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138-559: The Golden Palace begins where The Golden Girls had ended, in the quartet's now-sold Miami house. With Dorothy Zbornak having married and left in the previous series finale, the three remaining housemates ( Sophia Petrillo , Rose Nylund , and Blanche Devereaux ) invest in The Golden Palace, a Miami hotel that is for sale. The hotel, however, is revealed to have been stripped of all of its personnel in an effort to appear more profitable, leaving only two employees: Roland Wilson,

276-528: A Walter Mondale bumper sticker) on her car. When then-President George H. W. Bush visits Miami, Dorothy intends to angrily confront him regarding education, only to be rendered mute at the shock of actually meeting him. Dorothy shared many of Bea Arthur's political views, who in a 2005 interview remarked "that's what makes Maude and Dorothy so believable: we have the same viewpoints on how our country should be handled." Dorothy's strong moral principles brought her into conflict with different people throughout

414-618: A massive coronary . Blanche begins dating a cattle rancher named Bobby Lee, who wants to marry her and have children with her. Despite her age, he tells her about in vitro fertilisation , but the process would require an egg donor . Simultaneously, Blanche is visited by her daughter Rebecca in time for Blanche's birthday. Rebecca reluctantly agrees to be Blanche's egg donor, despite wanting her mother to act her age. Later, Blanche dreams that she, Rose, Sophia, Roland, and Chuy are pregnant. Upon waking up, Blanche realizes she cannot handle pregnancy and motherhood again. She meets with Bobby Lee to end

552-531: A shotgun wedding . While "One for the Money" says the wedding occurred in May 1944, that doesn't align with Dorothy's age in season 1 (about 55) and other episodes indicating she was still in high school in 1945 and 1946. A later episode, "An Illegitimate Concern", sets their wedding date on June 1 of 1949. This child was their daughter Kate (originally played by Lisa Jane Persky and later by Deena Freeman , each of whom

690-454: A Christmas-free environment, so Roland and the ladies reluctantly remove all Christmas decorations from the hotel to accommodate them. Chuy is pleased by this, as he has several bad Christmas memories. Later, Chuy has a dream in which the ladies appear to him as ghosts who teach him the joys of Christmas. Rose is the Ghost of Christmas Past , Blanche is the Ghost of Christmas Presents , and Sophia

828-510: A Comedy Series. Along with All in the Family, Will & Grace , and Schitt's Creek , Golden Girls is the only other show in American television where each of the lead actors has won an Emmy. Arthur remarked that she found it natural to learn younger viewers were drawn to Golden Girls, particularly due to Dorothy's defiance of her mother and Sophia's defiance of Dorothy and often society. "It

966-483: A Los Angeles stoner , and had previously worked on a film project with Witt. Marin was promised a spin-off series for his character in the event that The Golden Palace were successful. The Golden Palace marked Marin's and Don Cheadle 's first starring roles in a television series. According to Cheadle, the director of photography had trouble with him and White in shared scenes due to their heavily contrasted complexions; White's hair and makeup had to be altered to reduce

1104-473: A bachelor party booked at the Golden Palace and scheme to hire an exotic dancer . The two men learn at the last minute that the bachelor party was really a bachelorette party, forcing Roland to provide the entertainment. Special guest star : Herbert Edelman as Stan During Spring Break , the Golden Palace is overrun by vacationing college students. Roland must go to extraordinary lengths to prevent

1242-404: A black man, objects to the group staying there as he believes they are bigoted toward black people. Roland further objects to a Confederate flag that Blanche has hung on the front desk to welcome the group. Roland views the flag as a symbol of prejudice toward black people, but Blanche tells him that the flag was her grandfather's and that it represents only good family memories for her growing up in

1380-459: A brief time, Rose and Dorothy attempt to coach a children's football team. Dorothy also acts as a local event coordinator on a few occasions. When her ex-husband's uncle dies, she and Stan inherit his apartment building and she becomes a landlady. Family and old friends often bring drama into Dorothy's life. She deals with problematic relatives on multiple occasions, as well as her role as a mother. She gets to see both her children married, Kate to

1518-419: A chance to tell him goodbye. To placate her, Bill has Rose tell him goodbye as if he were Charlie. Sophia's friend, comedian George Burns , sings a song during the comedy night to cheer up Rose following the break-up. Guest stars : Eddie Albert as Bill Douglas, Bill Engvall as Matthew Devereaux The Golden Palace holds a grand reopening celebration to improve business. A local news team has been invited to

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1656-425: A cow-themed wedding, although Rose later learns that Fern is marrying Miles. At Rose's insistence, Miles and Fern still have their wedding at the hotel, as Rose wants to see Miles get married so she can have the closure necessary to move on with her life. Meanwhile, Roland and Blanche learn someone has been stealing money from the hotel. Rose, Sophia, and Chuy are interrogated, but Roland ultimately realizes that Blanche

1794-428: A divorce. Blanche tries to mediate problems between them, but is unsuccessful, as they have been unhappy with each other for the past 20 years. Roland accepts that his parents want to move on with their lives. Meanwhile, the hotel hosts local radio disc jockeys Bill and Milton for a comedy night. Sophia convinces them to pull one of their well known pranks during the event, with Rose as their target, telling them that she

1932-439: A doctor who diagnoses her with chronic fatigue syndrome . Susan Harris , the show's co-creator, also suffered from the then largely unrecognized condition. The story ends with Dorothy confronting one of the doctors who dismissed her, finding that the man does not recognize her. She remarks on the danger and insensitivity of doctors who do not listen to their patients and muses that she may have been taken more seriously had she been

2070-434: A fairly liberal woman, on occasion she would reveal conservative views or a fear of new situations and social situations she didn't have experience with before. Due to Bea Arthur's experience as a singer in theatre, Dorothy occasionally showed off singing talent. While Dorothy could be moralistically judgmental, she also had compassion for people who were earnest in regretting mistakes and harm they had caused. Along with being

2208-411: A flight attendant named Chrissy and goes to Maui with her, having an attorney send Dorothy divorce papers rather than approaching her about it in person. Now divorced, Dorothy (keeping the surname of Zbornak) moves out of her house to rent a room in order to save more income. She meets Rose Nylund, a widow from the town of St. Olaf , and the two rent rooms in a house owned by widow Blanche Devereaux, from

2346-459: A friend to assist in her suicide, leading her and Dorothy to discuss the matter and whether such action is acceptable. A two-episode story "Sick and Tired" in season 5 has Dorothy suffering from extreme exhaustion and recurring illness but finding no cause from medical scans, leading one doctor to suggest it is depression and psychosomatic, while another tells her she's simply older now and must expect such problems. Dorothy persists and finally finds

