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Blanche Devereaux

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Synopsis
Quotes
Betty White as Rose Nylund
 "It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."

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“Get outta here!”
— Blanche's catchphrase whenever she is shocked or pretends to be shocked.

Blanche Elizabeth Marie Devereaux (née Hollingsworth) is one of the four main characters on the 1985 NBC sitcom The Golden Girls, and its spin-off, The Golden Palace. A spicy, self-confident Southern belle, Blanche acts as both a landlady and a housemate to Rose Nylund, Dorothy Zbornak, and Sophia Petrillo. Similarly to Rose, Blanche has her own collection of strange stories which she shares from time to time, often tales of her rivalry with sisters Virginia and Charmaine, or of the outlandish stunts she pulled as a teenager.

Blanche appeared in all seven seasons of The Golden Girls and the entire first season of The Golden Palace. She also guest-starred in an episode of the Golden Girls' spinoff series Empty Nest, and and in an episode of the Empty Nest spinoff Nurses. She was portrayed by veteran stage and television actress, the late Rue McClanahan.

Personality and Characteristics

“She can't help it. Blanche needs man! She told me that when George died, she made a date at the funeral. Oh, not that she didn't love George. She can't...be without a man. You know what I'm saying?”
— Rose Nylund talking to Dorothy about Blanche's need for male company; "The Engagement" (1985)[2]

Blanche is a highly-promiscuous, overly-confident, and sexually liberated woman, frequently on the prowl in almost desperate search for a man who would be her new love. Most of her free time consists of being out and about with a new man outside of the home or outside of her job at the museum. She was often observed as blatantly flirtatious and seductive with almost every man she came across with her little Southern Belle ways. Her go-to color palette for her fashionable sense of style and attire was a lot of red, as red is the color palette associated with attractiveness. Blanche spends a good deal of her free time outside of work and home with members of the opposite sex, much to the disgust and sometimes amusement of her housemates -- in sharp contrast to the overall climate of the 1980s, when the reality of AIDS was beginning to sink into the American public. In the episode "72 Hours", it is revealed that Blanche is fully cognizant of the dangers of AIDS and HIV, and always uses protection and knows as much of every lover's sexual history as she can.[3] Much of Blanche's promiscuous nature stems from the death of her one true love, George Devereaux. The two were high school sweethearts, and when George passed away, Blanche became disillusioned with love and was consumed by impulsive behavior. Blanche wanted to date as many men as should could in rapid succession in the striving yet desperate hope and search for her next love.

Over the course of the series, Blanche has had a veritable arsenal of both sexual and romantic partners, all varying in background and disposition. Some of them have been less than savory, such as Blanche's first in-series beau Harry, whom she was set to marry after two weeks of dating, turning out to be a bigamist wanted in four states.[4] Another prospective partner stole Blanche's necklace during her Full Moon-Leap Year's Party, though he was later caught and arrested. Another man, Gary, cheated on Blanche in her own home with Rose's visiting sister Holly.[5] Perhaps the worst of Blanche's partners was Rex Huntington, who was emotionally and verbally abusive towards her and later tried to physically harm Dorothy when confronted about his behavior.[6]

But though she is often mocked for a perceived lack of standards, Blanche does indeed have standards for her relationships. She refuses to even unknowingly engage in infidelity and steps back when her beau wishes to reconnect with his former wife or girlfriend. The most notable example of this is shown in "Stand By Your Man", where Blanche overcame her apprehension towards dating a wheelchair-bound man named Ted, only to end their relationship upon finding out that he was already married.[7] "Yes, We Have No Havanas" seems to imply that Blanche is willing to at the very least attempt a polyamorous relationship, as she continued seeing Fidel Santiago when he wanted to date both her and Sophia. However, this relationship quickly drove a wedge between the women, but the rivalry came to an abrupt end when Fidel suddenly died. As it turned out, Fidel was even more promiscuous than Blanche -- and the congregation at his funeral consisted entirely of women he had been romancing, with exception for Dorothy and Rose.[8]

