Golden Oldies: 100 Most Memorable 'Golden Girls' Guest Spots as the Show Turns 40
Because the older you get, the better you get — unless you're a banana
October 23, 2025
Who doesn't love The Golden Girls (1985-1992)?
If your answer is “me,” please skip this mega-post, in which I struggle to count down my personal 40 favorite guest-starring appearances on the show, with another 60 honorable mentions ... for a total of 100.
For purposes of this list, I am counting anyone, outside of the four main cast members, who ever appeared on the show — whether it be a brief cameo, a one-off or a lengthy, recurring role — as a guest star. No animals, so Dreyfuss the dog, the piano-playing chicken and Baby the 29-year-old pig are shit-outta-luck. Sophia, wouldn't wanna be ya!
There are many more appearances — many, many more — that just didn't grab me enough to warrant making my list, but that doesn't mean they were not valuable contributions to the show. The beauty of personal countdowns like these is that you can comment your own favorites and remind me of some I may have forgotten.
Of the 40 I picked, I provided as much info as humanly possible ... and there are lots of criss-crossing connections and wonderfully HUH? factoids about what some of the lesser-known guest stars later did with their lives and careers.
Share this if you're so inclined, in honor of the four greatest late greats, and thank you for being a friend of Gr8erDays — subscribe today ...
#40
Lynnie Greene as young Dorothy Zbornak in various episodes (1987-1991)
Lynnie Greene (b. May 21, 1954) had the misfortune of being in those flashback episodes of GG, the ones I and at least some other fans never liked as much — they gave Estelle Getty a crack at looking closer to her true age, but the backstory of Dorothy, Sophia and Salvatore [played by Sid Melton (May 22, 1917-November 2, 2011)] just wasn't what we came to the show to see; we wanted to see older women dealing with contemporary problems with style and humor.
But Greene makes my list because she uncannily resembled Bea Arthur in appearance and mannerism, and that’s pretty tough when the subject was previously thought to haven been inimitable! Her best appearance was probably in “One for the Money” (September 26, 1987), in which Dorothy and Sophia discover they’ve been working extra-hard in order to buy TVs for each other. (Sophia mentions that “new show” Make Room for Daddy, on which Melton, who plays Salvatore in the same episode, was a regular.)
Greene has acted very rarely on TV, beginning with a regular role on the Bess Armstrong (b. December 11, 1953) vehicle On Our Own (1977-1978). She made several guest appearances on big-name shows [and on the unsold pilot game show Get Rich Quick! in '77 with three beloved TV actors who died way too soon: Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953-April 5, 2005), John Ritter (September 17, 1948-September 11, 2003) and Robert Urich (December 19, 1946-April 16, 2002)], but her greater successes came as a writer and producer, working on Nip/Tuck (2006-2010), Masters of Sex (2013) and Doctor Odyssey (2024-2025), among others.
Her most interesting theatrical claim to fame is originating the role of Emma Goldman in Stephen Sondheim's (March 22, 1930-November 26, 2021) Assassins in 1990 off-Broadway.
#39
Cesar Romero as Tony Delveccio in “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun ... Before They Die” (November 24, 1990)
Cesar Romero (February 15, 1907-January 1, 1994), a dashing, Golden Age of Hollywood leading man, made a cute love interest for Sophia in this episode, which finds her in bed with the guy after some passionate lovemaking (“You're good,” he says. By way of explanation, she replies, “I live with a slut.”), telling him she loves him. All he can muster is a wimpy, “I care for you.” They wind up sharing photos of their late spouses. Awww!
Romero, a close confidante and frequent platonic date of Joan Crawford's (circa March 23, 1904-May 10, 1977) and of many other glamorous leading ladies of the '30s and '40s, was gay as a goose. He once explained away his confirmed bachelorhood:
“How could I [get married], when I had so many responsibilities? Could I tell a girl, 'Let's get married, and you can come live with my father, my mother, two sisters, a niece and a nephew'? I have no regrets, no regrets.”
Despite being a Cuban homo in a conservative era (maybe it helped that he was a conservative), Romero never hurt for work, and was adroit in a variety of roles, whether it be stereotypical Latin lovers, cowboys, villains, leading men or colorful characters.
Two of the most famous movies in which he appeared are the Marlene Dietrich (December 27, 1901-May 6, 1992) classic The Devil Is a Woman (1935) and the Shirley Temple (April 23, 1928-February 10, 2014) starrers Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and The Little Princess (1939).
In truth, Romero was way more likely to be in temporary crowd-pleasers than enduring, deep classics. He worked in hundreds of films and made just as many TV appearances.
In the latter medium, Romero is forever famous as the Joker on Batman (1966-1968), but he was also a recurring character on Julia (1970), Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1972) and Falcon Crest (1985-1988), played Freddie Prinze's (June 22, 1954-January 29, 1977) dad on Chico and the Man (1977) and made multiple trips to Fantasy Island (1979-1983) and on The Love Boat (1984-1986). He was also a silver-haired villain in a series of Walt Disney films starring young Kurt Russell (b. March 17, 1951).
He died of a blood clot, complicated by bronchitis and pneumonia.
#38
Richard Herd as Ernie Faber in “The Impotence of Being Ernest” (February 4, 1989)
Richard Herd (September 26, 1932-May 26, 2020), who looked more like Karl Malden (March 22, 1912-July 1, 2009) than Karl Malden did, is Rose's impotent boyfriend in this A-plus episode, even getting to play in what has to be one of Betty's Top 3 scenes of the whole series:
Rose: “If you ask me, people rely too much on sex in relationships, anyway.”
Ernie: “You're right. I mean, what is sex, after all?”
Rose: “Two clunky old bodies thrashing around against each other. Like animals.”
Ernie: “Get all sweaty and flushed.”
Rose: “Hair gets mussed.”
Ernie: “You lose your breath.”
Rose: “You lose your earring.”
Ernie: “Your mouth waters.”
Rose: “Your nose runs.”
Ernie: “Your heart races.”
Rose: “Your blood races.”
Ernie: “Rose...”
Rose: “Say it, Ernie!”
Ernie: “It's time, Rose.”
Rose: “Check! Please!”
Herd was a classically trained stage actor whose first movie was an Arnold Schwarzenegger (b. July 30, 1947) muscle flick in 1969, before logging appearances in some of the most famous films of the '70s and '80s, including All the President's Men (1976), The China Syndrome and The Onion Field (both 1979), Private Benjamin (1980) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987).
Herd has worked steadily, including regular roles in SeaQuest 2032 (1993-1994) and Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2001), but he was probably stopped on the street most often and complimented on his role as Mr. Wilhelm, George Costanza's brainwashed boss on Seinfeld (1995-1998). They call him Sheila.
Interestingly, Herd reunited with Betty White for her 2012 hidden-camera series Betty White's Off Their Rockers. I guess it was time.
#37
Priscilla Morrill as Lucille Beatty, the wife of the dude Rose sexed to death, in “A Bed of Rose's” (January 11, 1986)
Priscilla Morrill (June 4, 1927-November 9, 1994) has a memorable spotlight scene in this, the episode that won Betty White her lone Emmy for the entire series. As the wife of Al (Richard Roat, February 1, 1933-August 5, 2022), Morrill starts out tart when Rose shows up to discuss her fling with the man she hadn't realized was married, but dissolves into shock when Rose breaks the news that Al has died after a night of adulterous passion.
Morrill's speech is classic:
“Well, you must have the wrong Al. You've been sleeping with someone else's Al. My Al is as healthy as a horse ... it can't be him. Al Beatty from Boca Raton? You're telling me Al is dead? A heart attack is crazy — he was a runner, he couldn't have a heart attack. I'm talking so it can't be true, you know what I mean? If I keep talking, it isn't true. All I have to do is talk forever. Oh, God ... Al! I'm alright — I'm okay. Al ... the big jerk. I loved him.”
The scene brilliantly transforms from the other woman consoling a widow to the widow consoling the other woman!
A stage actress, Morrill made her TV debut in 1955 (in a filmed version of the Broadway show Dream Girl) and worked steadily in the medium, especially in the '70s and '80s.
She's very familiar to fans of Mary Tyler Moore (1973-1975) as Lou Grant's ex, Edie, and worked with Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan on Maude twice (1973-1975). She was Chrissy aka Suzanne Somers's (b. October 16, 1946) mom on Three's Company (1977) and had a recurring role on Newhart (1985-1989). One of her longest gigs was on the soap opera Santa Barbara (1985-1986). Her final recurring TV role was on Coach (1989-1992).
Juicy tidbit: She was the stand-in for Jean Stapleton (January 19, 1923-May 31, 2013) on an episode of All in the Family (1971-1979) in which Stapleton played a double role.
She died of a kidney infection.
#36
Murray Hamilton as Blanche's father Big Daddy Hollingsworth in “Big Daddy” (May 3, 1986)
Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923-September 1, 1986) played Blanche's often-referred-to father in only one episode. In “Big Daddy,” the titular character — keep in mind that Hamilton was only 11 years older than Rue McClanahan — shows up to reveal he's going to fulfill his dream of being a singer. Blanche is mortified by his embarrassing plan, and must come to terms with the fact that her father is a flesh-and-blood, mortal man with his own ideas of how to live his life, independent of her larger-than-life image of him.
Long active (and Tony-nominated) in the theater and in film, Hamilton is perhaps best-remembered as hey-hey-hey Mr. Robinson in The Graduate (1967) and/or as the soulless mayor in Jaws (1975), but he also has the distinction of appearing in the film that contains Rock Hudson's (November 17, 1925-October 2, 1985) best (only great?) performance, Seconds (1966).