2484-454: A full season. NBC had been seeking a younger demographic, and The Golden Girls did not fit into its plans. White believed that a new network would be beneficial for the series. CBS used The Golden Palace as one of four comedies assembled on Friday night in an effort to combat ABC 's TGIF comedy block; The Golden Palace was grouped with Major Dad , Designing Women , and Bob , all of which were either successful comedies prior to

2622-425: A hotel guest who looks identical to her late husband Charlie. After dating for a while, Rose reveals to Bill why she initially became attracted to him, and he decides they should end their relationship, believing Rose only loves him for his appearance. Rose denies this, and she does not want him to end the relationship because she will feel like she has lost Charlie again. Because Charlie died suddenly, Rose did not have

2760-525: A job teaching business executives but decides not to continue when they make it clear that they have no interest in learning new things. During summers, she works as a tutor for local children and for a time works alongside Blanche at the local museum. She briefly becomes a writer for the educational children's program The Mister Terrific Show and appears on the show as "Mrs. School Teacher" before quitting. At times, she pursues acting in local theatre and commercial work and briefly attempts stand-up comedy. For

2898-414: A lead on The Golden Girls , Arthur portrayed Dorothy in the spin-off series Empty Nest in an episode entitled "Dumped". The series Empty Nest featured a physician (a friend of Dorothy's) and his two daughters, all of whom lived in a house next door to the cast of The Golden Girls . Estelle Getty was cast as Dorothy's mother Sophia Petrillo. Despite being over a year younger than Bea Arthur, Estelle

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3036-461: A leg off of it, you know." In her 1995 interview with This Morning , Arthur was asked about her departure from The Golden Girls and her return to live theatre. "I started doing sitcom television in 1972. July 5th to be exact... Maude... I spent most of my adult life in that little box [television] and I really felt it was time to get back to one's roots... Not that it wasn't terribly rewarding." When asked about her character Dorothy apparently being

3174-407: A life there now and that Dorothy needs to explore her new relationship without her. In the sequel series The Golden Palace , the three operate a hotel together. In a two-part story, the new Mrs. Dorothy Zbornak-Hollingsworth visits to briefly reunite with her Miami family and examine the business. The Golden Girls dealt with social issues that were considered topical and possibly controversial in

3312-467: A man. Dorothy Zbornak's last name was taken from Kent Zbornak, a friend and colleague of show co-creator and scriptwriter Susan Harris . Kent Zbornak wound up becoming the stage manager on The Golden Girls . From the start, Harris envisioned Dorothy as a sarcastic, authoritarian teacher who would constantly clash with her quick-witted mother. In an interview for the 2003 TV special The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Moments , Bea Arthur said, "Dorothy Zbornak

3450-399: A mishap in which Rose covered the hotel pool while unaware that people were still in it. The hotel is hosting a convention of lawyers, and Rose has booked the remaining rooms for a group of judges from Jacksonville, Florida . Because Rose has accidentally overbooked the hotel, she, Blanche, and Sophia agree to share a room, while Roland, Chuy, and Oliver share another. They also convince one of

3588-460: A new Chinese restaurant, also called the Golden Palace, has opened in Miami, causing confusion between the two businesses. Sophia takes advantage of this by accepting food orders from people who mistakenly contact the hotel. Chuy hires his friend, a woman named Dr. Fong, to help prepare the food, which is then delivered by Oliver. Roland discovers the scheme and forces the group to give their earnings to

3726-404: A podiatrist named Dennis, and Michael to a singer in his band named Lorraine. Dennis later cheats on Kate, but she forgives him, and they remain together. Dorothy is concerned about Michael's marriage since it is partially spurred by the fact that Lorraine is pregnant and is 44 years old while he is in his 20s (though a later episode sets his age at several years older). However, she comes to accept

3864-431: A result, the show was retitled and revamped as a new series, The Golden Palace , with Betty White , Rue McClanahan , and Estelle Getty reprising their roles. Like the original series, The Golden Palace was also created by Susan Harris , who once again served as executive producer alongside Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas . The trio had mixed feelings about the new series, but felt obligated to continue onward for

4002-589: A special man in her life, until her mentally disabled brother Tad shows up unexpectedly at the hotel, having taxied from his institution in Tennessee. Rose and Sophia are shocked that Blanche never mentioned her second brother after all these years. The staff goes out of their way to be kind to Tad, with Rose forming an especially close bond that causes Tad to declare he is in love with her. Blanche, upset, plans to send Tad back to his institution, until Rose confronts her and accuses Blanche of being ashamed of Tad. Blanche

4140-431: A toxic relationship, the latter defends herself by saying her new boyfriend never physically assaults or hits her. Dorothy then relates her experience with verbal and emotional abuse, arguing that abuse does not need to be physical to cause harm. During the run of the show, Dorothy repeatedly expresses liberal views but never declares her party affiliation, though she does have a Michael Dukakis bumper sticker (covering

4278-429: A two-part storyline in which she visits the hotel to check on her mother. Less than two months after Dorothy's departure, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia sell their Miami house and purchase The Golden Palace, a hotel in the city. The women meet hotel manager Roland, his foster child Oliver, and hotel chef Chuy Castillos. The women learn that the previous owners had fired much of the staff to make the hotel appear profitable, and

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4416-489: A volleyball cheerleader instead, and when Brad injures his ankle, Roland decides to put Chuy back in the game. However, Chuy loses the championship for the team, and Roland criticizes him for it. They later reconcile after Roland apologizes. Meanwhile, after Blanche meets with a bank employee and flirts with him, Rose and Roland make her realize that her behavior toward men could be considered sexual harassment, prompting her to try acting more professional with men. Lawrence Gentry,

4554-576: A wealthy family in Atlanta . By this time, Dorothy's father is dead and her mother Sophia is a resident at a retirement community called Shady Pines after suffering a stroke. In the pilot episode of the series, Shady Pines burns down and Sophia moves into Blanche's remaining room so Dorothy can look after her, completing the quartet of The Golden Girls . Sophia resents that her daughter is now her caretaker and Dorothy likewise gets annoyed by Sophia's stubborn nature and biting remarks at times. After Shady Pines

4692-536: A widow and broke after losing her money to junk bonds, comes to Miami to spend time with Sophia and ends up asking Dorothy how to live happily again from depression and loneliness. Dorothy offers perspective, and the two start to reconcile, but Gloria then sleeps with Stan in Dorothy's bed. Gloria apologizes but then does so again the same day. Learning Sophia encouraged the two of them to get together because she figured that Gloria needs someone to take care of her, Dorothy

4830-441: A woman 21 years older than him, Dorothy is concerned about the age difference but later concedes is not her business to stop them from marrying. In "Dorothy's Prized Pupil", Dorothy expresses compassion for such as Mario ( Mario Lopez ), a student who is an undocumented immigrant, offering to help him. When Blanche and Rose warn her that her new friend Barbara Thorndyke seems toxic, narrow-minded and snobbish, Dorothy repeatedly defends