Similarly to Rue McClanahan's personal life, Blanche also self-sabotaged herself and hurt her own image in front of her best friends. When oftentimes when Blanche denies a sexual encounter occurring, she isn't believed as her promiscuous nature leads people to assume she didn't want to admit she slept with someone. In "The Triangle", Elliot Clayton makes a pass at Blanche despite him already seeing Dorothy, and Blanche tells Dorothy what happened after being prompted by Rose. However, Dorothy doesn't believe Blanche due to her already having expressed an attraction to Elliot; and furthermore, Elliot lies about the encounter when confronted. Blanche is so upset that she kicks Dorothy out of the house, but Dorothy eventually learns the truth and apologizes to Blanche, mending their friendship.[9] In addition, Gil Kessler, a town's councilman, is accused of having an affair with Blanche after she helps him with a speech all night. Despite Blanche's seemingly calming innocence, Gil tells everyone the rumors were true. Shocked to hear this come out from his mouth, Blanche confronts Gil in private to admit that he lied in order to gain votes in the reelection. Seeing how much he embarrassed and hurt Blanche in front of people she did not know, he confesses the truth in a live speech.[10] This self-sabotaging behavior also transfers over to her love life, as she has also ruined good relationships with worthy men. Jake Smollens was very in love with Blanche and even proposed to her, but Blanche turned him down due to her disgust for his perceived lack of social graces.[11] She also turned down Richard, an extremely wealthy and doting partner, because she didn't want to be a mother for his two young children.[12] When her beau Steven was hospitalized, Blanche didn't visit him because she was worried about the relationship getting too serious -- and when she finally got up the courage to visit him, Steven had reconciled with his ex-wife.

In spite of her promiscuity, Blanche also has standards to her man-hunting and sticks to them no matter what; namely refusing to even unknowingly participate in infidelity. When Rose and Dorothy are shocked to learn that Blanche had never been with a married man, she replied "Well, I'm no fool. The husband's always so guilty, he ends up giving the really expensive gifts to the wife!"[13] In contrast to the promiscuous Blanche remaining staunchly faithful to her husband, George had an affair with another woman that resulted in a son, implying that despite all the seemingly perky happiness George and Blanche had, the marriage was very much flawed.

Once of Blanche's most prominent gags was her strict vagueness about how old she was, from not divulging her age, to telling lies of omission about her age, and perhaps most egregiously, destroying any information related to how old she is. As featured in "Snap Out Of It", Rose took Blanche's legal documentation without her knowing, and after digging through these files, found that Blanche's age was deleted by authority of the governor. It is assumed that Blanche met with the governor and bribed him to get rid of all of her birthdates.[14] Though it is widely believed by fans that Blanche's age was never truly divulged, "Mother's Day" reveals that Blanche was seventeen in 1949. It's implied that Blanche's mother not only taught her to hide her age, but encouraged her to do it, as Elizabeth herself casually mentions that she is eighty-five. When Blanche reminds her mother that she's eighty-nine, Elizabeth coyly reveals the most important lesson she taught Blanche -- no true lady ever tells her age.[15]

In spite of her liberal attitude to sex, Blanche was actually conservative in many respects. She was a Republican, and she had a hard time accepting her brother Clayton being gay, especially when he visited her again with his partner Dougwhom he intended to marry (though Blanche eventually accepted this). In The Golden Palace episode “Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be”, she hung up a Confederate battle flag and was unaware of the offense it caused to black people, including hotel manager Roland, who viewed it as a symbol of racism, while Blanche saw it as a symbol of heritage and happy memories of growing up in the South.