On TV, Hamilton's episode of The Twilight Zone, “One for the Angels,” (1959) is one of many classics from the series.
Unfortunately, Hamilton died of cancer less than four months after his GG performance aired. The next time Big Daddy showed up, he was played by David Wayne (January 30, 1914-February 9, 1995).
#35
Herta Ware as Ida, homeless senior in “Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?” (December 3, 1988)
Herta Ware (June 9, 1917-August 15, 2005) was a highlight of the rather heavy episode (that lady singing “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” really put it over the top) about homelessness, playing a woman who admits she never realized it cost money to get old. When Sophia tells her to hang on till tomorrow, Ida says, “Sophia, it is tomorrow.” Deep.
Ware was a stage actress who made her debut in 1936 opposite her husband, the (secretly queer) Will Geer (March 9, 1902-1978), who much later was Grandpa Walton. They divorced but remained friends throughout Geer's blacklisting for his leftist beliefs, which she shared — did I mention that Herta was the granddaughter of the co-founder of the Communist Party of the United States? She was also mom-in-law to Larry Linville (September 29, 1939-April 10, 2000) aka Frank Burns from M*A*S*H, whom she outlived.
The highly regarded theater actress was most recognizable for her appearances in Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return(1988).
She died at 88 after battling Parkinson's disease, after which time her ashes (as had been Will Geer's) were scattered at the outdoor theater they'd founded.
#34
Barbara Babcock as Blanche's roman à clef-writin' sister Charmaine Hollingsworth on “Sisters and Other Strangers” (March 3, 1990)
Barbara Babcock (b. February 27, 1937) has fun as a slutty Southern belle, playing Blanche's no-good sister Charmaine who is in town promoting her new novel Vixen: Story of a Woman. The visit starts out promisingly ... maybe the old rivals can patch things up and be sisterly again? When “Blanche” gets around to reading her sister's book, she decides it's a thinly veiled tell-all about herself, which threatens to drive the sisters apart forevuh.
It was a good episode for the end of the show's fifth season, also featuring a fun, Ninotchka (1939)-derived performance from Marian Mercer (November 26, 1935-April 27, 2011) as Stan's Eastern European cousin Magda.
Babcock is of course well known for her stint on Dallas (1978-1981), her Emmy-winning role as Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues (1981-1987) and her 1993-1998 regular role on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
She hasn't acted in film or on TV since 2004, and is reportedly battling Parkinson's disease, which is a loss for us all.
#33
Anne Francis (September 16, 1930-January 2, 2011) as Dorothy's boundary-less old frenemy Trudy McMann in “Till Death Do We Volley” (March 18, 1989)
Anne Francis (September 16, 1930-January 2, 2011) brings real verve to her part as an old friend of Dorothy's in this lively, practical-joke-laced episode. Trudy's arrival is surrounded by a cloud of catty repartee, one that seemingly dissipates when Trudy drops dead during a heated tennis match vs. Dorothy. When it turns out that the whole thing was a tasteless trick, only Dorothy has predicted it — and she's waiting in bed with Trudy's husband to get her own brand of revenge.
A child actress on the stage, Francis became true TV royalty after appearing in a number of interesting and popular '50s flicks, like Bad Day at Black Rock and Blackboard Jungle (both 1955), and Forbidden Planet (1956). On TV, she played a number of dramatic roles throughout the '50s and '60s, most memorably as a confused woman seeking a gold thimble in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode “The After Hours” — if you've seen it, you've never looked at a department store mannequin in quite the same way again!
Her breakthrough came when she landed the sex-ay title role on the fondly remembered, short-lived, Honey West (1965-1966), which nabbed her a Golden Globe Award, if no enduring residuals.
Francis guest-starred on almost every one of the most popular series of the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s, including recurring roles on Dallas (1981), Riptide (1984) and The Drew Carey Show (1998).
One of her most famous performances was mostly left on the cutting-room floor — in 1968, she played Georgia James in Funny Girl, but clashed with star (and eventual Oscar winner) Barbra Streisand (b. April 24, 1942). Francis said of the experience:
“[Barbra Streisand] told Harry Stradling how to [photograph] her and Wyler how to direct. It was all like an experience out of Gaslight. There was an unreality about it ... I had only one unpleasant meeting with Barbra during the entire five months of rehearsals and production. But the way I was treated, it was a nightmare. And my scenes were whittled from the very good ones and a lot of other ones, to two minutes of voice-over in a New Jersey railroad station.”
Francis never achieved movie stardom, but worked in TV until her battle with pancreatic cancer made work impossible. She died in 2011.
#32
Dick Van Dyke as Dorothy's clown love interest Ken Whittingham in “Love Under the Big Top” (October 28, 1989)
Dick Van Dyke (b. December 13, 1925) gives it his all as one of Dorothy's many serious boyfriends with an issue that drives them apart (she was a real Jerry Seinfeld in that way) — in this case, her discomfort with his desire to give up lawyering in order to be a clown. The episode, which sneaks in some good-hearted propaganda about dolphins being killed by tuna fishermen, culminates with a (goofily) dramatic courtroom scene in which Ken has to argue a case in full clown regalia.
The Tony- and Grammy- and Emmy-winning Van Dyke, obviously, has been working nonstop since his TV debut in 1957, most famously on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), one of the best series of all time. After decades of illustrious film roles in the likes of Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and countless hours of episodic television, he had a 180-episode run with TV's Diagnosis Murder (1993-2002), whose demographic was in the Sophia range.
In his personal life, Van Dyke was involved with Michelle Triola (November 13, 1932-October 30, 2009) — the woman who sued Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924-August 29, 1987) for palimony (and lost) — for over 30 years. Triola was represented in her case against Marvin by divorce-lawyer legend Marvin Mitchelson (May 7, 1928-September 18, 2004), who made an appearance on GG toward the end of the series in 1991.
As he barrels toward 100, he has been wed to his second wife Arlene since 2012.
#31
Tony Jay as glass-closeted sculptor Laszlo in “The Artist” (December 19, 1987)
When the women are simultaneously smitten with world-famous artist Laszlo, it makes for a cold war. All three pose for the handsome old guy — played suavely by Tony Jay (February 2, 1933-August 13, 2006) — and the results are a mish-mash. Far more surprising is the real object of his affection ... a dude.
Jay, a British-born thesp, had the kind of deep, sinister voice that kept him busy. Interestingly, he appeared on the U.S. TV series Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990) for several episodes in 1987 and voiced M. D'Arque in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). His work for Disney extended when he voiced Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).
Jay's voice made him a popular addition to many other cartoons and various video games, including as Megabyte in ReBoot (1998).
Sadly, Jay died following surgery to remove what turned out to be a benign tumor from his lung.
#30
Tom Villard as Randy Becker in “Rose: Portrait of a Woman” (March 7, 1992)
Tom Villard (November 19, 1953-November 14, 1994) appeared on GG twice, the first time in the 1986 episode “Vacation” as one of a group of guys battling a monsoon on a tropical vacation the ladies decided to take.
In that episode, Villard was a platinum-blond smart-ass upset at having to share a bathroom with Grandma Moses and the Mosettes.
But Villard had a more central role in “Rose: Portrait of a Woman,” in which he plays an old student of Dorothy's who has made it big in the video-game industry and offers to hire her for a high-paying job as a motivational speaker for his sales force. It doesn't work out when the men resist learning anything at all; for some reason, Dorothy turns down a great salary, benefits and no work!!!
Villard is one of my favorite '80s actors — not only was he cute as a button, he had a wonderfully sweet vibe.
Following his work in commercials, he became most known for his role as adorkable Jay Bostwick on We Got It Made (1983-1984, 1987-1988), but also appeared in the TV movie that launched Love, Sidney in 1981, in the films Parasite and Grease 2 in 1982, in the 1986 Clint Eastwood (b. May 31, 1930) film Heartbreak Ridge, in the John Cusack (b. June 28, 1966)/Demi Moore (b. November 11, 1962) romp One Crazy Summer (1986), in Ken Russell's (July 3, 1927-November 27, 2011) Whore, in the slasher flick Popcorn and in the hit My Girl (the latter three all in 1991).
Villard made a number of appearances on game shows, including this funny fake-out of an opening on Password with Constance McCashin (b. June 18, 1947), who is a therapist in real life now:
Here is Tom winning his partner some bucks:
Villard was gay and battling AIDS for the last several years of his life, a fact he bravely confirmed in a 1994 interview with Entertainment Tonight — a copy of which I have never found. He reportedly spoke out, asking for help because his acting jobs had dried up; the plea led to some work from various quarters, including a role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994). Villard gave a frank interview about the challenges of living with AIDS that ran in the December 1994/January 1995 issue of Poz Magazine.
Sadly, he succumbed to AIDS as his Poz interview was hitting the stands.
#29
Bill Dana as Dorothy's daffy Uncle Angelo on 6 episodes (1988-1992)
TV legend Bill Dana (October 5, 1924-June 15, 2017) arrived in 1988 as Sophia's 90-year-old big brother (an age he only reached in 2014!), a man everyone thought was a priest. To protect his delicate sensibilities, Sophia convinces Dorothy and her ex, Stan, to pretend they never got divorced. Problem is, Dorothy hates Stan. Second problem is, Angelo is no priest. Hilarity ensues.
Angelo's best moments probably came on that and on his final appearance, Season 7's “Ebbtide VI: The Wrath of Stan,” in which his dissatisfaction with a crummy building he's living in leads to a court case against Dorothy and Stan.