4968-423: A woman named Beverly and buys her a new car. Chuy, wanting to make the marriage work, rejects his friends' concerns that he and Beverly barely know each other. Special guest star : Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy search for Sophia throughout Miami. They learn from a cab driver that Sophia asked to be dropped off at Shady Pines, the retirement home that she had despised. Upon arriving there,

5106-486: A younger version of Dorothy was portrayed by Lynnie Green . In the season 5 episode "Clinton Avenue Memoirs" (1990), Jandi Swanson portrayed Dorothy as a child in flashback. Bea Arthur's departure from the show in the season 7 two-part finale "One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest" marked the end of the series as well. Outside of the series, Arthur also appeared as Dorothy in an episode of Empty Nest (a spin-off series), in

5244-433: Is Jean (former Miss America semifinalist Lois Nettleton ) and the two become close friends. When Jean realizes years afterward that she is a lesbian , Dorothy accepts her (and later discovers Sophia always knew). During this time, Dorothy also teaches part-time at a school for the blind. She learns French and becomes a high school teacher, and later a substitute teacher, teaching mainly English and American History. Dorothy

5382-463: Is a Leo (born in July or August). In the episode "Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself" (1987), Sophia says Dorothy was conceived in 1931, after Sophia and Salvadore's first argument as newlyweds (Bea Arthur herself was born in 1922). In the episode "Till Death Do We Volley" (1989), it is said Dorothy attended her high school prom in 1946, though it is not mentioned if this was during her senior year or if she

5520-546: Is a gigolo . When Nick is unable to pay his hotel bill, Blanche agrees to let him work it off in the kitchen with Chuy. Following the death of Blanche's blind date, she accepts Nick's offer to accompany her to a dance, despite his occupation. Blanche and Nick fall in love with each other, convincing him to end his line of work. After Nick works off his hotel bill, he decides to return to his hometown in Indiana, to work in his brother's hardware store. Blanche convinces him to stay at

5658-404: Is a very dedicated and strong-willed teacher, earning the nickname "Attila The Sub" from some students. During this time, she becomes godmother to a friend's daughter, Jenny. The Zbornak marriage involves many arguments and compromises, including years of struggle when Stan's business fails, but Dorothy later claims there were also many happy times together. After 38 years, Stan has an affair with

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5796-702: Is angry at all three of them but later reconciles with each. Gloria realizes that she hates Stan's behavior and decides not to pursue anything further with him. At the end of the series, after living in Blanche's house for seven years, Dorothy meets and falls in love with Lucas Hollingsworth ( Leslie Nielsen ), Blanche's uncle (her father's baby brother). The two marry, and Dorothy moves into Lucas' home in Hollingsworth Manor in Atlanta. Sophia decides to remain with Blanche and Rose in Miami, believing she has

5934-486: Is forced to admit that she has felt ashamed of Tad all these years, but watching Rose's tenderness toward him makes Blanche decide that she wants to be more involved in Tad's life, inviting him back to the hotel for more visits in the future. Blanche and Rose are stunned to learn that Stanley Zbornak, Dorothy's ex-husband and Sophia's former son-in-law, is dead. The three women try to work through their complicated feelings toward

6072-446: Is in a fight with Blanche). Other episodes deal with Blanche coming to terms with her brother being gay and later wishing to marry his partner. When her mother Sophia makes a new friend Alvin, only for him to not recognize her one-day due to a mental condition (which is later confirmed to be Alzheimer's), Dorothy comforts her mother and they openly discuss fears regarding aging and mental health. One episode involves Sophia being asked by

6210-450: Is overly affectionate and obsessed with Roland, who had lied to Trisha about moving elsewhere to become a priest, in order to end their relationship. Roland eventually tells Trisha the truth that he is not in love with her, and she accepts it. Meanwhile, Sophia is upset that Chuy is chosen instead of her to go on a television program for a cooking segment. Guest stars : Kim Fields as Trisha, Monte Landis as Mr. Ricchuitti Dorothy visits

6348-465: Is preparing to hold a stand-up comedy competition. Blanche's son, Matthew, visits the hotel with the announcement that he has temporarily quit his job as a stockbroker so he can try stand-up comedy. Matthew intends to participate in the hotel's comedy show, but Blanche does not want him to do so, as she believes he has made a mistake by quitting his job. She eventually decides to support Matthew's career choice. Meanwhile, Rose falls in love with Bill Douglas,

6486-411: Is rebuilt, Dorothy regularly threatens to send her mother back whenever Sophia's biting humor or reckless behavior tries her patience. In truth, she is fiercely protective of her mother, doing everything she can to protect and support the woman, often checking that Sophia is breathing when she is asleep or napping, making sure her mother regularly sees a doctor, and openly sharing her doubts and fears with

6624-565: Is sometimes mocked and becomes self-conscious. An early high school boyfriend is verbally and emotionally abusive to her, further harming her self-esteem. A boy who was supposed to be her date to high school prom is thought by Sophia to be dressed inappropriately for a formal event, so she sends him away and tells Dorothy he never arrived. Dorothy later accepts a date with Stan Zbornak ( Herb Edelman ) because she "felt she couldn't do any better". One of their dates results in Dorothy's first pregnancy. The show says this conception happened while Dorothy

6762-420: Is stupid enough to believe the prank. During the event, Milton is locked in a tank of water, and Rose must answer Bill's various questions in order to have Milton released before he drowns. However, Rose is too late, and Milton is said to have drowned. When Milton comes to the hotel dressed as a ghost to scare Rose, she shoots him, to Sophia's horror. Rose and the other hotel employees then reveal to Sophia that she

6900-438: Is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come . Upon waking up, Chuy realizes how much he loves Christmas, and he manages to convince Charles' patients that the holiday is not bad. Miles keeps calling the hotel and leaving messages for Rose, leading her to believe he wants to get back together with her. Meanwhile, a woman named Fern decides to have her wedding at the hotel, and Rose agrees to help plan it. Rose and Fern bond while planning

7038-408: Is the culprit. Roland tells Blanche that the hotel's revenue is not her personal money to spend, and that what she has been doing is considered embezzlement . Special guest star : Harold Gould as Miles Oliver wants to see a wrestling show, and Sophia wants to borrow a car to go downtown; they both are denied, leading them to steal a guest's car for a drive. Oliver's mother, Paula Webb, arrives at

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7176-477: Is the true target of the prank, as Milton is alive and well. The comedians believed that Sophia was deserving of a practical joke, as they considered her to be vindictive after she suggested the prank to them. Special guest stars : Tim Conway as Milton, Harvey Korman as Bill Blanche has booked the hotel for a group of southern women known as Daughters of the Traditional South, although Roland, as