Blanche's upbringing in the South led to an amount of misunderstandings, as her prim and proper family would outright discuss matters such as menstruation and menopause, but they would never say what they meant and often used euphemisms. This led to Blanche having a number of misconceptions and misunderstandings about certain topics -- for example, she became terrified of getting her period because her mother would only refer to it as "the curse", and she was irrationally terrified of a witch coming to curse her when she turned thirteen. Though Blanche had gotten her period, she was elated to discover that she hadn't been cursed, and explained this to both her mother and her doctor. Blanche was also irrationally terrified of going through menopause, as her Aunt Lynette had behaved irrationally when she had gotten it.[16]

Over the course of the series, Blanche is revealed not to have been very "hands-on" as a mother, as she frequently left her children to nannies and housekeepers.[17] She had a strained relationship with both of her daughters, especially Janet, something that led to some of the most dramatic storylines. She expresses regrets that she was not there for her children more, and it is loosely implied that she might have been emotionally abusive to them when they were growing up. However, Blanche slowly rebuilt her relationships with Janet and Rebecca throughout the series, and by the series' end, both Rebecca and Janet had healed their relationships with their mother.

Biography

Tales from the Old South

Blanche was born on May 16th, 1932,[15] to Elizabeth-Ann and Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth. She is 1/8th Jewish -- her great-grandmother having been a Jewish woman named Rosalyn Feldman-Roquette from Buffalo, New York, married her great-grandfather, Walker Roquette; though Blanche didn't learn this until much later in life while she was attempting to gain entry to a debutante group. She had a great-grandfather who was hanged because he "said a lot of things he shouldn't have".[18] Blanche has four siblings; older sister Charmaine Hollingsworth and younger sister Virginia Hollingsworth-Warren, and younger brother Clayton Hollingsworth. It was revealed in The Golden Palace that she also has an older autistic brother named Thad, who wasn't around due to being put in a mental institution.[19]

Blanche's family was Jewish, and they lived on the family plantation Atlanta, Georgia. During Blanche's childhood, she and her siblings had a nanny named Viola Watkins, until one day Viola abruptly left and never came back.[20] Blanche had very fond memories growing up on the plantation, but she didn't always have good times. Blanche and her sisters had a very hostile relationship, with Blanche insisting that both sisters made the other two miserable their entire lives. While Charmaine would constantly feign fictitious ailments to get out of doing chores, Virginia was actively hostile towards Blanche and tried to steal whatever she could from her; from poodle skirts to Blanche's boyfriends. Once, Virginia broke the star for the Christmas tree and told Blanche to stick her finger in it. As she did, Virginia plugged in the star and electrocuted Blanche before running to their father and telling him Blanche had electrocuted her. Blanche was then sent to her room and told she ruined Baby Jesus's birthday.[21]

When Blanche was five, her mother enrolled her in a tap-dancing school. After six months of practice, Blanche and her twelve classmates performed a recital in front of their parents. However, Blanche had very severe stage fright and froze when it was time to dance, wetting herself in front of the crowd. She apparently never performed in front of a crowd for the rest of her childhood.[22]

At an undefined point in her childhood, Blanche's Aunt Lynette went through menopause, and Blanche's mother told her that she was going through "the change". Heartbroken for her aunt, Blanche decided that she would not go through this change.[16] Similarly, the women in Blanche's home talked about menstruation, but only referred to it as "the curse", which terrified her beyond belief. When Blanche turned thirteen, she slept with the lights on for the entire year and became paranoid that there was "a witch behind every wisteria" -- but much to her relief, the next two years went by without a curse. When Blanche was fifteen, her mother took her to the doctor because Blanche claimed she still hadn't gotten "the curse". When her doctor asked if she hadn't gotten her period yet, Blanche proudly exclaimed that she'd had her period for the past two years -- but she still hadn't gotten "the curse".[16]

In her youth, Blanche had a friend named Anderbeau Johnson, who at the time, was dating a boy named Clyde Whitehead. One day, Clyde decided he wanted to "see (Blanche's) cheerleading sweater from the inside", and it's implied that he attempted to get her shirt off. When Blanche told Anderbeau what had happened, Anderbeau refused to believe her and cut ties with her.[9]