Dana, a WWII vet, cut his teeth in the biz writing comedy for the likes of Steve Allen (December 26, 1921-October 30, 2000) and Don Adams (April 13, 1923-September 24, 2005) — Dana's brother wrote the theme for Get Smart (1965-1975) — and performing on the nightclub circuit with Imogene Coca (November 18, 1908-June 2, 2001), Martha Raye (August 27, 1916-October 19, 1994) and others. His unforgettable character at the time, whom he played on no fewer than a half dozen different TV series, was known for uttering, in a heavy accent, “My name José Jiménez.” The whole funny-accent shtick got old, so Dana voluntarily ditched it.
Speaking of changing with the times, it was Dana who wrote Sammy Davis Jr.'s famous 1972 episode of All in the Family (1971-1979).
After finishing up on GG in 1992, Dana made a 1994 appearance on the spin-off series Empty Nest (1988-1995) and then retired.
#28
Doris Belack as Dorothy's rich-bitch sister Gloria Petrillo-Mayston in “The Custody Battle” (December 7, 1985)
Doris Belack (February 26, 1926-October 4, 2011) had a tough job in this early episode — she had to lock horns with Bea Arthur as Dorothy's annoying, spoiled sister from California, the one who'd married well. Making matters worse, it turns out her visit has an ulterior motive: She wants their mom Sophia to return to her mansion with her and live out her days there, being waited on hand and foot, a country away from Dorothy and the other girls.
Why wouldn't Sophia want to go? After all, she'd be doing her grocery shopping with Bert Convy (July 23, 1933-July 15, 1991)!
Belack had a recurring role on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1990-2001), but her TV roots went back to a 1947 (!) episode of the early The Borden Show (1947). She made many episodic appearances and did several soaps, but a stable hit eluded the familiar character actress.
Still, all her soap opera experience probably helped inform her role as a soap producer in the classic '80s comedy Tootsie (1982).
Belack's final stage appearance came in 2002. Her final TV role was on Sex and the City (1998-2004) in 2003 and her final film role was in an indie about a Jewish woman and a Muslim woman entering arranged marriages (Arranged, 2007), but her last job of any kind was providing her distinctive voice to ... Grand Theft Auto IV.
I think Belack's performance as Gloria is pretty flawless, eclipsing a later appearance by the otherwise fabulous Dena (“It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!”) Dietrich (December 4, 1928-November 21, 2020) as the same character in 1991.
Dietrich was perfectly cast, physically, as a sibling of Dorothy, but she had the misfortune of appearing at a time that came closer to the end of the series, when the writing wasn't as sharp.
#27
Lloyd Bochner as Patrick Vaughn in “The Actor” (January 17, 1987)
Lloyd Bochner (July 29, 1924-October 29, 2005) was on two episodes (he was the ridiculously untalented hairdresser Eduardo in the other), but it's his deadpan performance as pretentious horndog actor Patrick Vaughn that brings the HAs. In “The Actor,” Bochner is the star of a local production of the 1953 William Inge (May 3, 1913-June 10, 1973) play Picnic, and he's trying to canoodle with all three of our girls behind each other's backs. In a hysterical twist, it turns out he's also sleeping with another actress in the play (Janet Carroll, December 24, 1940-May 22, 2012) ... and the entire rest of the cast!
But not with that damned liar, Ed, the stage manager (Frank Birney, b. ?).
Canadian Bochner was a child actor before WWII and appeared on such early TV as One Man's Family (1949-1952) in 1949 and, later, as a regular on Hong Kong (1960-1961). He never broke through to stardom, yet he was all over television and is an instantly recognizable face — and voice. That voice!
Bochner's most famous role has to be as the star of one of the best Twilight Zone episodes, “To Serve Man” (1962). To this day, “It's a cookbook!” (as shrieked by Susan Cummings, July 10, 1930-December 3, 2016) means something to most TV fans. He also worked as Cecil Colby on Dynasty (1981-1982) — and had quite the massive heart attack while sticking it to Joan Collins (b. May 23, 1933) as Alexis!
Also, he was the father of one of the sexiest men of all time, actor/director Hart Bochner (b. October 3, 1956).
#26
Billy Jayne/Billy Jacoby as Blanche's bratty grandson David in “On Golden Girls” (October 26, 1985)
You've got to give Billy Jayne (b. April 10, 1969) major props for playing an annoying kid so well you cheer every time you watch Sophia smack him, even if you're against corporal punishment.
In this episode, Blanche's grandkid David is nowhere to be found on his flight to Miami, turning up later when brought to the ladies' home by a cop. He promptly invites over a bunch of random punks (one has a tail!) and blasts fantastic fake rock music in the living room in the middle of the night. Making matters worse, David enjoys taking potshots at all the women's ages, which for the record were 63 (Betty White), 63 (Bea Arthur), 62 (Estelle Getty, though she was playing 20 years older) and 51 (Rue McClanahan).
Blanche is able to figure out that David is acting out thanks to his self-centered parents, and in a brilliant move, she manipulates her daughter over the phone by threatening to take custody of the wayward boy, who becomes humbled and loving in the space of the episode.
As obnoxious as this character was, I still enjoy this episode more than “Dorothy's Prized Pupil” from 1987 with an embryonic Mario Lopez (b. October 10, 1973), which comes off as a bit preachy.
Jayne, who always reminded me of a combo of the famous '80s Corys, was an acting veteran by the time he filmed this episode at age 16 — he's been working since 1977. His steadiest gigs were in the 1979-1980 TV version of The Bad News Bears and on some other quickly forgotten TV bombs like the Miriam Flynn (b. June 18, 1952) vehicle Maggie (1981-1982) and It's Not Easy (1983). But Jayne is more familiar for a recurring role on Silver Spoons (1985-1987) and for his biggest job, as a regular on Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990-1993).
All of his siblings and his ex-wife are actors. In fact, his Emmy-winning [as the son of a gay man played by Hal Holbrook (February 17, 1925-January 23, 2021) in 1972's That Certain Summer] brother Scott Jacoby (b. November 26, 1956) played Dorothy's aimless son Michael Zbornak in three episodes of The Golden Girls — then retired from acting in 1991 after an appearance in a horror flick.
#25
Brent Collins as Dr. Jonathan Newman in “A Little Romance” (December 14, 1985)
Brent Collins (October 31, 1941-January 6, 1988) played an early love interest for Rose who presented a challenge to the other ladies, who presumably consider themselves open-minded, because her mysterious doctor boyfriend turns out to be a little person. The women are really thrown for a loop; when he says he's Dr. Jonathan Newman, Dorothy shoots back, “Are you absolutely sure?” When bringing out hors d'oeuvres for a cozy, getting-to-know-you dinner at home, Blanche blanches after calling out, “Shrimp?”
Rose agonizes over whether this relationship can work in spite of their differences, only to discover in the end that it's Dr. Newman who can't handle their differences — see, Rose isn't Jewish ....
Collins was memorable in this, and while his work helped it become just about Betty White's favorite episode, it was one of his only parts. He worked on only a few projects in the '80s, notably as Mr. Big on As the World Turns (1982-1983) and as Wallingford on Another World (1984-1988) before dying at an early age of Marfan syndrome (MFS).
All the little-person angst in this episode provides an opportunity for the most famous dwarf in Hollywood history — Billy Barty (October 25, 1924-December 23, 2000) — to pop up in a dream sequence playing Rose's father. Barty was just one of many Old Hollywood vets to grace the show. In an even more random appearance within the same sequence, famed psychic Jeane Dixon (January 5, 1904-January 25, 1997) emerges to make predictions involving Brooke Shields (b. May 31, 1965), Lady Di (July 1, 1961-August 31, 1997), Jackie O (July 28, 1929-May 19, 1994) ... everyone but Rose.
#24
Sheree North as Blanche's kidney-coveting sister Virginia Hollingsworth on “Transplant” (October 5, 1985) & “Ebb Tide” (December 9, 1989)
Sheree North (January 17, 1932-November 4, 2005) brought convincing sex-kitten oomph to her role as Blanche's younger (she was two years older in real life) sister, one with whom Blanche has always endured a rivalry. But in her first of two appearances, Virginia throws Blanche for a loop when she announces, in her Southern drawl, “I'm dyin'.” She needs a kidney, and Blanche is her only hope. She winds up living and Blanche keeps both of her kidneys, which is just as well, since the two wound up quarreling over Big Daddy's funeral on North's second, 1989 appearance.
Dancer and stage actress North was one of the curvy blondes being groomed by rival studios to compete with Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926-August 5, 1962) in the '50s, but her star never ascended in the way Jayne Mansfield's (April 19, 1933-June 29, 1967) did, albeit briefly. Interestingly, North played Monroe's mentally unbalanced mom in the 1980 TV biopic Marilyn: The Untold Story.
The whole Next Marilyn thing bombed, but North went on to become a prolific and effective TV actress, rarely in recurring but always in interesting roles. She wasn't averse to tossing her natural glamourpuss tendencies out the window, but they came in handy when she played Lou Grant's sexy GF on Mary Tyler Moore (1970-1977) from 1974-1975 and a hooker (for which she received an Emmy nomination) on Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983) in 1979.
Along with making an impression as Blanche's sis, North's most famous TV gig has to be as Kramer's mom Babs on Seinfeld (1989-1998) in a 1995 episode in which she revealed her son's real name: Cosmo.
She returned for the Seinfeld series finale in 1998; her Seinfeld turns were her third- and second-to-last roles before her cancer-related death in 2005.
There is a Sheree North Room in NYC's Chelsea Pines Inn, in which memorabilia from her career is on display.