7314-455: Is upset that Beverly will not have sex with him yet, and his work suffers as a result of his unhappiness. A man named Ramone visits the Golden Palace to congratulate Chuy on his marriage to Beverly, whom Ramone loves. Ramone vows to kill Chuy if he mistreats Beverly. Upon learning of this, Beverly realizes that Ramone loves her. Beverly tells Chuy that she only married him to make Ramone jealous, and that they were not really married, as their priest

7452-438: Is upset to learn that Charlie will euthanize his dog if it loses its next race. Rose steals the dog and tells Blanche that 50,000 greyhounds are euthanized every year for failing to win. Horrified by this, Blanche ends her relationship with Charlie, while Sophia ends her sports betting. Charlie takes the dog back but later agrees to let Rose adopt it out after it loses its race. Sophia skips her trip because of lack of money, and she

7590-430: Is upset when she hears her name being called during a broadcast of The Price Is Right . Meanwhile, Roland's mother Louise begins spending time with Chuy, giving Roland the uncomfortable impression that they are dating. Roland is relieved when Louise reveals that she and Chuy have been attending classes for divorcees together. Blanche's mysterious yearly trips to Chattanooga, Tennessee have the staff guessing that there's

7728-858: The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " The Survivors " as Rishon Uxbridge , and later appeared as a Bajoran arbitrator in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Dax ". She was a regular guest-star during the syndicated run of Mama's Family , playing Alberta Meechum , the nemesis of Thelma Harper . On Our House she played fussy neighbour Virginia Taft. She was also a recurring cast member of L.A. Law , playing Judge Marilyn Travelini. Haney guest starred on Benson , Cheers , Designing Women , The Golden Girls , Charmed , Boy Meets World , Columbo , ER , NYPD Blue , Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ally McBeal . She also appeared in

7866-450: The "great balloon pricker," someone who openly defied and called out hypocrisy, injustice, cruelty, delusion, short-sighted remarks, and behavior she simply found dull, ill-considered, rude, or unreasonable. Bea Arthur portrayed Dorothy in every episode of The Golden Girls . Arthur also portrayed Dorothy's maternal grandmother Eleanor Grisanti in flashback in the episode "Mother's Day". In the same episode and others that involve flashbacks,

8004-484: The "linchpin" of the show and that her absence may have been why the sequel series The Golden Palace didn't gel for audiences, she conceded this was apparently the observation of some but that she didn't know herself why the series wasn't successful. Anne Haney Anne Ryan Haney ( née Thomas ; March 4, 1934 – May 26, 2001) was an American stage and screen character actress. She appeared in small supporting roles in around 50 film and television productions and

8142-592: The 1980s. Different episodes depict Dorothy dealing with phobias regarding hospitals and heights, first denying her fears and vulnerabilities before openly admitting them and seeking coping mechanisms. Dorothy also reveals she is a former smoker and recovering gambling addict. After briefly engaging in gambling again, she immediately falls into old habits, avoiding social situations but dismissing professional work in order to gamble more. Realizing her problem has resurfaced, she seeks help from Gamblers Anonymous and begins her recovery process anew. When Dorothy sees Blanche in

8280-507: The Golden Palace for free, in exchange for an ad acknowledging the hotel. However, they learn that the program will be focusing on murderers who are set free, which includes their new hotel guest, Gordon M. Cosay. Blanche, Rose, and the other hotel employees are nervous about having Cosay stay at the hotel, and they try to keep him happy, as he is easily upset and frequently yells. Roland eventually confronts Cosay and helps him realize that he appears weird to people, convincing him not to yell. When

8418-413: The Golden Palace for the first time and reunites with Blanche, Rose, and Sophia after four months. Dorothy is shocked at how hard Sophia is working at the hotel, although Sophia does not consider this to be an issue. Dorothy contacts her husband Lucas and decides that Sophia should come to live with them in Atlanta. She believes Blanche and Rose are overworking Sophia, who is left to choose between staying at

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8556-416: The Golden Palace or moving to Atlanta with Dorothy. Unable to choose between her daughter and the two women she thinks of as daughters, Sophia takes her belongings and runs away from the hotel. Meanwhile, Chuy is initially excited to finalize his divorce with his wife after eight years of marriage. However, he feels lonely afterwards, so Roland encourages him to begin dating. During a drunken night, Chuy marries

8694-719: The Miles Webber who frequented the hotel was a different man and not Rose's boyfriend, which causes tensions between Rose and Blanche. Miles and Rose reconcile, although he has recently fallen in love with another woman, a waitress named Fern. Not wanting to ruin Rose's friendship with Blanche, Miles decides to tell Rose about Fern, revealing that Blanche happened to be right about him. Although Miles still loves Rose too, she decides to break up with him, and later reconciles with Blanche. Meanwhile, Sophia discovers that Oliver has been charging guests who want to retrieve their missing items from

8832-730: The Petrillos at the hospital. Dorothy later dismisses this possibility, deciding the people who raised her are her real parents. Dorothy has two younger siblings, her brother Phil and her sister Gloria, nicknamed "Kitten" (played first by Doris Belack and later by Dena Dietrich ). At an early age, Phil demonstrates that he sometimes prefers to wear feminine clothing, and Dorothy accepts this, remarking later that she sometimes borrowed her brother's outfits. While Dorothy and Phil are close and maintain affection into adulthood, Dorothy and Gloria are often at odds. Dorothy believes that Gloria unfairly judges her and resents that her mother sometimes refers to

8970-431: The beginning of The Golden Girls ; the original chef, Coco (portrayed by Charles Levin ), appeared in the first episode of The Golden Girls but was written out due to concerns about how to work him into later scripts with a cast of four women with strong personalities. With Arthur gone and the core group down to three, the concept was revived. Marin had wanted to branch out into television and away from being typecast as

9108-413: The body. However, they are forced to drop the body down a laundry chute when the news team approaches. Ultimately, Mitchelson and the news team see Davenport's body; the hotel employees pass him off as an unconscious drunk man and promote a new designated driver program for restaurant customers. Mitchelson recommends the hotel to his fellow travel agents, and the employees later learn that Davenport died of

9246-539: The car, with her purse inside, at a hotel next door. Blanche begins dating a travelling greyhound dog trainer named Charlie Sardisco, who is staying at the hotel, and Rose bonds with his greyhound. When Sophia's friend Gladys breaks her hip, she gives Sophia her ticket to be a potential guest on The Price Is Right . Sophia needs money for a plane ticket to reach the show's studio in California, and after talking with Charlie, she decides to bet on dog races. Later, Rose

9384-424: The cast after learning that the other two leads - the sexually forward Blanche and the sheltered and sometimes naive Rose - were to be played by Rue McClanahan , who had co-starred with her as Vivian Harmon on Maude , and Betty White , known for playing flirtatious, sexually liberated Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Arthur believed the show was typecasting both of them, assuming that McClanahan