When Blanche was in high school, a jealous Charmaine challenged Blanche to a cheer contest to determine which one of them would be the new cheer captain. The two performed in front of the entire school, and by Blanche's own admission, she didn't perform very well. Though Charmaine had blown the contest out of the water, Blanche was picked as the new cheer captain -- not for her ability to cheer, but because she wore black lace panties with a French word written on the backside.[23] Blanche also pulled numerous stunts throughout her teenage years -- at fifteen, she dropped out of school for a month to become a magician's assistant. At sixteen, she ran off with a gas station attendant twice her age to get married in Mexico[24] Blanche was also named Miss Congeniality in the Miss Magnolia Blossom Pageant when she was sixteen, and vowed revenge for not being named the winner. She faked her death in a riverboat accident, having a captain that she was seeing help her do the deed, and jumped up and revealed that she was alive during the funeral service. Her father had the captain whipped for what he'd done, and Blanche was sent to an all-girls school in Atlanta.[25] At seventeen, she hitchhiked to New York and lived as a Rockette under an assumed name for two months. However, she always had Charmaine and her parents chasing after her to try and keep her on the straight and narrow path.[24]

During Blanche's senior year of high school, she began dating Deck Bovenlough, an out of work twice-divorced man in his forties. While Deck was particularly appealing to the inexperienced Blanche, her real reason for dating Deck was because his oldest daughter was her cheerleading rival, and if she married Deck, she would be her rival's mother and be able to pull her off the squad. After a month of dating, Deck proposed to Blanche, and on December 25th, 1949, the couple met at the Rexall drugstore and drove off to a chapel that specialized in "marrying off stupid teenage girls from well-to-do families". Unknown to the couple, Old Man Montgomery had overheard them and tipped off Blanche's parents, who were able to get to the chapel first. Upon arriving at Bubba's Chapel of Bliss and Tackle Shop, Blanche found her parents waiting for her. Surprisingly, Elizabeth gave Blanche and Deck her blessing -- knowing that once Deck had her mother's approval, Blanche would lose interest in him. Blanche gave Deck his ID bracelet back and went home with her parents, and when she asked her mother if she was mad at her, Elizabeth replied that it was the best Christmas Day she'd ever had.[15]

Blanche is a member of "the Alpha Gams" (Alpha Gamma Delta), but it's never mentioned what university she went to. While in college, she and Virginia began to vie for the affection of Ham Lushbough, the star quarterback on the college football team. Though Ham and Blanche flirted regularly, one day Ham began outright rejecting her advances. It was learned years later that Ham had spent the night with Virginia after mistaking her for Blanche, and the terrible sex led him to reject Blanche for decades after college.[26] Blanche mentions having attended Miss MacGyver's Finishing School in her early twenties, but was expelled after Miss MacGyver caught her having sex with a boy after the Fine Manners Ball. She was given a stern lecture that morning and then expelled, but Blanche remarked that she didn't care, as "(she) knew what ecstasy was".[27]

Mrs. George Devereaux

Over the course of the series, Blanche is revealed not to have been very "hands-on" as a mother, as she frequently left her children to nannies and housekeepers.[17] She had a strained relationship with both of her daughters, especially Janet, something that led to some of the most dramatic storylines, as she expressed regrets that she was not there for her children more, and it is loosely implied that she might have even been emotionally abusive to them when they were growing up.

From context in the series, George passed away nine years prior to the premiere of The Golden Girls, sometime in 1976.[4] Though the story is occasionally changed due to the show's consistency issues, the general details have remained the same -- while on his way home, George was hit head-on by a drunk driver.[28][29] Blanche was home alone when the phone rang, and while she was running to answer it, she tripped over a pair of George's shoes and exclaimed that she hated him.[29] When she answered the phone, a policeman on the other line asked her if she was George's wife, and then put her on hold for an hour. When he came back, he was eating chips and flippantly informed Blanche that George was dead.[28]

After George passed away, Blanche wore George's favorite red dress to his funeral, and according to Rose, even made a date at the funeral.[4] Her first date after his death was the minister who performed the funeral.