#23
TIE: George Clooney as Bobby Hopkins & Joseph Campanella as Al Mullins in “To Catch a Neighbor” (May 2, 1987)
George Clooney (b. May 6, 1961) and Joseph Campanella (November 21, 1924-May 16 2018) packed a powerful punch as a cop duo using Blanche's house as their HQ from which to spy on some jewel thieves who've moved in next door. Clooney was in his TV guest-star phase, and really brought the mega-watt charm. It's not at all surprising to look back at his performance and realize he would go on to become a superstar.
You pretty much know everything there is to know about Clooney, so let's not run off his credits here.
WWII vet Campanella — who my mom spotted in Walt Disney World in the '70s, snapping a pic of him with his kid, with his kind permission — was a ubiquitous actor of the stage, screen and TV, also doing lots of voice-over work.
Some of his biggest TV roles were on Naked City (1961-1962), The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1969-1972), Mannix(1967-1972), One Day at a Time (1976-1982) and The Colbys (1985-1986).
On the latter, he was Barbara Stanwyck's (July 16, 1907-January 20, 1990) last on-screen love interest.
His longest-running gig was on The Bold and the Beautiful — he was with the soap from 1996 until 2005, at which time he was over 80 years old.
Campanella's final performance was in a 2009 film called Lost Dream.
#22
Meg Wyllie as Candy the stewardess in “Nothing to Fear, but Fear Itself” (October 24, 1987)
Meg Wyllie (February 15, 1917-January 1, 2002) made four appearances on GG as different characters, but my favorite (and yours?) was her brief bit as Candy, the aged stewardess on that flight to the Bahamas that was allowing Rose to overcome her fear of public speaking, Dorothy to overcome her fear of flying and Blanche to overcome her fear of a recurring nightmare involving bald men and the voice of either God or a sarcastic pilot.
While making her announcements, Candy says:
“And if anyone found a big bolt, please return it to me. It came off the beverage cart ... yes, that's it, the beverage cart!”
She only has a few lines, but Wyllie really wrings every laugh out of them, ending Rose's touching mini-eulogy with a crack about the Copacabana just before the pilot makes some unfortunate small-airplane pilot humor about the craft tipping over.
Gotta say that another of Wyllie's GG gigs comes close to being her best — in “Mother Load” (October 26, 1991), Wyllie plays the mommy of Blanche's latest squeeze, a mama's boy watching his refined sugar intake played by Peter Graves (March 18, 1926-March 14, 2010); she was only seven years older.
Wyllie made a number of appearances on TV when it was in its infancy, only rarely in recurring roles. She is remembered by soap fans for appearances on General Hospital (1963-present) and by those who were kiddies in the '60s for her role on The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963-1964), the latter of which starred Kurt Russell (mentioned elsewhere in this post), age 12.
An uncredited (and at the time probably embarrassing!) gig wound up being her most important TV role: Wyllie was Star Trek's (1966-1969) first villain, a Talosian Keeper in the 1966 pilot.
Movie-wise, Wyllie worked sporadically in the medium, interestingly turning up in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and the well-reviewed '80s flick The Last Starfighter (1984). One of her final roles in any medium was as Aunt Lolly on TV's Mad About You (1992-1999) in the 1994-1995 season.
#21
Alice Ghostley as Stan's hard-ass trailer-trash mom Mrs. Zbornak in “Mother's Day” (May 7, 1988)
Alice Ghostley (August 14, 1924-September 21, 2007) made everything she was ever in better, and her short sequence on GG was no different. Even in a tiny segment, she sketches out a rather unusual character for her, that of an overbearing mother who pretends to worship her son and to hate her daughter-in-law while secretly feeling embarrassed by him and admiring her.
One sterling exchange:
Stan: “It's from Dorothy, too.”
Mrs. Zbornak: “If I had to thank her, I'd choke on the words.”
Dorothy: “Please risk it.”
Ghostley first received acclaim as one of the New Faces of 1952 on Broadway, along with her look-alike, sound-alike friend, the outrageous Paul Lynde (June 13, 1926-January 10, 1982). Lynde was said to have ripped her off; she bore no ill will and the two were besties until his death.
Somehow, the mannerisms on Ghostley made her ideal for mousy, nervous gossip mavens, while on Lynde they made him edgy and flamboyant. She worked consistently on the stage through the 1970s, winning a Tony.
Ghostley was a staple on TV, including as one of the evil stepsisters in 1957's Cinderella and as a regular on Captain Nice (1967). But in spite of many TV gigs and a few interesting film appearances — such as in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Graduate (1967), Grease (1978) — she will forever be remembered for two TV roles in particular: That of ditzy Esmerelda on Bewitched (1964-1972; pictured at right, image via ABC) from 1969 until it ended and of equally ditzy Bernice Clifton on Designing Women (1986-1993), GG's spiritual sister.
Ghostley worked until the turn of the century, when her health failed. She and her sister died within two months of each other and were buried side by side.
#20
Paula Kelly as Haitian housekeeper Marguerite Brown in “The Housekeeper” (October 17, 1987)
Scandalously underused actress and accomplished dancer Paula Kelly (October 21, 1942-February 8, 2020) has a juicy, flashy role in Marguerite, a Haitian housekeeper whose sloppy work leads the ladies to regretfully fire her. Some cryptic words from the departing duster make the women fear that she's placed a voodoo spell on her, and several unfortunate occurrences only bolster that harebrained belief.
Kelly did GG in the years following a short stint on Night Court (1984-1992) in 1984 and on a harrowing Season 4 episode of St. Elsewhere (1982-1988) in which her character and David Morse's (b. October 11, 1953) are raped during a prison riot.
Her film career included Bob Fosse's (June 23, 1927-September 23, 1987) Sweet Charity (1969), The Andromeda Strain(1971), Soylent Green (1973) and Uptown Saturday Night (1974), while one of her most important TV credits was as a lesbian in Oprah Winfrey's (b. January 29, 1994) production of The Women of Brewster Place (1989). But Kelly's biggest impact was on the stage, making her debut 50 years ago alongside Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927-August 8, 2017) in Something More!, winning a London Variety Award for her role in Helene in the '60s and appearing in the 1981 show Sophisticated Ladies with Gregory Hines (February 14, 1946-August 9, 2003) and Phyllis Hyman (July 6, 1949-June 30, 1995), among many other shows.
Sadly, she stopped working after 1999.
#19
Charles Levin as Coco in “The Engagement” (September 14, 1985)
Charles Levin (March 12, 1949-circa June 28, 2019), who played gay housekeeper Coco, has the distinction of being the only cast member from the pilot (which became Season 1's first episode, the show's debut) to be dropped. Apparently, the creative powers-that-be felt a male presence in the household disrupted the female bonding and with four brilliant comediennes, having even the witty Levin aboard was unnecessary. He disappeared after the episode, in which Sophia calls him a fancy man, and was never referred to again.
Hey, things change — watch this episode and check out how different the performances of the stars are from future performances. Blanche isn't even speaking with an accent!
Levin was all over TV in the '80s and '90s, but didn't work in either medium in his final years. He was a semi-regular on Hill Street Blues (1981-1987) in 1982 and on Alice (1976-1985) from 1983-1985. On the latter, his character married Beth Howland's (May 28, 1941-December 31, 2015). He appeared in two of Woody Allen's (b. December 1, 1935) greatest films, Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979), albeit in small roles.
Probably his greatest TV appearance, one that tops Coco (Coco wishes...), was his hysterical turn as the nervous mohel in the 1993 episode of Seinfeld (1989-1998) called “The Bris” — who can forget the circumcision of Jerry's finger?
His death was sensational in the worst possible way — he and his pug perished after his car became stuck on an impassable road in Oregon, and they were not found for days.
#18
Jeanette Nolan as Rose's not-so-fragile mom Alma Lindstrom in “Blanche and the Younger Man” (November 16, 1985)
Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911-June 5, 1998) was a great choice to be Rose's mom ... as long as you can picture her giving birth at 10 years old! But aside from their closeness in age, Nolan's performance as Rose's mom in an episode named for a Blanche plot point is extremely sweet-hearted, but with more edge than Rose herself would be likely to show throughout the series ... and a surprising dose of passion!
When Mama Lindstrom comes to visit, Rose can't help treating her like she's 99 going on 100, worrying over her every move and enforcing mandatory naps. Alma resists, telling Rose she had more fun that time she broke her hip ice skating, but things soften once Rose lays off. Alma's story of an affair she had with an ex-con after Rose's dad died is truly memorable stuff.
Nolan was omnipresent in radio and throughout the history of TV, doing countless voices and episodic appearances. She was in two outstanding Twilight Zone episodes (1962-1963), had recurring roles on Hotel de Paree (1959-1960) and The Virginian (1963-1970) and made guest appearances on many shows — like Perry Mason (1958-1965) — multiple times as different characters, such was her versatility.
Movie-wise, she gave the big screen a searing Lady Macbeth in the 1948 Orson Welles (May 6, 1915-October 10, 1985) version of the Shakespeare classic (her debut), made an impression in the Fritz Lang (December 5, 1890-August 2, 1976) noir thriller The Big Heat (1953), was one half of a sinister elderly couple in Cloak and Dagger (1984) and made her final appearance in Robert Redford's (b. August 18, 1936) The Horse Whisperer (1998), dying of a stroke the year the latter was released.