9522-405: The check back to Blanche, while not revealing that he was using her, so as not to upset her. Meanwhile, Vincent Vale holds a self-help seminar at the hotel. Chuy and Roland participate in the seminar, which includes walking over hot coals. Special guest star : Barry Bostwick as Nick DeCarlo Roland's parents, George and Louise Wilson, visit the hotel with the announcement that they are getting

9660-588: The contrast, ensuring Cheadle was properly lit. The Carlyle hotel on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive was used for exterior shots depicting the Golden Palace hotel, while the rest of the series was taped at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California. On The Golden Girls , Getty often had to reshoot her scenes as she had trouble remembering her lines. McClanahan noted that this was not the case on The Golden Palace , speculating that Getty may have been subconsciously intimidated by Arthur. Ratings were initially solid, with

9798-447: The elder Petrillo. Throughout the series, Dorothy navigates money concerns, returning to substitute teaching in order to provide for herself and Sophia, and romantic drama, searching for a new partner but often finding she is not ready or the match is not right. Dorothy also takes on other odd jobs on occasion. She teaches a night-school course for adults wishing to complete their high school equivalency , including Rose. She briefly takes

9936-639: The episode "Dumped", and in a two-episode story "Seems Like Old Times" in The Golden Palace (a sequel series to The Golden Girls ). In the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly , Dorothy Zbornak-Hollingsworth was selected as the Grandma for "The Perfect TV Family". Born in New York City (as was actress Bea Arthur), Dorothy Petrillo is the daughter of Italian immigrants Sophia and Salvadore Petrillo. Dorothy states in one episode that she

10074-423: The episode in a Twitter thread that became popular before the wider media began to pick up the story. The Golden Palace aired on CBS , changing networks from NBC , which had aired The Golden Girls on Saturday nights for its entire run. NBC was willing to greenlight a 13-episode order for The Golden Palace , but the series producers were not satisfied with this number and moved the series to CBS, which promised

10212-426: The first time the series has ever been outside of the "top ten". This, along with Bea Arthur's departure, led NBC to reconsider if the series could continue without Dorothy. The other three cast members were willing to continue and so a spin-off sequel series was created for them for CBS, The Golden Palace . In the series, Blanche, Rose and Sophia operate a hotel together after Dorothy has married and left Florida. In

10350-405: The high emotions surrounding Arthur's departure. Arthur admitted that even though she wanted to leave, and was happy that Dorothy would be marrying the "gorgeous" Leslie Nielsen, she was very sad to do so in the end and say goodbye to the cast and crew. As season 7 began, NBC moved The Golden Girls to a new night and ratings suffered, with the show's ranking going from No. 10 to No. 35 that year,

10488-422: The hotel after getting out of rehab and is ready to take back her son. Roland tells her that Oliver is busy spending time with one of his foster grandmas. Oliver and Sophia are pulled over by a police officer for driving too slow; they are returned to the hotel, and Oliver goes home with Paula. Meanwhile, the Golden Palace is hosting a 16th birthday party for the daughter of a banker. Roland and Rose are eager to make

10626-431: The hotel by financially supporting him, despite him saying he is uncomfortable with her doing so. Nick eventually decides to return to Indiana and work for his brother, then return to Blanche when he has saved up enough money to support her. Blanche agrees to write him a check to help him get settled in Indiana. However, Rose researches Nick and learns he is a con artist, as his hometown does not exist. She forces Nick to give

10764-420: The hotel has no money to hire new employees. Furthermore, the ladies have only one week to make the hotel's bank note payment, which is dependent on satisfying a group of travel agents booked for the hotel. Sophia and Rose are upset at Blanche for getting them into the situation, but Blanche convinces them that they can operate the hotel and make the business a success. Chuy wants to continue serving Mexican food at

10902-490: The hotel to cover the event, and Rose has arranged for food critic Gerald Davenport to review the hotel's restaurant. Chuy despises Davenport for previously giving him a bad review. When Davenport is found dead, Chuy worries that he may have accidentally put rat poison in Davenport's meal. The news team arrives, and the body is hidden in the kitchen's walk-in freezer. When city health inspector Mr. Tucker arrives unexpectedly at

11040-459: The hotel's lost-and-found. Rose befriends a disoriented elderly woman named Vivian, who is lost and believes that Rose is her daughter Charlene. Rose lets Vivian stay at the Golden Palace, ignoring advice to contact the police. For the past six years, Rose has regretted putting her own mother in a retirement home, and she feels she can now make up for it by not letting Vivian wind up in a police shelter, as Vivian reminds Rose of her mother. Meanwhile,

11178-479: The hotel's manager; and Chuy Castillos, the hotel's chef. This requires the women to help perform the hotel duties. The series focuses on the interactions between hotel staff and guests. Celebrity guest stars were frequent, and the series also featured the return of some recurring actors from The Golden Girls , such as Debra Engle as Rebecca Devereaux, Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak and Harold Gould as Miles Webber. Bea Arthur reprised her role as Dorothy Zbornak for

11316-402: The hotel, Blanche distracts him while Rose stuffs the body in a large suitcase to covertly transport it elsewhere. Rose abandons the suitcase in the lobby in order to distract the news team. Roland, unaware of the body's location, delivers the suitcase to hotel guest Mr. Mitchelson, who owns a chain of travel agencies. Later, Roland, Blanche, and Rose sneak into Mitchelson's hotel room and retrieve

11454-413: The hotel, while Sophia wants to start serving Italian food instead. Chuy quits in frustration, but later asks for his job back, and he and Sophia agree to work together. The women manage to get through the week after hosting the travel agents, making enough money to keep the hotel for another month and hire more staff. Rose makes a deal with the producer of a talk show to have a guest on the program stay at

11592-422: The hotel. While looking through the hotel guestbooks , Blanche discovers that Rose's boyfriend Miles Webber was a frequent guest at the Golden Palace until the ladies purchased it. As Miles has frequently been canceling his dates with Rose lately, Blanche concludes that he has been cheating on Rose. Later, Rose confronts Miles and ends their relationship before he can explain himself. However, Roland clarifies that

11730-412: The idea of having children, but before she can, he reveals that he has discovered himself to be impotent. Nevertheless, they agree to continue their relationship. Meanwhile, Sophia borrows Rose's car, but it and Sophia's purse later go missing. Sophia believes they have been stolen, so Roland teaches a self-defense class to Sophia and her elderly friends. Later, Roland and Rose learn that Sophia valet-parked

11868-630: The idea of people staying at the hotel solely for sexual activities, but Blanche and Roland tell her that it is not their job to judge the guests. Nevertheless, Rose repeatedly annoys the Smiths enough to check out of the hotel. Guest star : Charles Napier as Mr. Smith Co-star : Camille Ameen as Mrs. Smith During Christmas time, the Golden Palace has booked a therapist, Dr. Norman Charles, and his seminar group of recently divorced patients who are traumatized by Christmas. Charles intends to help his patients get over their bad memories by having them stay in