New Roommates

Following George's passing, Blanche continued living at the house by herself, occasionally taking roommates to help keep up with the house's mortgage payments. She previously took in a pair of older women, but kicked them out after she found out they bathed together and flossed each others' teeth. She then put an ad on the community bulletin board at her local supermarket, which attracted the attention of Rose Nylund and Dorothy Zbornak.[30]

Blanche's sister Virginia traveled to Miami to visit Blanche, but Blanche was very hostile towards her as she believed she was only coming because she wanted something from her. Upon learning that Virginia is dying from renal failure and a kidney transplant is her best hope for survival, Blanche goes into shock and initially rejects her. After being comforted by her friends, Blanche decides to bury the hatchet and ultimately decides to give her one of her kidneys. In the end however, Virginia finds another donor, as Blanche is not qualified.[21]

In the Season 6 episode "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy", Viola visited Blanche with some shocking news that kept Blanche in a tornado of emotions -- she had been having an affair with Blanche's father for nearly fifty years.[20]

The Golden Palace

On September 18th, 1992, Blanche used the money earned from selling her Miami ranch home to purchase The Golden Palace Hotel in downtown Miami.

Family tree

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Blanche and her sister Virginia; "Transplant" (1985)

Blanche has four siblings; Charmaine, Virginia, Tad, and Clayton. Blanche had troubling relationships with Charmaine and Virginia, and the three sisters were constantly at each others' throats while they were growing up. She also had an older brother named Tad, although the depth of their relationship isn't known as Tad spent much of his life in a mental institution. The only sibling Blanche had a positive relationship with was her youngest brother Clayton.

There are a total of five children mentioned throughout the series between Blanche and her late husband, George. There were two daughters, Janet and Rebecca, and three sons Biff, Doug, and "Skippy", all who were mentioned in the Season 3 episode "Bringing Up Baby". "Skippy" is thought to be a nickname for Blanche's youngest son, Matthew. In the same episode, Blanche mistakenly claims she has had four children instead of five. Some time throughout the series, Blanche learns in great horror that George had a sixth child, a son named David, as a result of having an affair against Blanche's awareness. Blanche also has at least four grandchildren: David, Melissa, and Sarah (all born to Janet, who married a "Yankee"), as well as Rebecca's daughter, Aurora. Blanche also has a strained relationship with her children -- there are numerous accounts when Blanche would express guilt and even regret to the other girls during their famous kitchen table chats. Blanche had five children of her own with George -- Janet, Rebecca, Biff, Doug, and Matthew. Blanche had an especially strained relationship with her daughter, Rebecca.

Career

For the majority of The Golden Girls, Blanche worked at an art museum. However, she held a number of smaller side occupations as well.

  • Caterer: For a time, Blanche and her roommates ran a wedding planning business called Miami Moms Catering. However, they ended up losing out on a sizable amount of money after their first client decided to elope with her fiancé.[31]

Casting and Development

Series creator Susan Harris wanted to create somewhat of a cross between Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche DuBois -- a scandalous, man-hungry, sexually-liberated woman who hunts down men of interest in striving hopes to search for her next true love. Though, at the same time, the character of Blanche Devereaux was quite possibly more Southern than Blanche DuBois. As Harris later described it, "Blanche was definitely the hardest character for us. We wanted very distinct characters, and that's why we placed their origins in different parts of the country."

As per Jim Colucci's extensive interviews and lengthy, in-depth scrutiny of all things golden in his book, The Golden Girls: An Authorized Look Behind the Lanai, producer Jay Sandrich wanted to cast the roles for the then-in production series.[32] After Sandrich, Junger Witt, Thomas, and Harris gathered together to discuss potential casting, the candidates were narrowed down to Betty White and Rue McClanahan. Betty White previously played the role of a sarcastic, promiscuous, and man-hungry character of Susan Ann Nivens in the 1973-1977 hit TV series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show.[32] Harris was previously executive producer of the hit TV series Maude, and worked closely with both Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur during the filming of all six seasons, and thus knew knew exactly how both McClanahan and Arthur performed solo as well as together in their acting dynamics and style. In Maude, Rue played Maude's best friend and next-door neighbor, the ditzy yet loyal Vivian Cavender-Harmon. Furthermore, Rue and Betty co-starred as the secondary main characters in the first two seasons of Mama's Family; Rue played the role of an uptight, sarcastic, sharp-tongued Aunt Frances Crowley, while Betty played the role of a snobbish, wealthy, and assertive Mary Ellen Harper-Jackson.[33]