#17
Shawn Schepps as Blanche's daughter Rebecca Devereaux in “Blanche's Little Girl” (January 9, 1988)
Shawn Schepps (b. July 25, 1961) played Blanche's daughter in a Season 3 ep. Rebecca shocks Blanche by arriving for a visit having doubled in size, and bringing a ridiculously obnoxious fiancé (played by a fabulously smarmy Joe Regalbuto, b. August 24. 1949) in tow. Blanche's discomfort with her daughter's size is quickly assuaged in light of the fiancé's outrageously nasty fat jokes. All of the ladies get so riled up, and yet it seems only to push Rebecca deeper into the arms of a man who can't stop insulting her. In the end, she sees the light ... and then the next time we see Rebecca, she is being played by slender Debra Engle (July 4, 1953-February 10, 2023) in a later season.
I find Schepps's performance to be oddly memorable; her line readings are weirdly muted, almost robotic. Yet it works. It reminds me of the many awkward performances of Seinfeld guest stars that nonetheless became beloved over time. To me, she comes off as traumatized, which her character is.’
Originally a child actress, Schepps has an eclectic résumé, including appearances in the camp cuh-lassic Paper Dolls(1982) and legit shit like Racing with the Moon (1984) and The Terminator (1984).
She stopped acting in the '90s, only appearing in Encino Woman (1996) because she wrote it, and then making a series of appearances on Weeds (2005), a series to which she also contributed as a writer.
Insanely, Schepps was also Jill on the “Law and Disorder” (January 12, 1973) episode of The Brady Bunch (1969-1974), a little girl who — again, in a hypnotic performance — implores Bobby to save her kitten from a condemned building.
Even more insanely, Schepps became a successful writer — she wrote Encino Man (1992), Drumline (2002) and episodes of Weeds (2005-2006) and Drop Dead Diva (2009). Are any random GG guest stars nobodies?!
#16
Monte Markham as Blanche's gay brother, Clayton Hollingsworth in “Scared Straight” (December 10, 1988)
Blanche was forever setting up her baby brother — played by Monte Markham (b. June 21, 1935) with women, and always to no avail. When he blurts out that he's just banged Rose, Blanche loses her shit, calling Rose a string of unkind names, and prompting Rose to say that while Blanche can be very understanding at times, at other times she can be “a real bitch.”
Markham has worked steadily for decades onstage and on the big and small screens. He was famously a cyborg on The Six Million Dollar Man (1973-1978). He reprised his role as Clayton on a 1991 episode of GG.
As pleasingly light in the loafers as he is in the episode, in real life, Markham is straight, and has been married for over 60 years.
#15
Ruby Dee as Mammy Viola Watkins in “Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy” (October 20, 1990)
The late, great Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922-June 11, 2014) was an inspired choice to play Blanche Devereaux's inevitable childhood nanny. The esteemed actress and civil rights activist brings real star discourse to the otherwise lightweight storyline, in which Blanche learns that Mammy had a decades-long interracial affair with her recently deceased, white, Republican (in the South???) father, Big Daddy. Mammy just wants a music box from Big Daddy's things, but the fact that she disappeared when Blanche was 10 without so much as a good-bye leads Blanche to withhold the music box out of spite. It isn't until she comes to understand the depth of her father's love for Mammy (via some love letters) that Blanche relents.
Dee is perfectly charming in the episode, and carries a believably authoritarian air when commanding Blanche to sit down and listen to her side of things.
Interestingly, she was only 68 in 1990, and Rue McClanahan was 56 — not much of an age spread, so Big Daddy definitely liked little mamas.
#14
Inga Swenson as Rose's jack-ass sister Holly in “Little Sister” (April 1, 1989)
Inga Swenson (December 29, 1932-July 23, 2023), so memorable as the deep-voiced, icy Kraus on Benson (1979-1986) is almost unrecognizable as Rose's cunning little sister Holly, a chirpy, personable lady who is nonetheless doing her best to exclude Rose from friendly outings during her visit.
Worse, Holly shamelessly steals one of Blanche's many boyfriends, brazenly making out with him when the women are in the next room. Problem is, Rose has complained about Holly so much that her roommates feel she's the one with the issue — they don't even wanna hear it when Rose catches Holly red-handed with Blanche's date, Gary (Jerry Hardin, found elsewhere on this list).
They'll just have to figure Holly out for themselves.
For all her recognizability on TV, Swenson started her career on Broadway as one of the New Faces in that famous 1956 show with fellow future luminaries Maggie Smith (December 28, 1934-September 27, 2024) and Jane Connell (October 27, 1925-September 22, 2013), before making a big impression in 1963's 110 in the Shade:
Swenson also had juicy roles in the classic movies The Miracle Worker and Advise and Consent (both 1962; Betty White appeared in the latter). Having made her final stage appearance in the late '70s, the role of Holly was one of Swenson's last acting performances of any kind — she appeared on a few more series in the next decade and then retired.
#13
John Schuck as trans political candidate Gil Kessler in “Strange Bedfellows” (November 7, 1987)
John Schuck (b. February 4, 1940) plays a local politician for whom the ladies are campaigning, but who's as boring as pants on toast. In order to spice up his chances, Kessler confirms an erroneous report that he has slept with Blanche. When Blanche denies it, the other girls turn on her — and it ain't pretty.
In the end, Kessler confesses his lie ... and admits to having once been part-time stenographer and mild-mannered housewife Anna Maria Bonaducci. It's not the most positive use of a transgender plot, but it's harmless overall and was quite rare for an '80s sitcom. The series was also invested in the concept of cross-dressing, thanks to regular mentions of Dorothy's black-sheep brother Phil.
Schuck is one of those guys everyone recognizes, even if he never achieved household-name status. He made a splashy film debut as horse-hung Captain Waldowski in Robert Altman's 1970 Oscar-winner M*A*S*H, a role that allegedly made him the first actor to say “fuck” in a major motion picture, and has a long history with the Star Trek series. Since then, he's been all over TV, most memorably as a regular on McMillan & Wife (1971-1977) and as a recurring character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004-2010).
Looks like his last (so far) movie was in 2023, though he has appeared at autograph shows.
On a special note, I think Schuck should also be remembered for his performance as a robot in the almost-immediately-canceled Holmes & Yo-Yo (1976-1977).
#12
Polly Holliday as Rose's blind sister Lily in “Blind Ambitions” (March 29, 1986)
Yumpin' Yimminy ... how many troublesome sisters does Rose have? Polly Holliday (July 2, 1937-September 9, 2025), just a few years past her long stint as Flo on Alice (1976-1980) and Flo (1980-1981), plays Rose's stubborn sister Lily, a woman who is trying to white-knuckle it through what has become her blindness by acting as if she's as self-sufficient as ever. Nearly burning down her sister's home is when push comes to shove, leaving Rose to present Lily with a come-to-Jesus talk.
Holliday was a serious stage actress before her indelible performance as Flo (hard to believe she didn't win an Emmy for that!), and she returned to the stage once Flo had overstayed her welcome, doing only a couple of dozen other roles on TV and in the movies after 1981.
Holliday's most noteworthy TV gigs post-Flo include replacing Eileen Brennan (September 3, 1932-July 28, 2013) on Private Benjamin (1981-1983) for 1982-1983 when Brennan was seriously injured after being struck by a car, and recurring roles on Home Improvement (1993-1999) and The Client (1995-1996).
Holliday's most famous film role was as the doomed Ruby Deagle in Gremlins (1984), but she also played Dardis's (Ned Beatty, July 6, 1937-June 13, 2021) secretary in a film acclaimed as one of the best ever made, All the President's Men (1976). Her participation further strengthened her friendship with Dustin Hoffman (b. August 8, 1937) — with whom she'd worked on Broadway — who championed her for a part in Tootsie (1982) … a part that went instead to Doris Belack, a fellow GG guest star who you will find on this very list.
#11
Nancy Walker as Sophia's sister Angela in “The Sisters” and “Long Day's Journey into Marinara” (both 1987)
Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922-March 25, 1992) was ideal casting as Sophia's crusty sister Angela, who in her first appearance is brought over from Sicily as a surprise. Surprise — Sophia hates this bitch. Nancy is equally good in her second episode, in which Sophia becomes convinced her sister is trying to steal her boyfriend.
Less than five feet tall, Walker was a Broadway and Hollywood singer and hoofer who was the toast of NYC in such hits as Best Foot Forward (1941) and as Hildy in On the Town (1944). She had a good run in films, racking up hits before having to readjust to life as a TV guest star, something she mastered.
She became so familiar on TV she was a natural for the role of Rosie in a series of Bounty commercials that ran for over a decade.
On TV, she's best known for Family Affair (1970-1971), as Mildred on McMillan & Wife (1971-1976), as Rhoda's brassy mom on Mary Tyler Moore (1971-1976) and Rhoda (1974-1978) and True Colors (1990-1992), the latter of which she worked on right up until her death. I also loved her on her own self-titled series (1976-1977) and on the short-lived Blansky's Beauties (1977).
Walker segued successfully into directing for television, but bombed spectacularly as the director of the feature film Can't Stop the Music (1980), the impossibly campy, ill-timed disco epic starring Caitlyn Jenner (b. October 28, 1949), Valerie Perrine (b. September 3, 1943) and the Village People.
She died of lung cancer at just 69.
#10
Hallie Todd as “Blanche's” slutty niece “Lucy” on “Nice and Easy” (February 1, 1986)
When Blanche's young niece arrives for a visit and for an interview at a college, she announces she met a gorgeous, single doctor on the plane, one with whom she's made a date for 30 minutes after landing. She goes on a midnight cruise with the doctor and falls in love with him, only to dump him for a date with her university interviewer. Lucy then flies to the Bahamas ... but returns with a hilariously cheesy, Miami Vice (1984-1989)-inspired law-enforcement agent. As Sophia summarizes:
Pretty blunt for TV in 1986. But not untrue.