12006-413: The ladies are surprised to see how nice Shady Pines has become after it was rebuilt following the fire. Despite the amenities, the ladies convince Sophia to return to the hotel, where she ultimately decides to stay rather than move with Dorothy to Atlanta. Sophia wants to remain active at the hotel, as she felt old when she was being cared for at Shady Pines. Dorothy accepts Sophia's decision. Meanwhile, Chuy

12144-453: The lawyers, Mr. Burrows, to share a room with one of the judges. However, the hotel employees realize that the Judges of Jacksonville are actually a biker group, and Burrows threatens legal action if anything should happen to him while staying with his roommate, a biker named Angel. Burrows later checks out of the hotel without any complaints. Meanwhile, the hotel hires a second chef named Rubin,

12282-517: The man who had sex with Chuy's now-estranged wife. Chuy and Rubin had been friends since childhood, and Chuy eventually forgives Rubin. Rose believes that Roland is lonely and should have a girlfriend, and she convinces Blanche to compete with her in finding a woman for him. Rose finds a woman named Joanne, whom Roland likes. Blanche learns that Roland had an ex-girlfriend named Trisha and decides to have her fly to Miami to see him, thinking that Roland still likes Trisha. However, Blanche learns that Trisha

12420-509: The man. However, Stan secretly approaches Sophia and admits that he faked his death to avoid prison for tax evasion and plans to flee the country. Sophia tells this to Blanche and Rose, who assume Sophia is in denial. After Stan's funeral, he secretly visits Sophia a final time, with both admitting that in spite of their difficulties, they loved one another. His exit leaves Sophia in tears, while Blanche and Rose assume she has finally accepted his death. Meanwhile, Roland and Chuy are excited to plan

12558-416: The move, or in the case of Bob , featured a previously successful sitcom star ( Bob Newhart ). Dorothy Zbornak Dorothy Zbornak is a character from the sitcom television series The Golden Girls , portrayed by Bea Arthur . Sarcastic, introspective, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those she considers family, she is introduced as a substitute teacher, and mother. At the time, Dorothy

12696-431: The original series and adding a fourth roommate to replace Arthur's character, but this idea was rejected by the producers. British comedian Alexei Sayle was originally hired to play the hotel's chef, who initially was to be portrayed as Eastern European . Sayle was replaced by Cheech Marin before the pilot was shot. The idea of having a Latino chef as a comic foil to the rest of the cast had originally been proposed at

12834-456: The owner of an adjacent hotel, complains that the Golden Palace parking lot occupies a portion of his hotel's parking lot. Blanche dresses in a business suit and tries to remain professional when meeting Gentry, despite their attraction to each other. They devise a solution by having the two hotels share the parking spaces, and they later decide to begin a relationship. Special guest star : Ricardo Montalbán as Lawrence Gentry The Golden Palace

12972-412: The party a success, as the girl's father holds the bank note to the hotel. They are upset with Blanche for spending time with her boyfriend Ernie rather than helping to plan the party. Rose accuses Blanche of abandoning the hotel and believes she cannot handle the responsibility, but they later reconcile. Guest stars : Hansford Rowe as Mr. Siegel, Joely Fisher as Paula Webb Taylor, a man who Blanche

13110-556: The previous series. What became of the characters of Rose, Blanche, Roland, Chuy, and the hotel is left unresolved. In 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter movement and following the murder of George Floyd , the episode " Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be " attracted attention for how it had addressed the issues of racism and the Confederate flag. Journalist Seb Starcevic first drew attention to

13248-447: The program airs, the hotel employees are surprised to learn that Cosay is actually a psychiatrist, and they are upset when he recommends the Golden Palace as a quiet, stress-free place for former murderers to stay. Meanwhile, Roland and the other employees are upset that Blanche keeps trying to oversee all aspects of the hotel, and that she wants decisions to be approved by her. Blanche later realizes how much she needs Roland to help operate

13386-556: The rambunctious college students trapped in the hotel until Chuy organizes their help in building the world's longest burrito in order to get into the Guinness Book of World Records . The group effort is successful but not official, as no record auditor can verify the burrito's size before it falls apart. Bea Arthur had grown tired of starring in The Golden Girls , and chose not to return for an eighth season. As

13524-465: The real Golden Palace restaurant. Roland and Blanche also convince Rose to contact the police to help locate Vivian's family. When the police arrive at the hotel, they initially take Sophia by mistake, believing she is Vivian. Eventually, Vivian is reunited with her daughter, Charlene. Meanwhile, Roland is hesitant to have a talk with Oliver about sex. Guest star : Anne Haney as Vivian The hotel's insurance company declines to renew its policy following

13662-416: The relationship and is happy to know she has a grandchild on the way. At times, Dorothy only realizes certain relationships and friendships are toxic when Blanche, Rose, and/or Sophia point it out to her (despite her occasional objections). Later in the series, Dorothy experiences the death of her brother, Phil, from heart problems. Dorothy's ex-husband, Stan, periodically returns to her life, sometimes for

13800-587: The role at one point but that she "blew her audition" by improvising colorful language and so was not cast as Dorothy. Stritch fit the "Bea Arthur type" description and had actually played a version of Arthur's character Maude in Nobody's Perfect, a British adaptation of Maude broadcast in 1980 by ITV . The show ran for two years with a total of 14 episodes. Of the 14 episodes, Stritch herself adapted 13 original Maude scripts and co-star Richard Griffiths adapted one. Following Stritch's auditions, others read for

13938-411: The role. Then, according to Bea Arthur herself, "This is so funny. My agent called me and said, 'What is this? I hear you're doing a new series... Something called Golden Girls.'" Bea Arthur and her agent investigated and discovered that several women had auditioned for a role described as "a Bea Arthur type" and it had led to a rumor that she was herself involved. At the time Arthur had taken a position as

14076-509: The sake of a business venture, other times to reunite romantically after his relationship with Chrissy fails. At one point, Dorothy and Stan date again for months and decide to remarry, but Dorothy changes her mind when Stan insists on a prenuptial agreement minutes before the ceremony is to begin, stating that he needs the protection. The two later attend therapy together so they can have a healthier relationship and to help Stan accept that they are not reuniting. Later, Dorothy's sister Gloria, now

14214-435: The sake of the cast and crew. Thomas said, "We had been employing a lot of people, so to just pull the plug would have meant ending something that provided a very satisfying life for a lot of people". White said that she and her Golden Girls co-stars were initially skeptical of the new series but, "To our great surprise, we are having a ball. It's coming together much better than we had thought". McClanahan had suggested keeping