10065936-0-image-a-74 1550696861909

Rue released her semi-raunchy autobiography, "My First Five Husbands... And The Ones Who Got Away" in 2007.

According to Paul Junger Witt, the casting team had zeroed in on Rue to play Rose, as she had always worked well with ensembles and carved out unique territory for herself. However, Rue was tired of playing pea-brained characters and found herself extremely drawn to Blanche's character after she had received the script. In an interview, Rue mentioned that her agent had told her the producers had Betty White in mind for Blanche, and she responded with "How could I go to work every day playing Rose? I knew instinctively that I was just too right for Blanche." Much to McClanahan's surprise, her agent had snapped, "Well, it's either that, or you don't do the series at all."

On the first day of rehearsal for Betty and McClanahan, Jay Sandrich interrupted the rehearsal to ask if McClanahan would play Blanche and Betty would play Rose. "It was a perfect switch, in hindsight." Betty White said in an interview with wildaboutmovies.com in 2004. McClanahan mentioned shortly that day following Betty White selected to play as Rose Nylund, "Betty was hysterical as Rose. Her eyes went wide and stayed that way for seven years. I used to call them her Little Orphan Annie eyes -- white ovals with nothing in them. The irony is that she's such and incredibly brilliant woman." In addition, Betty White recalled that "Rue took Blanche and went with her where I never would have had the guts to go. So, it just worked out beautifully."[32]

Blanche's Accent

Blanche's accent was supposed to be from Atlanta, Georgia. However, Rue McClanahan was born and brought up in Healdton, Oklahoma, and thus tried to play Blanche with a more Southern accent. However, as the women rehearsed the pilot episode in 1985, Jay Sandrich mentioned, "No, no, I don't want to hear a Southern accent. I want to hear your regular Oklahoma accent." Furthermore, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas mentioned to McClanahan that they agreed with the Oklahoma accent. When questioned about the accent, McClanahan said, "Okay, I know I'm not supposed to play it with a Southern accent. So, I have an idea. I'll do a real Mae West." Junger Witt added that he "needed to pick a voice that wasn't Rue that would work to help me create a character. Rue needed to pick a voice that wasn't her, that would work to help her create a character."[32]

Additionally, McClanahan let out a massive sigh of relief and responded that she was thrilled to play Blanche the way she wanted. "You can't just do your regular voice, your regular walk, your regular beliefs, your regular anything if you're creating a character," said McClanahan. "For example, Blanche's walk came to me very quickly after 'The Pilot'. That's not my natural walk. But, it's hers. And, I don't think there's anyone else on earth who walks like Blanche. Movement is very important to me in developing a role; and I think Blanche's walk showed self-assurance and her always being on top of the situation. If she was at The Rusty Anchor or on a date, she felt it was irresistible and beguiling. The shoes were a big part of it. The sound they made. I always have to know what a character is going to wear; and once I discovered the walk, Blanche always wore those slingbacks."[32]

Quotes

“My first was with Billy. Oh, I'll never forget it! That night under the dogwood tree, the air thick with perfume, and me with Billy. Or Bobby? Yes, that's right! Bobby! Or was it Ben? Oh, who knows. Anyway, it started with a B!”
— Blanche reminiscing about her first time
“Oh? Oh, I see, missy. So this is the thanks I get for all those cold nights when you were a baby crying, and I had to get up out of bed and grope around in the dark for my slippers and robe, make my way all the way downstairs and, scream for the governess?!”
— Blanche upon learning that her daughter Rebecca is having a child via artificial insemination; "The Accurate Conception" (1989)


