” And Sophia points out she had previously lived in the US for umpteen years! The same thing happened with my Grandma, born in the US until she was a teen, then lived in Europe. Somehow she forgot English! And when she moved back & lived the next 60 yrs or so here, she always viewed it as a foreign country!

What R22 said. It's a shame that Angela appeared in only two episodes. She was a far better character than Angelo, who was borderline unwatchable.

r29, they did the same joke with Sophia referring to America a foreign country.

Sophia: “It's all those foreign cars. They're unreliable.”

Dorothy: “Ma, Blanche drives a Buick.”

Sophia: “So? I'm from Sicily. To me a Buick is a foreign car.”

**as a foreign country

Ugh I couldn’t stand Angela - then again I’m not a Nancy Walker fan in general. And only compared to her did Estelle seem like she could actually be Italian.

And I loved Angelo, I thought he was pretty hilarious at times - and they kept bringing him back so someone must have agreed.

There was a full episode of Mama's Boy online a while ago. I tried watching it, but it was godawful. I don't know why they didn't bring her back to TGG after that, other than the possible confusion of reintroducing a sibling named Angela after introducing one named Angelo. Maybe the new writing staff that came in a year later just weren't interested in her.

But yes, agree that Angela was so much better than Angelo.

Even with Mama's Boy being terrible...what a lineup.

I liked Angelo far better after he shaved his shoulders.

Angela?!

No. Gina Lollobrigida!

[quote]I don't know why they didn't bring her back to TGG after that

Maybe she didn't want to do it. Also, according to that book on Golden Girls, Estelle was not fond of her. Estelle had been Nancy Walker's stand in on some of those Bounty commercials and Nancy apparently wasn't very nice to her. Estelle didn't mention it to Walker's face, but she did bring it up to people who worked on the show after Nancy's first appearance.

She’s your only sister.

r38, that's now how I read that story. She said Nancy wasn't particularly friendly when Estelle was her stand-in on the commercials--not that she wasn't nice, but she didn't go out of her way to be all that chummy with Estelle. So when Nancy was invited to come onto HER show, Estelle was going to say something to her to rub it in that she was the star now...but when it finally happened, she didn't bother. Because it was her show so she'd already succeeded.

From the book: "Appearing alongside Nancy Walker was a particular treat for Estelle Getty, although for her own reasons. Estelle’s friend Michael Orland remembers her eagerly looking forward to taping the first Aunt Angela episode. “Estelle told me how for years when she lived in New York, she was Nancy Walker’s stand-in for those Bounty commercials,” Michael remembers. “And Nancy never gave her the time of day. She wasn’t mean, but she never went out of her way to talk to Estelle. So when Nancy got booked on The Golden Girls, Estelle was excited, and started plotting how she was going to go up and say something to her. But then the moment Nancy walked on to the set, and now it was Nancy coming on to Estelle’s show, Estelle said she no longer felt the need to bring it up. So she never did.” "

I loved Nancy Walker as Ida Morgenstern, in particular her guest appearances on MTM were some of the funniest episodes of the entire series (never really watched Rhoda so can't say much for that) But I don't really care for the Aunt Angela characters because she's basically a less funny Sophia, who I find to be the least funny of the four in the first place. Don't get me wrong, Sophia can be very funny in the right situations, but the character needs more support and isn't as consistently funny as the other three.

Nancy Walker was not available to do future Golden Girls appearances, because by 1990 she under contract to Fox Network on the sitcom "True Colors' which ran for 3 seasons.

I wonder how come Harvey Fierstein didn't ask Nancy Walker to replace Estelle Getty on Broadway in "Torch Song"

Walker would have made a terrific Mrs. Beckett

Instead it was Estelle Getty replacement was Barbara Barrie

Someone making a paper towel commercial needs a stand-in?

R45 yes, just like in the movies or hour-long dramas

It can 5 to 6 hours to light the scene just right. The star isn't going to stand around to be lit for 5 hours. That is why stand-ins are hired in their place

Jesus. Nancy Walker needed a stand in? Now I’ve heard it all. Estelle certainly got the last laugh standing in for diva cunty Nancy. You go Estelle.

r43, True Colors only ran for two seasons (and Walker died a month after the final episode aired).

They still could have had her on between the time Mama's Boy was canceled in 1988 (though NBC had stopped production in 1987 before all the ordered episodes were completed, knowing it was a bomb) and she signed on for True Colors in 1990. She did an episode of Newhart and an episode of Columbo in that period.

Aunt Angela was epic.