14352-427: The season 3 episode "Strange Bedfellows", the women are present when Gil Kessler, a man running for local office, reveals he is a trans man and had gender reassignment surgery in 1968. Rose is confused about what such surgery involves but continues to identify Kessler as male. Dorothy is upset, not due to Kessler's revelation but because he decides to drop out of the political race following his revelation (and because she

14490-474: The seminar so he could work out issues with his own love life. Roland, Brad the hotel pool maintenance man, and Chuy make up the members of a successful volleyball team. Roland, the team captain, wants to win a volleyball championship trophy. Chuy, who is a poor player, is upset about always being left out of the game by Roland. Rose later joins the volleyball team, and Roland agrees to let Chuy play as well. However, Rose and Chuy play poorly. Rose decides to become

14628-531: The series, including the school in which she worked. When she refuses to give a lazy student passing grades simply because he is a star athlete, meaning he cannot play football, the school threatens and intimidates her. When the student later plays football anyway and breaks his leg, Dorothy visits him in the hospital, determined to continue teaching him. She reads him A Tale of Two Cities . On some occasions, Dorothy's beliefs and moral judgments are challenged, forcing her to reassess. When her son Mike decides to marry

14766-511: The show specified they wanted "a Bea Arthur type". Arthur herself was not asked due to an assumption she would not consider returning to a regular television series after spending years as the strongly opinionated lead character of Maude . Maude had been a recurring character on All in the Family and her popularity in the role led to her spin-off series, which in turn had its own spin-off Good Times . In her show Elaine Stritch at Liberty , Elaine Stritch claimed to have been considered for

14904-439: The show winning its timeslot for its first few weeks, but viewership fell steadily as the season progressed. A second season was to be greenlit according to McClanahan, but network executives decided to cancel the show a couple of hours before the upfronts. CBS opted not to renew the series, canceling it in May 1993. Harris attributed the series' failure to Arthur's absence, saying it did not work without her. The show's sole season

15042-466: The show's first season, Arthur made a guest appearance as Dorothy in a two-episode story "Seems Like Old Times". The series ended soon afterward and was not picked up for a second season. Betty White said that Bea Arthur's departure was deeply felt in the spin-off. "It became Golden Girls in the Lobby without Bea. And it just doesn't work, it's like taking a leg off a table. Table doesn't balance if you take

15180-428: The south. Roland decides to quit his job at the hotel over Blanche's refusal to remove the flag, although she eventually realizes that he was right about it, and that her memories are not as happy as she thought. They reconcile, and Roland stays at the hotel. Meanwhile, a couple checks into the hotel under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, although Rose realizes the man used an alias and is cheating on his wife. Rose dislikes

15318-407: The spokeswoman for Shoppers Drug Mart , a Canadian drugstore chain (a role she would continue concurrently with her role as Dorothy). Arthur then requested to see the script. According to Arthur in an interview for The Times , "When I was first sent the script for the pilot [of The Golden Girls ], I fell in love with it — it was so bright, so witty, so adult. But it never really dawned on me it

15456-651: The television movies LBJ: The Early Years (1987) and Elvis and Me (1988). Haney also became known for a number of film appearances. In 1993, she was cast as Mrs. Sellner, a family court supervisor in Mrs. Doubtfire . In 1995, she appeared as Mrs. Chapil in The American President . In 1997, she played Greta in Liar Liar . In 1999, she appeared in Forces of Nature and The Out-of-Towners . She

15594-415: The wily students from sneaking in unauthorized guests. Among the students is Rose's granddaughter Charlene, who confides to Rose that she intends to give her virginity to her boyfriend at the hotel. Seeing Charlene's uncertainty, Rose persuades Charlene to hold off on sex until she feels ready. Rose's advice is borne out when Charlene's boyfriend dumps her for refusing him. An unexpected tropical storm leaves

15732-484: The woman, despite her obvious condescending attitudes. However, Dorothy later realizes that her friends are right when Barbara reveals that Sophia's Jewish friend will not be accepted to a "restricted" (i.e. WASP -only or predominantly so) club, whose membership policy Barbara tolerates merely because "they serve a great breakfast and the parking is free". Multiple episodes of The Golden Girls dealt with LGBT issues and with Dorothy's inclusive attitudes (Bea Arthur herself

15870-477: The women go on a date together with Taylor, who upsets Blanche by continuing to express his attraction to Rose. Blanche later realizes how many female friends she has lost due to her competitive behavior for men, and she and Rose reconcile. Meanwhile, a relationship expert known as The Love Doctor is holding a couples seminar at the hotel, and Sophia wants to participate, so she convinces Roland to accompany her. Later, she reveals that she wanted Roland to participate in

16008-597: The writers worked together to evolve Dorothy's character. Along with her sarcasm and righteous anger, Dorothy was also portrayed as a humble woman who was sometimes insecure about her appearance and whether people wanted to include her or thought of her as fun and interesting. Her divorce, along with previous negative and abusive relationships, sometimes made her insecure about new relationships. The show established that she had phobias of hospitals and heights, but that she worked to overcome these. She also showed addictive habits in regards to smoking and gambling, quitting both. While

16146-436: The younger sister as the "good daughter," while Gloria resents Dorothy, considering her to be the favored daughter for being so responsible and intelligent. In adulthood, Dorothy becomes estranged from Gloria after the younger sister marries a wealthy man. Throughout her childhood, Dorothy is a " bookworm " and becomes known as an "overachiever" in high school. Due to her height, sarcasm, obvious intelligence, and deep voice, she

16284-408: Was 70 at the time). Dorothy was called "Pussycat" by her mother and "Spumoni Face" by her father. According to the episode "Mary Has A Little Lamb", Dorothy's childhood nickname among other children was "Moose". In the fourth-season episode "Foreign Exchange," Dorothy discovers there is a possibility that she is the biological daughter of Dominic and Philomena Bosco, who claim they switched babies with

16422-431: Was about these older women. Apparently, it was presented to a number of producers and they turned it down — ‘Who cares about older women?’ I guess it was revolutionary because it was the first time older women were shown in an atmosphere where they were well-groomed, well dressed, had active sex lives. Prior to that, when old people were shown on television, you could almost smell them." Despite this, Arthur hesitated to join

16560-411: Was actually a men's room attendant. Chuy is happy to have the relationship ended, as he realizes he does not love Beverly. Special guest star : Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Guest stars : Bertila Damas as Beverly, Carol Leifer as Meredith, Miguel Sandoval as Ramone Blanche is attracted to a handsome man, Nick DeCarlo, who has been staying at the hotel. However, she loses interest when she learns he

16698-399: Was all so anti-establishment, you know, that even kids loved it... They loved the character of the mother who said the most outrageous things." Bea Arthur's contract came up for review after the sixth season and she decided that the next and seventh season would be her last on the show. She said that while she was grateful for the experience she wanted to return to live theatre and thought it