Appearances

The Golden Girls (1985-1992)


The Golden Palace (1992-1993)

Empty Nest (1988-1995)


Nurses (1991-1994)

Template:NursesSeason1Appearances

Trivia

  • Over the course of The Golden Girls, Blanche has reportedly slept with at least 160 men.
  • Much like Blanche was the youngest of the Golden Girls, Rue McClanahan was the youngest of the four leading ladies. McClanahan was born in 1934, making her twelve years younger than both Arthur and White, and eleven years younger than Getty.
  • Blanche's love life seems to have drawn parallels from Rue McClanahan's love life. Similarly to Blanche, McClanahan rushed through relationships to get married and hitched, going through five failed marriages with all five ex-husbands and painful lawsuits with two of her ex-husbands. Moreover, McClanahan was in an average of one to two years of marriage.
  • In some instances throughout the series, some of the characters state Blanche's full name is either Blanche Marie Devereaux or Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux. This may be because of the inconsistencies throughout the series due to changing scriptwriters per handful of episodes. It is gathered that Blanche's full name is Blanche Elizabeth Marie Hollingsworth-Devereaux or simply Blanche Elizabeth Marie Devereaux.
    • In the series premiere, Blanche's last name was given as Hollingsworth. Again, due to the changing of scriptwriters throughout the series, Blanche's name was then "corrected". Hollingsworth became Blanche's maiden name, and Devereaux became her married name.
    • In "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy", Viola Watkins called her as "Blanche Marie Hollingsworth" because she was not aware that Blanche was married.[20]
    • Blanche receives her middle name from her mother. Dorothy notes in the episode about tearing down Blanche's grandmother's house that Blanche's initials spell "bed" -- Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux, although this leaves a continuity issue thanks to the existence of “Wham Bam Thank You Mammy”.
  • Blanche's doctor in or until the year 1992 was Amanda Riskin.
  • Blanche is claims that she lost her virginity when she was younger, but she could not remember if the first time was with a boy named Billy, a boy named Bobby, or a boy named Ben.
  • Upon the release of the series, Rue McClanahan put a clause in her contract that allowed her to keep every single clothing piece, jewelry, accessory that Blanche wore. Reportedly, through the whole seven seasons of The Golden Girls, McClanahan took home about a total of 500 of Blanche's outfits, filling a whooping eleven full-sized walk-in closets in her San Fernando Valley estate.
    • Furthermore, McClanahan decided to run a small gig on the side of a Blanche-inspired clothing line that she named initially as "Very McClanahan", which McClanahan changed to officially as "A Touch of Rue". McClanahan's concept of her Blanche-inspired clothing line of "A Touch of Rue" was to cater to women in their 40s and 50s to still look absolutely stunning and feel young just like Blanche Devereaux did. As per McClanahan, her line is "wearable in real life and available at affordable prices. This Touch of Rue garment may make you even more irresistible. We assume no responsibility for remarkable results."[34]
  • Blanche once caught Dorothy sneaking out of the kitchen naked with an Oreo in her mouth.[35]

Site Navigation

V - E - H
The Golden Girls characters
Main Cast Blanche Devereaux • Dorothy Zbornak • Rose Nylund • Sophia Petrillo
Recurring Cast Miles Webber • Salvadore Petrillo • Stanley Zbornak
Family members Alma Lindstrom • Angelo Grisanti, Jr. • Angela Petrillo • Angela Vecchio • Aurora Devereaux • Bridget Nylund • Brother Martin • Charmaine Hollingsworth • Charles Nylund, Sr. • Clayton Hollingsworth • Curtis Hollingsworth • Don Angelo Grisanti, Sr. • Elizabeth Hollingsworth • Gloria Harker • Gunter Lindstrom • Holly Lindstrom • David Blackmore • Jamie Devereaux • Janet Blackmore • Jim Harker • Kate Griffiths • Lucas Hollingsworth • Lucy Warren • Michael Zbornak • Phillip Petrillo • Rebecca Devereaux • Theodore Hollingsworth • Virginia Warren

