Arlene Golonka
Encyclopedia
Arlene Golonka is an American
actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Millie Swanson on the television
comedies The Andy Griffith Show
and Mayberry R.F.D.
, and often portrayed bubbly, eccentric blondes in supporting character roles on stage, film, and television.
in 1936 of Polish
descent. She began her acting career in her early teens and went professional in a summer-stock
troupe. After studying at the prestigious Goodman Theatre
in her native Chicago, she made her way to New York City
, where she studied with Lee Strasberg
, Sanford Meisner
and Uta Hagen
.
, at the Shubert Theater
in New Haven, Connecticut
on November 17, 1958. After a week-long trial run, the play moved to Broadway
on December 2, 1958, but closed after only seven performances. Despite that setback, she continued working in other plays such as Take Me Along
with Jackie Gleason
, Walter Pidgeon
and Robert Morse
(448 performances from late 1959 to late 1960), Neil Simon
's first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn
, which ran 677 performances from February 1961 until October 1962, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
, starring Kirk Douglas
, from November 1963 until January 1964. Golonka appeared in two other Broadway plays from 1965 to 1966, and also took on supporting roles in films produced in the New York City area.
Golonka also appeared on record, in a well-received comedy album
called You Don't Have to be Jewish, in 1965. When the time came to record its sequel, When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish, she was unavailable, but encouraged her roommate, aspiring actress Valerie Harper
, to audition to take her place. Though not Jewish herself, Harper won the role, and spent much of her subsequent career playing Jewish characters (most notably Rhoda Morgenstern
, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
and her own spinoff Rhoda
).
In 1967, Golonka moved to Los Angeles
to try her hand at television. She eventually became a familiar face to millions, having made numerous TV appearances including: Get Smart
, I Spy, That Girl
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, All in the Family
, Cannon
, Maude
, The Andy Griffith Show
, Alice
, The Rockford Files
, One Day at a Time
, Taxi
, Murder, She Wrote
, Valerie and Matlock
.
She was also a series regular on the animated cartoon Speed Buggy
, providing the voice of "Debbie", and had a recurring role on the short-lived TV series Joe and Valerie. She has also performed voices in other animated series including The New Yogi Bear Show
, Capitol Critters
, Yogi's Treasure Hunt
and The New Scooby-Doo Movies
.
In addition to acting on Broadway and television, Golonka has also had supporting roles in some 30 films, including Hang 'Em High
, Airport '77
, The In-Laws with Peter Falk
and The End of Innocence.
Later in her career, she began teaching acting. Semi-retired in Santa Monica, California
, she takes occasional roles, the most recent of which was a 2005 appearance on the TV comedy series The King of Queens
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Millie Swanson on the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
comedies The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
and Mayberry R.F.D.
Mayberry R.F.D.
Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...
, and often portrayed bubbly, eccentric blondes in supporting character roles on stage, film, and television.
Early years
Golonka was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1936 of Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
descent. She began her acting career in her early teens and went professional in a summer-stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
troupe. After studying at the prestigious Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
in her native Chicago, she made her way to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she studied with Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
, Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner , also known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed a form of Method acting that is now known as the Meisner technique....
and Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
.
Career
She appeared in her first major production, The Night Circus with Ben GazzaraBen Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
, at the Shubert Theater
Shubert Theatre (New Haven)
The Shubert Theatre is a 1600-seat theatre located at 247 College Street in New Haven, Connecticut. Originally opened in 1914, it was designed by Albert Swazey, a New York architect and built by the H.E. Murdock Construction Company...
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
on November 17, 1958. After a week-long trial run, the play moved to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
on December 2, 1958, but closed after only seven performances. Despite that setback, she continued working in other plays such as Take Me Along
Take Me Along
Take Me Along is a musical based on the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness, with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.-Background:...
with Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
, Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
and Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
(448 performances from late 1959 to late 1960), Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn
Come Blow Your Horn
Come Blow Your Horn was Neil Simon's first play, which premiered in the United States in 1961 and had a London production in 1962 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.-Act Summaries:Time: The Present...
, which ran 677 performances from February 1961 until October 1962, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
, starring Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, from November 1963 until January 1964. Golonka appeared in two other Broadway plays from 1965 to 1966, and also took on supporting roles in films produced in the New York City area.
Golonka also appeared on record, in a well-received comedy album
Comedy album
A comedy album is an audio recording of comedic material from a comedian or group of comedians, usually performed either live or in a studio. Comedy albums may feature skits, humorous songs, and/or live recording of stand-up comedy performances, but the most common type of comedy albums are stand...
called You Don't Have to be Jewish, in 1965. When the time came to record its sequel, When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish, she was unavailable, but encouraged her roommate, aspiring actress Valerie Harper
Valerie Harper
Valerie Harper is an American actress, known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on the 1970s television show The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and for her starring roles on the sitcoms Rhoda and Valerie.-Early life and career:Harper was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, Rockland County,...
, to audition to take her place. Though not Jewish herself, Harper won the role, and spent much of her subsequent career playing Jewish characters (most notably Rhoda Morgenstern
Rhoda Morgenstern
Rhoda Morgenstern, portrayed by Valerie Harper, is a character on the television sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and subsequent spin-off Rhoda.-The Mary Tyler Moore Show:...
, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
and her own spinoff Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
).
In 1967, Golonka moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to try her hand at television. She eventually became a familiar face to millions, having made numerous TV appearances including: Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, I Spy, That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, Cannon
Cannon (TV series)
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....
, Maude
Maude (TV series)
Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with...
, The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
, The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
, One Day at a Time
One Day at a Time
One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 until May 28, 1984. It portrays Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper and Schneider, their building superintendent .The show...
, Taxi
Taxi (TV series)
Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Valerie and Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
.
She was also a series regular on the animated cartoon Speed Buggy
Speed Buggy
Speed Buggy is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975.-Production:...
, providing the voice of "Debbie", and had a recurring role on the short-lived TV series Joe and Valerie. She has also performed voices in other animated series including The New Yogi Bear Show
The New Yogi Bear Show
The New Yogi Bear Show is a 30-minute weekday animated series which aired on syndication in 1988 and featured one of Hanna-Barbera's most well-known classic characters, Yogi Bear...
, Capitol Critters
Capitol Critters
Capitol Critters is an animated television series about the lives of mice, rats, and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C...
, Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Yogi's Treasure Hunt is a segment that kicked-off in 1985 as the first of the programming block, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It also ran as a regular series in syndication from 1985 to 1988.-Plot:...
and The New Scooby-Doo Movies
The New Scooby-Doo Movies
The New Scooby-Doo Movies is the second incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS as the only hour-long Scooby-Doo series...
.
In addition to acting on Broadway and television, Golonka has also had supporting roles in some 30 films, including Hang 'Em High
Hang 'Em High
Hang 'Em High is a 1968 American Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat...
, Airport '77
Airport '77
Airport '77 is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise.The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, Airport '77 was a box office hit earning US$30 million and...
, The In-Laws with Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
and The End of Innocence.
Later in her career, she began teaching acting. Semi-retired in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, she takes occasional roles, the most recent of which was a 2005 appearance on the TV comedy series The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
.
External links
- Arlene Golonka at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Arlene Golonka at Allmovie
- Arlene Golonka at TV GuideTV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
- Arlene Golonka at what-a-character.com
- Upcoming appearances on American TV cable stations