16836-413: Was attracted to in college, visits the Golden Palace. Taylor had previously chosen Blanche's college roommate over her, so Blanche tries to win him over when he visits the hotel, but he ends up falling for Rose. Blanche secretly sabotages one of their dates, allowing Blanche to take Rose's place with Taylor while Rose does hotel work. Rose learns Blanche sabotaged the date and eventually confronts her. Later,

16974-571: Was best known for her roles as Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire , Mrs. Chapil in The American President and Greta in Liar Liar . Haney was born to Robert Lee Thomas in Memphis, Tennessee . She attended East High School and Southwestern at Memphis before earning her Bachelor of Arts from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Haney began acting in 1970, appearing in commercials and in local theatrical productions in Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Norfolk, Virginia. Haney appeared in

17112-441: Was best to leave before popularity waned or Dorothy became too predictable to audiences. "I thought, we've hit it, we've really done it. And why hang on... just to keep it running and to go over the same stuff again? It's never going to be as rewarding." Rue McClanahan believed that Arthur felt she didn't have much to do to further Dorothy's development and so felt the role had become stagnant. "I think she just wanted more to do." It

17250-424: Was decided that Dorothy's departure in the season finale would be marked by giving her a happy ending with a marriage to "a nice guy" in contrast with the many failed romances audiences had seen her in and with the fact that the show had begun with her recently divorced from a cheating husband. Leslie Nielsen portrayed her new love interest Lucas and played practical jokes on the set, providing comic relief to counter

17388-488: Was drunk, which Sophia blames on Stan's actions and peer pressure. Dorothy later claims she was unconscious and wonders if Stan "slipped" her something in her drink. In another episode, Dorothy recalls Stan guilted her into sex by claiming he was drafted to the military and could die in combat in Korea. Learning Dorothy is pregnant, her father demands Stan marry her. The two drop out of high school soon before graduation and have

17526-501: Was fortunate in being allowed to shape her characters in both Maude and The Golden Girls along with the writers. On July 7, 1995, on an episode of the British daytime talk show This Morning , she explained, "In both sitcoms that I did do, we were given... the opportunity of saying, 'No, I don't think I'd say that'... It was really give-and-take between the writers and actors... I was blessed that we had wonderful people." Arthur and

17664-495: Was known for being able to play older roles and was further aged for the camera thanks to make-up and a wig. Regarding working with Arthur, Estelle Getty said, "Bea cracks me up the same way that I crack her up. She's one of the brilliant comic minds of our day, she's just that good... I love Bea Arthur like she was my own daughter... I think of Bea very often in a very maternal way." Arthur told David Levin, "The characters of Dorothy and her mother, played by me and Estelle , I think

17802-478: Was married to John Haney, a public television executive whom she met at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where she had been studying drama, radio, and television. They were married from November 30, 1957, until his death on April 9, 1980; the marriage produced one daughter. As for her reason for coming to Hollywood, she said "My husband died, my daughter went to college, the dog got fleas, and

17940-436: Was one of the great comedic duos that has ever been done. I think it ranks up there with Laurel and Hardy ... The absurdity of the love/hate relationship... The difference in size... It was brilliant... The writers were so brilliant... It was a joy coming to work every day... Everyone connected with Golden Girls was not a genius but damn close to it. Including our costume designer... I remember one of my very favorite episodes

18078-691: Was openly supportive of the LGBT community). In the second season, Dorothy demonstrates a strong friendship with her friend Jean, who she knows is a lesbian. She consoles Jean following the death of the woman's romantic partner Pat and offers her sympathy when Jean later realizes she is developing romantic feelings for a heterosexual woman. In the same story, Dorothy, Sophia, Rose, and Blanche openly discuss homosexuality and accept it, even though some of them don't fully understand it. Likewise, Dorothy openly discusses her brother Phil Petrillo's cross-dressing without ever shaming him or feeling embarrassed that he does so. In

18216-566: Was portraying Rose and White would portray Blanche. The producers asked McClanahan to reach out to Arthur. When she did, Arthur said, "Rue, I'm not interested in playing Maude and Vivian Meet Sue Ann Nivens ." McClanahan explained that while that had been the original idea the plan had changed; she would portray "the vamp" Blanche and White would be playing Rose. Impressed that the producers were subverting expectation rather than type-casting, and after further discussion with McClanahan, Arthur agreed to portray Dorothy Zbornak. Bea Arthur said that she

18354-429: Was probably the only sane person on the show. I loved her, she had great humor... She was the steady one. She was the great leveler. She was the great balloon pricker, if you will." The producers were by their own admission "picky" about the casting for all the principal parts, deciding to take extra time if needed to find the right actors for each role so the cast would feel balanced and complementary. For Dorothy Zbornak,

18492-454: Was rated 57th in the rankings, and was canceled alongside Major Dad and Designing Women . Following the cancellation, White joined the short-lived second season of Bob , which had aired in the same block as The Golden Palace for its first season. Getty went on to portray Sophia in the later seasons of another Golden Girls spin-off, Empty Nest . The character returned to the rebuilt Shady Pines retirement home, which had burned down in

18630-564: Was recently divorced from her ex-husband Stanley. She, her mother Sophia Petrillo (played by Estelle Getty ), and housemate Rose Nylund ( Betty White ) all rent rooms in the Miami house of their friend Blanche Devereaux ( Rue McClanahan ). Dorothy often acted as den mother and voice of reason among the quartet, "the great leveler" according to Bea Arthur, though at times she also acted foolishly or negatively and would need her friends and family to help ground her again. Arthur also considered her

18768-454: Was several years younger than Kate would have been). Years later, they had a son Michael ( Scott Jacoby ) whom Dorothy would occasionally clash with due to the boy's habit of avoiding responsibility and reluctance to plan ahead. Stan and Dorothy buy property in Miami during their honeymoon there and later make the city their home. Dorothy completes her high school education and attends college, majoring in American history. Her college roommate

18906-520: Was when Sophia had entered the two of us in a mother/daughter beauty contest at Shady Pines and for the talent section we did Sonny and Cher 's ' I Got You Babe .' And I remember Judy Evans, this brilliant costumer, had little Estelle in it was kind of a furry jacket with a mustache and I had black hair down to my behind... It was fabulous... Every day was so meaningful." In response to their performances as Sophia and Dorothy, both Getty and Arthur won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead and Support Actress in

19044-425: Was younger (as some high schools have junior proms, junior/senior proms, and proms that allow anyone in high school to attend). A later episode, "An Illegitimate Concern", implies her graduation date would have been 1949. Dorothy was regarded to be in her mid-50s in the first season of The Golden Girls (Bea Arthur was 63 when the show began). In the show's final season in 1992, Dorothy's age is stated as 62 (Bea Arthur

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