Delightfully played by a perky Hallie Todd (b. January 7, 1962), Lucy really throws Blanche for a loop — and brings out the protective, maternal side of the original good time had by all of Greater Miami.
Todd's worked in TV since 1980, and has had several impactful roles. She had a recurring, award-nominated part on Showtime's ground-breaking, gay-themed Brothers (1984-1989), appeared several times on Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996) between '89 and '91 and played Data's daughter Lal on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) in 1990.
But her true claim to fame is as Lizzie’s (2001-2004) mom on the Disney Channel hit Lizzie McGuire, a show that turned Hilary Duff (b. September 28, 1987) into a tween-household name. Todd was so outstanding in the role she was cited by CNN as one of TV's all-time most memorable moms. In my book, thanks to her Golden Girls appearance, she's also one of TV's all-time most memorable, and least obvious-looking, sluts.
Perhaps the most OMG! bit of trivia about Todd is that she's the real-life daughter of the late Ann Morgan Guilbert (October 16, 1928-June 14, 2016) — Millie on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) and Grandma Yetta on The Nanny (1993-1999) — and producer/writer/director George Eckstein (May 3, 1928-September 12, 2009), who, among many other accomplishments, wrote the famous final episode of The Fugitive (1963-1967) in 1967.
#9
Geraldine Fitzgerald as Anna in “Mother's Day” (May 7, 1988) and as Martha Lamont in “Not Another Monday” (November 11, 1989)
Geraldine Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913-July 17, 2005) was one of many distinguished actors from Hollywood's Golden Age who made appearances on GG, some of whom make my list and some of whom just weren't interesting enough on the show to rate in the Top 40 for me.
In “Mother's Day,” for which Fitzgerald became one of only nine guest stars to receive an Emmy nomination, she lands solid laughs and tugs heartstrings as an elderly woman who escapes her nursing home to make a pilgrimage to her daughter's grave, with a little help from Rose.
In “Not Another Monday,” she plays a friend of Sophia's in search of assistance in committing suicide. Sophia wants to help her friend, but feels suicide is a sin — and decides it's up to her to talk her friend out of it.
The petite actress made her film debut in 1934, appearing in a string of quality films immediately upon emigrating to the U.S. from Ireland. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Wuthering Heights (1939) and appeared in Dark Victory with Bette Davis (April 5, 1908-October 6, 1989, she discusses Davis here) that same year. She was also in Shining Victory (1941), Watch on the Rhine (1943) and So Evil My Love (1948).
Having acquired a reputation as a choosy artiste in the realm of films, from the '50s onward, she was active in television, often in prestigious dramatic roles.
Her comedy chops were present in such appearances as Harry and Tonto (1974), playing Madeline Kahn's (September 29, 1942-December 3, 1999) mother in Oh Madeline (1983-1984) in 1984, slumming in Rodney Dangerfield's (November 22, 1921-October 5, 2004) Easy Money (1983) and making the scene in both of the Arthur movies (1981 & 1988), the latter of which was the target of a Sophia zinger on a GG episode.
Her first success had come on the stage, acting alongside Orson Welles (May 6, 1915-October 10, 1985) in 1938, and she remained active in the medium well into her later years, including directing the show Mass Appeal (1982), which starred newcomer Eric Roberts (b. April 18, 1956); it also featured Milo O'Shea (June 2, 1926-April 2, 2013), who appeared in the “Charlie's Buddy” episode of GG in 1987) — for which she was nominated for a Tony. (Her son, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, b. May 5, 1940, is also a Tony-nominated director, and directed The Normal Heart Off-Broadway and the AIDS-themed TV movie As Is in 1986. Lindsay-Hogg has asserted that while his mother never admitted it, his biological father was Welles.)
After her two turns on GG, Fitzgerald made one more TV movie in 1991, her only work in the '90s, before retiring. Unfortunately, she battled Alzheimer's disease for the last 10 years of her life; in 1985, she had played Joanne Woodward's (b. February 27, 1930) mother in the Alzheimer's-themed TV drama Do You Remember Love? and now Woodward apparently is suffering from the disease, too.
Click here for an I-promise-ya worth it interview with Alan Eichler, who worked with Fitzgerald in her late years.
#8
Nan Martin as Freida Claxton in “It's a Miserable Life” (November 1, 1986)
Nan Martin (July 15, 1927-March 4, 2010) was one of the greatest villains on GG, sort of like the Wicked Witch to Rose's Dorothy. In her first appearance on the show, Martin played Freida Claxton, a grouchy neighbor who could not care less that an ancient tree is about to be chopped down, a pet cause for the household. (No word on Claxton's position on the proposed outdoor Menudo concert.) Rose tries to bribe Claxton with some homemade danish, but when the old battle-axe double-crosses the ladies, she buys herself an epic smack-down from — of all people — kind-hearted Rose, who tells her to drop dead.
Which she does.
A month later, a character she played on The Hogan Family (1986-1990) also dropped dead inconveniently. The woman was an expert at dramatic exits!
Martin was an accomplished stage actress who earned a 1959 Tony nomination for her work in J.B. and whose performance in a Chicago production of Three Tall Women was said to have been one of her best in any medium. On TV, she appeared on the a 1963 episode of Twilight Zone and was a semi-regular on The Drew Carey Show (1995-1999). In the movies, she had the distinction of playing mother to both Ali MacGraw (b. April 1, 1939), in 1969's Goodbye, Columbus, and Freddy Krueger, in 1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
Martin reappeared on GG in the 1989 episode entitled “Foreign Exchange” as a Sicilian friend of Sophia's who may or may not be Dorothy's birth mother. The physical casting in that one was delicious, even if Martin was only five years older than Arthur.
#7
Bonnie Bartlett as Barbara Thorndyke in “Dorothy's New Friend” (January 16, 1988)
Bonnie Bartlett (b. June 20, 1929) takes the cake for creating one of the most obnoxious characters ever to appear on GG, and one who very nearly drove a wedge between the roommates. As Barbara Thorndyke, a local author portrayed hilariously as both somewhat elite and a laughable hack, she pulls Dorothy into her thrall by reminding her of her lack of intellectual stimulation from Blanche and Rose. The two become thick as thieves, but Barbara's disdain for the other women is too apparent to them and not apparent to Dorothy at all. It isn't until a group trip to the restructed Mortimer Club brings out Barbara's passive anti-Semitism that Dorothy realizes her new friend is a narrow-minded snob.
In the episode, when Dorothy mentions that Barbara is taking her to the experimental theater space downtown, Blanche initiates a memorable exchange:
Blanche: “Somebody dragged me to a show there one time. Three men paraded around the stage for five hours talkin' about God, eatin' Graham crackers. They wore masks to cover their faces, but other than that they were totally naked.”
Rose: “And you stayed through the whole evening?”
Blanche: “Well, I would've left, but one of the actors looked so familiar to me.”
Bartlett is quite well known in her own right for many TV roles, including on Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983) from '74-'79, Home Improvement (1991-1999), '95-'98, Boy Meets World (1993-2000) '97-'99 and especially her Emmy-winning turn on St. Elsewhere (1982-1988).
She has been married to TV veteran and St. Elsewhere co-star William Daniels (b. March 31, 1927) for over 70 (!!!) years.
#6
John Fiedler as Eddie in “Love Me Tender” (February 6, 1989)
John Fiedler (February 3, 1925-June 25, 2005) brings that je ne sais quoi to Eddie, a stubby bald guy Dorothy goes out with even though she seems to have nothing in common with him. Not only do they go out, Dorothy goes all in — she gets deeply involved with plain-looking Eddie because he has a quality that's irresistible to women: Is it the sexy way he loosens a poppy seed from his teeth, his adorable ears, that peculiar scent that's a combination of Old Spice, musk and a Porterhouse steak? Whatever it is, he's got the ability to drive women — including all of the females in the Golden Girls household — wild.
Fiedler was ubiquitous on TV and in the movies from the 1950s on. He's familiar for appearances on The Odd Couple (play, movie and series, 1960s-1970s), The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978), as the mailman on The Munsters (1964-1966) in '64 and as a semi-regular on the canceled-too-soon Buffalo Bill (1983-1984). Most prestigiously, Fiedler was shaky Juror #2 in the classic film 12 Angry Men (1957), which came in at #87 on AFI's 1998 list of the greatest films of all time.
However, Fiedler is immortal for voicing Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh films, beginning with 1968's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Interestingly, he died only one day after Paul Winchell (December 21, 1922-June 24, 2005), the man who originally voiced Tigger.
Mr. Fiedler was a confirmed bachelor.
#5
Lois Nettleton as Dorothy's Sapphic pal Jean on “Isn't It Romantic?” (November 8, 1986)
When Dorothy's old friend comes to crash with the women for a spell, her lesbianism becomes an issue ... especially considering her passionate crush on Rose, of all people. This leads to one of the show's funniest lines ever, when Blanche confuses “lesbian” with “Lebanese” and asks, “Iddn't Danny Thomas one?”
Jean having the hots for Rose is a development that Blanche finds untenable.
Lois Nettleton (August 16, 1927-January 18, 2008) was one of my favorite TV actresses, a lovely and multi-faceted Emmy-winning pro (she was nominated for her turn on GG) whose credits, going back over 60 years, could choke IMDb and who appeared on many classic shows. Nettleton appeared on many seminal television drama showcases, including Studio One in Hollywood (1949-1956), Armstrong Circle Theatre (1958), Camera Three (1955-1958) and Kraft Theatre (1958).