Template:Hollingsworthfam

Template:Devereauxfam

References

  1. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episodes 1, "Sick and Tired, Part 1". Harris, Susan (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (September 23rd, 1989)
  2. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 1, "The Engagement". Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (September 14th, 1985)
  3. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 19, "72 Hours". Gamble, Tracy and Vazcy, Richard (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 17th, 1990)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 1, "The Engagement". Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (September 14th, 1985)
  5. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 21, "Little Sister". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (April 1, 1989)
  6. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 13, "The Bloom Is Off the Rose]". Lasker, Philip Jason (writers) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (January 5th, 1991)
  7. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 11, "Stand By Your Man". Whedon, Tom (writer) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (December 1st, 1990)
  8. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 1, "[Yes, We Have No Havanas]]". Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 8th, 1988)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 5, "The Triangle". Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Drake, Jim (director) (October 19th, 1985)
  10. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 7, "Strange Bedfellows". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (November 7th, 1987)
  11. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 22, “Diamond in the Rough”. Fischer, Jan and Weldner, William (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (March 21st, 1987)
  12. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 22, “Diamond in the Rough”. Fischer, Jan and Weldner, William (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (March 21st, 1987)
  13. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 14, "That Was No Lady". Sage, Liz (writer) & Drake, Jim (director) (December 21st, 1985)
  14. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 4, “Snap Out Of It”. Gamble, Tracy and Vaczy, Richard (writers) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (October 13th, 1990)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 25, "Mother's Day". Speer, Kathy and Grossman, Terry (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (May 7th, 1988)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 1, "End of the Curse". Harris, Susan (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (September 27th, 1986)
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 3, "The Accurate Conception". Parent, Gail (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 14th, 1989)
  18. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 14, "That Was No Lady". Sage, Liz (writer) & Drake, Jim (director) (December 21st, 1985)
  19. ↑ The Golden Palace, Season 1, Episode 22, "Tad". Cherry, Marc and Wooten, Jamie (writers) & Beyt, Peter D. (director) (April 16th, 1993)
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 5, "Wham, Bam, Thank You Mammy". Cherry, Marc and Wooten, Jamie (writers) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (October 20th, 1990)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 4, "Transplant". Harris, Susan (writer) & Bogart, Paul (director) (October 5th, 1985)
  22. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 18, “The Operation”. Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 8th, 1986)
  23. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 12, "The Sisters". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 3rd, 1987)
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 17, "Nice and Easy". Silverman, Stuart (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 1st, 1986)
  25. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 4, “It’s A Miserable Life.” Gordon, Scott Spencer (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (November 1st, 1986)
  26. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 3, "The One That Got Away". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 28th, 1988)
  27. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 7, "Family Affair". Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (November 22nd, 1986)
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 15, “In A Bed of Rose's”. Harris, Susan (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 11th, 1986)
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 9, "Mrs. George Devereaux". Gamble, Tracy and Vaczy, Richard (writers) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (November 17, 1990)
  30. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 25, "The Way We Met". Speer, Kathy and Grossman, Terry (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (May 10th, 1986)
  31. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 2, "One for the Money". Fanaro, Barry; Grossman, Terry; Hervey, Winifred; Nathan, Mort and Speer, Kathy (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (September 26th, 1987)
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Colucci, Jim. Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. Harper Collins Publishers Design, 2016.
  33. ↑ IMDb.com. (2020). Mama's family. IMDb. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from https://www.imdb.com/
  34. ↑ Farrell, Kelly; O'Connor, Anne Marie; Powell, Joanna. The Golden Girls: Special Collector's Edition, The Enduring Legacy of the Show that Won Our Hearts with Laughter. 2018.
  35. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 16, “The Truth Will Out”. Beavers, Susan (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) {January 18th, 1986)
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