Alongside Betty Garde (September 9, 1905-December 25, 1989), Nettleton gave one of the finest performances in the history of The Twilight Zone on that show's uncomfortable 1961 “The Midnight Sun” episode, in which two women sizzle as the planet slips out of orbit, plummeting toward the sun and into increasingly unbearable heat. Her last public appearance was at a Twilight Zone fan convention.
The Tony nominee's first Broadway show was in 1949, followed by the original production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which she understudied Maggie the Cat. She had an eclectic film career, everything from appearing as an extra in A Face in the Crowd (1957) and with Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).
Last, but not least, Lois Nettleton was one of the most skilled celeb players ever to appear on The $25,000 Pyramid (1973-1988).
IMDb asserts that Nettleton's GG character was named for her ex-husband, radio humorist Jean Shepherd (July 26, 1921-October 16, 1999), the man who would go on to write the '80s classic movie A Christmas Story (1983) ... and lend his voice to it as the narrator.
Nettleton died of lung cancer.
#4
Leslie Nielsen as Lucas Hollingsworth in “One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest” (May 9, 1992)
Most shows totally lose their mojo by the time they're wrapping, but with a little help from inspired guest star Leslie Nielsen (February 11, 1926-November 28, 2010) as Blanche's uncle Lucas, The Golden Girls went out with a bang.
Lucas and Dorothy pretend to fall in love just to get under Blanche's skin, but in the course of their acting, it turns real, ending with a touching proposal and a Golden Girls wedding ... at which Dorothy wears a wedding dress the Bride of Frankenstein would find tacky.
I rank Nielsen so highly because of his seamless transition into the cast, his convincing chemistry with Bea Arthur and, of course, due to the fact that Dorothy and Lucas had such great sex they named it! (It was named Freddie Peterson.)
Speaking of Nielsen, the ratings for the finale were spectacular — over 27 million people watched, making it one of the Top 20 series finales of all time, at the time.
Nielsen died of pneumonia. His epitaph: “Let 'er rip.”
#3
Jenny Lewis as Daisy the Sunshine Cadet in “Old Friends” (September 19, 1987)
Jenny Lewis (b. January 8, 1976) surely owns one of the most memorable one-offs in GG history.
When the girls decide to clean house to donate unwanted goods to charity, their local chapter of the Sunshine Cadets is on hand to help. Blanche makes the colossally bad decision to give away Rose's (remarkably new-looking) childhood toy teddy bear Fernando to Daisy, one of the most chipper of the Cadets. When she's asked to return the bear, Daisy shows her true colors, holding Fernando for ransom (a 10-speed Schwinn), mailing one of his ears to Blanche and setting the stage for one of Betty White's funniest moments on the entire series — it's an ass-kicking the kid never saw coming.
She also received one of Bea Arthur's best-ever rants:
“Listen, Daisy, I don't like being intimidated, I do not like being threatened, and frankly, kid, I don't like you. And I am not gonna buy you anything, and I'm going to tell your folks what you are doing, and then I'm going to call the School for Bad Girls and they will come and pick you up and put you in a sack and take you away and you will never eat ice cream or play jump rope again.”
Many famous people made appearances on GG, but not many were only famous after the fact. Jenny Lewis made many TV appearances, including being a series regular on Brooklyn Bridge (1991-1993).
She had her biggest impact when she formed the rock band Rilo Kiley, which rocked from 1998 to 2013, and which just reformed for a 2025 tour.
#2
Harold Gould as Miles Webber in 12 episodes (1989-1992)
Harold Gould (December 10, 1923-September 11, 2010), a familiar face on TV and in the movies, first popped up onGG in 1985, playing Arnie, Rose's first lover after the death of her husband in the great “Rose the Prude” episode. But it was his return as Miles that made him like an unofficial series regular, playing the perfect match for Rose. Miles, an intellectual (as highlighted in 1989's “Dancing in the Dark”), loves Rose in spite of her bubble-headed St. Olaf stories ... and in spite of his nasty daughter's demands (in 1990's “Triple Play”) that they stop seeing each other. His status as the ideal man was later shattered when it was revealed he'd been living in the witness protection program — he was really Nicolas Carbone, an accountant for the Mob.
Gould was a staple of television, appearing on just about every major show from the '50s to the '80s, including Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971, as three different generals on eps from '66 to '70), playing seven different characters in seven different seasons), Mary Tyler Moore (1970-1977) '72-'73 and Rhoda (1974-1978, as Rhoda's dad), Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980) '72-'75, Soap (1977-1981) '77 and as the series star of The Feather and Father Gang (1976-1977).
He played Howard Cunningham on the 1972 episode of Love, American Style (1969-1974) that was later spun off into Happy Days (1974-1984) — but Tom Bosley (October 1, 1927-October 19, 2010) took the role for the series. He helped Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907-June 29, 2003) cougar it up in 1986's Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, for which both received Emmy nominations, and was memorable in the classic 1973 film The Sting.
Let's not talk about what they did with Miles on The Golden Palace (1992-1993).
He passed away from prostate cancer.
#1
Herb Edelman as Stanley Zbornak in 26 episodes (1985-1992)
Herb Edelman (November 5, 1933-July 21, 1996) gets top honors, and not only because he holds the record for the most appearances on the show by a non-regular cast member, but because of his hilarious, Emmy-worthy [he was nominated in 1987 and in 1988, for “The Stan Who Came to Dinner” (January 10, 1987) and one of his best turns, in “The Audit” (November 28, 1987)] portrayal of the lovable idiot who got Dorothy pregnant (possibly while she was totally unconscious) in the back seat of a car, thus ruining her life. At least, according to Sophia.
Edelman's chemistry with Bea Arthur — he the morally challenged doofus, she the self-righteous stand-up gal — was undeniable, and led to some of the show's funniest moments and episodes.
Edelman was memorable in the film version of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and The Odd Couple (1968), in the racy Steambath on PBS in 1973 with Valerie Perrine, on the short-lived TV series verison of Nine to Five (1982-1983) and in a stretch on Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996) from '92-'95 as Lt. Artie Gelber, but he will always be remembered as an unofficial regular on The Golden Girls, the n'er-do-well who finally gets it right, letting Dorothy marry Lucas in the final episode without raising any objections and spoiling their romantic ceremony.
One of my other favorite Stan episodes is “Ebbtide VI: The Wrath of Stan” (February 15, 1991), when Dorothy must stay with him in a vermin-infested apartment building she unknowingly owned with him.
The role of Stanley probably had such long legs thanks, in part, to Edelman's killer work on his very first episode, “Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding?” (September 21, 1985), in which Dorothy has to get over her hatred of Stan in order to move on with her life. The episode establishes Dorothy's penchant for slamming the door in his face and ribbing him about his magic hair. Her speech to Stan is classic:
“You walked out on me, Stanley Zbornak. You walked out on me and you didn't even have the decency to tell me you were leaving. I heard it from some lawyer over the telephone. A stranger, Stanley — a total stranger! — told me that my marriage was over. Things happened ... you're damn right things happened, Thirty-eight years happened. Thirty-eight years of sharing and, and crying, and dreaming and fighting and loving and, and children and diapers and, and school plays and Little League and worrying if you'd get through your gall bladder surgery and wondering if I'd get through another Sunday dinner at your mother's house. And the lean years, when the business failed. And the good years. And the happy Christmases. All those things happened, Stanley, and because they happened, I deserved better than a stinking phone call from my husband's legal representative. You had a choice, Stanley, and you took the easy way out and it was a rotten thing to do. But now you're here in front of me and you can't run away, and I finally get to have what you tried to cheat me out of — I finally get to say good-bye, Stanley ... I said: Good-bye, Stanley.”
And ... scene!
Honorable mentions:
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#41 Raye Birk (b. May 27, 1943) as the wedding planner who was ready to fly right out of there in “Sophia's Wedding: Part 1” (November 19, 1988)
#42 Brenda Vaccaro (b. November 18, 1939) as Sophia's beleaguered daughter-in-law Angela Petrillo in “Ebbtide's Revenge” (December 15, 1990)
#43 McLean Stevenson (November 14, 1927-February 15, 1996) as Stan's slimy brother Dr. Theodore “Ted” Zbornak in “Brotherly Love” (November 14, 1987)
#44 Burt Reynolds (February 11, 1936-September 6, 2018) as himself in “Ladies of the Evening” (October 4, 1986)
#45 Jerry Orbach (October 20, 1935-December 28, 2004) as Dorothy's married-man loverboy Glen O'Brien (part 2) in “Cheaters” (March 24, 1990)
#46 Sid Melton (May 22, 1917-November 3, 2011) as the love of Sophia's life, Salvatore Petrillo, in various episodes (1987-1991)
#47 Richard McKenzie (June 2, 1930-December 1, 2024) as amorous ex-con Jack in “Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy” (October 20, 1990)
#48 Pat McCormick (June 30, 1927-July 29, 2005) as the indiscreet condom salesman in “Valentine's Day” (February 11, 1989)
#49 Kevin McCarthy (February 15, 1914-September 1, 2010) as Blanche's rich and fertile suitor in “Second Motherhood” (February 15, 1986)
#50 Keye Luke (June 18, 1904-January 12, 1991) as Sophia's non-English-speaking gardener pal Toshiro Mitsumo in “Vacation” (November 29, 1986)
#51 Terry Kiser (b. August 1, 1939) as the gun-toting Santa Claus on '“Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas” (December 20, 1986) and as Dorothy's Beatle-impersonator trick Don on “The Commitments” (January 25, 1992)
#52 Scott Jacoby (b. November 26, 1956) as Dorothy's slacker son Michael Zbornak in various episodes (1986-1989)
#53 Charles Hill (December 10, 1947-May 23, 2010) as Blanche's nearly-five-years-younger beau Dirk (IRL, he was really only about a dozen years younger, though in the episode he seemed more like 20 years her junior) in “Blanche and the Younger Man” (November 16, 1985)
#54 Jack Gilford (July 25, 1908-June 2, 1990) as Sophia's old pal/betrothed Max Weinstock in various episodes (1988-1990)
#55 George Grizzard (April 1, 1928-October 2, 2007) as Blanche's bro-in-law Jamie Devereaux in “That Old Feeling” (November 18, 1989) and as her late husband George in Mrs. George Devereaux (November 17, 1990)
#56 Jane Dulo (October 13, 1917-May 22, 1994) as Myrtle, who attends Sophia's fake funeral and feels it was very selfish of Sophia not to be dead in “Journey to the Center of Attention” (February 22, 1992)
#57 Bob Dishy (b. January 12, 1934) as the terrifically frazzled Mr. Terrific on “Mister Terrific” (April 30, 1988)
#58 Sonny Bono (February 16, 1935-January 5, 1998) as himself in “Mrs. George Devereaux” (November 17, 1990)
#59 Chick Vennera (March 27, 1947-July 7, 2021) as bad investment/prizefighter Pepe in “Fiddler on the Ropes” (March 4, 1989) and Rose's supercilious boss Enrique Mas in “Rose Fights Back” (October 21, 1989) and “All That Jazz” (December 2, 1989)
#60 Lyle Waggoner (April 13, 1935-March 17, 2020) as himself in “Mrs. George Devereaux” (November 17, 1990)
#61 Joe Seneca (January 14, 1919-August 15, 1996) as the elderly man with Alzheimer's in “Old Friends” (September 19, 1987)
#62 Mario Lopez (b. October 10, 1973) as immigrant essayist in “Dorothy's Prized Pupil” (March 14, 1987)
#63 Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919-February 12, 2011) as terminally practical Sara in “Old Boyfriends” (January 4, 1992)
#64 Don Ameche (May 31, 1908-December 6, 1993) as Rose's biological pop in “Once in St. Olaf” (September 29, 1990)
#65 Christina aka Christine Belford (b. January 14, 1949) as Rose's testy daughter Kirsten”in “The Truth Will Out” (January 18, 1986)
#66 Ken Berry (November 3, 1933-December 1, 2018) as Rose's maybe/maybe-not old BF Thor Anderson in “Old Boyfriends” (January 4, 1992)
#67 Tim Thomerson (b. April 8, 1946) as Blanche's lingerie-friendly baseball player Stevie in “Where's Charlie?” (October 19, 1991)
#68 Mickey Rooney (September 23, 1920-April 6, 2014) as Sophia's tough-guy boyfriend Rocco in “Larceny and Old Lace” (February 27, 1988)
#69 Donnelly Rhodes (December 4, 1937-January 8, 2018) as Blanche's blue-collar soulmate Jake Smollens in “Diamond in the Rough” (March 21, 1987)
#70 Lisa Jane Persky (b. May 5, 1955) as Dorothy's getting-married daughter Kate in “Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding?” (September 21, 1985)
#71 John McMartin (November 18, 1929-July 6, 2016) as Dorothy's priest crush Father Frank Leahy in “Forgive Me, Father” (February 14, 1987)
#72 Mark Moses (b. February 24, 1958) as the illegitimate son of George Devereaux in “An Illegitimate Concern” (February 12, 1990)
#73 Alan King (December 26, 1927-May 9, 2004) as Blanche's life-and-death love interest Mel Bushman in “Melodrama” (February 16, 1991)
#74 Bob Hope (May 29, 1903-July 27, 2003) as himself in “You Gotta Have Hope” (February 25, 1989)
#75 Deena Freeman (b. February 11, 1956) as Dorothy's cheated-on daughter Kate in “Son-on-Law Dearest” (April 11, 1987)
#76 The Del Rubio Triplets (Edie Del Rubio, August 23, 1921-December 16, 1996; Elena Del Rubio, August 23, 1921-March 19, 2001; Milly Del Rubio, August 23, 1921-July 21, 2011) as the ultra-talented Donatello Triplets in “You Gotta Have Hope” (February 25, 1989)
#77 Rosalind Cash (December 31, 1981-October 31, 1995) as Dorothy's long-in-the-tooth daughter-in-law Lorraine Wagner Zbornak in “Mixed Blessings” (March 19, 1988)
#78 Christopher Daniel Barnes (b. November 7, 1972) as not-so-bright star football player Kevin Kelly in “Feelings” (October 27, 1990)
#79 Joe Alfasa (December 13, 1914-March 15, 2014) as Sophia's beau Tony in “Long Day's Journey into Marinara” (February 21, 1987)
#80 Eddie Bracken (February 7, 1915-November 14, 2002) as Rose's jazzy old lover Buzz Mueller in “Twice in a Lifetime” (February 24, 1990)
#81 Keone Young (b. September 6, 1947) as “Dorothy's” chronic-fatigue diagnoser Dr. Chang in “Sick and Tired: Part 2” (September 30, 1989) and as Mr. Tanaka, whose preparedness makes Dorothy realize that we'll never beat “you people” in “Rose: Portrait of a Woman” (March 7, 1992)
#82 Douglas Seale (October 28, 1913-June 13, 1999) as magician “The Great Alfonso aka Seymour” in “You Gotta Have Hope” (February 25, 1989) and as Sophia's roomie Malcolm in “Twice in a Lifetime” (February 24, 1990)
#83 Casey Sander (b. July 6, 1956) as “Rose's” lovestruck cousin Sven in “A Visit from Little Sven” (November 21, 1987)
#84 Alex Rocco (February 29, 1936-July 18, 2015) as Dorothy's married-man loverboy Glen O'Brien (part 1) in “That Was No Lady” (December 21, 1985)
#85 Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932-December 28, 2016) as potential new roomie Truby Steele in “There Goes the Bride: Part 2” (February 9, 1991)
#86 Marian Mercer (November 26, 1935-April 27, 2011) as Stan's commie cuz Magda in “Sisters and Other Strangers” (March 3, 1990)
#87 Martin Mull (b. August 18, 1943) as '60s shut-in Jimmy in “Snap Out of It” (October 13, 1990)
#88 Jessica Lundy (b. March 20, 1966) as Blanche's daughter Janet in “Home Again, Rose: Part 1” (April 25, 1992) & “Home Again, Rose: Part 2” (May 2, 1992)
#89 Steve Landesberg (November 23, 1936-December 20, 2010) as nutty therapist Dr. Halperin on “Mother Load” and “The Monkey Show” (both 1991)
#90 John Dennis Johnston (b. November 10, 1945) as Blanche's ex-con pen pal Merrill in “Mary Has a Little Lamb” (January 6, 1990)
#91 John Harkins (September 7, 1932-March 5, 1999) as Ham Lushbough, the only man ever to turn his nose up at Blanche in “The One That Got Away” (October 29, 1988)
#92 Dena Dietrich (December 4, 1928-November 21, 2020) as the second coming of Gloria Petrillo in “The Monkey Show” (November 9, 1991)
#93 Lee Garlington (b. July 20, 1953) as Rose's suddenly bitchtastic daughter Kirsten in “Home Again, Rose: Part 2” (May 2, 1992)
#94 Jerry Hardin (b. November 20, 1929) as Blanche's sleazy teacher Professor Cooper” in “Adult Education” (February 22, 1986) and as Blanche's wayward boyfriend“Gary Tucker in “Little Sister” (April 1, 1989)
#95 Debra Engle (July 4, 1953-February 10, 2023) as Blanche's artificially inseminated daughter Rebecca Devereaux in various episodes (1989-1991)
#96 Marilyn Jones (b. June 6, 1953) as Rose's sexually liberated daughter Bridget Nylund (November 22, 1986)
#97 Alex Trebek (July 22, 1940-November 8, 2020) and Merv Griffin (July 6, 1925-August 12, 2007) as themselves in “Questions and Answers” (February 8, 1992)
#98 Ellen Albertini Dow (b. November 16, 1913-May 4, 2015) as retirement-home escapee Lillian in “Sophia's Choice” (April 15, 1989)
#99 Empty Nest and discarded Empty Nest cast: Paul Dooley (b. February 22, 1928) as George Corliss in “Empty Nests” (May 16, 1987); David Leisure (b. November 16, 1950) as skeezy Oliver/Charley Dietz in “Empty Nests” (May 16, 1987) and “Questions and Answers” (February 8, 1992); Dinah Manoff (b. January 25, 1958) as Carol Weston in two episodes (1991-1992); Kristy McNichol (b. September 11, 1962) as Barbara Weston in two episodes (1991-1992); Rita Moreno (b. December 11, 1931) as Renee Corliss in “Empty Nests” (May 16, 1987); Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932-September 26, 2000) as Dr. Harry Weston in three episodes (1988-1989); and Park Overall (b. March 15, 1957) as Laverne Todd in “Sick and Tired: Part 2” (September 30, 1989) ... NOTE: Moreno and Dooley's characters were dropped from the eventual Empty Nest spin-off
#100 Marvin Mitchelson (May 7, 1928-September 18, 2004) as himself in “There Goes the Bride: Part 2” (February 9, 1991)