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"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy." This article is incomplete. You can help the Golden Girls Wiki by expanding it. |
Kate Griffiths (nee Zbornak) is a minor character in The Golden Girls. She is the eldest child of Dorothy and Stanley Zbornak, and the older sister of Michael Zbornak. Kate was conceived when Dorothy and Stan had a one-night stand in the back of a Studebaker, which resulted in their shotgun wedding.
Kate appeared twice on the show, originally played by Lisa Jane Persky in Season 1, and later played by Deena Freeman in Season 2.
Personality and Characteristics[]
In Season 2, Kate discovered that Dennis was having an affair and chose to leave him. While she was still extremely angry with what Dennis had done, she still let him say his piece and willingly heard him out. Unlike Dorothy, who wanted to cut all ties with Stan after they divorced, Kate didn't want to end her marriage over her husband's affair. Instead, she wanted to try to work through the problems that led to Dennis cheating in the hopes that it wouldn't happen again.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Kate was born to the then-teenage Dorothy and Stanley Zbornak in the late 1940s, having been conceived through a one-night stand in the back of Stanley's Studebaker. Kate's conception was the reason her parents ended up getting married.[1] When Kate was two, her parents got a Schnauzer and let Kate name it. Because she was two, she named him Wawa.[2]
In third grade, Kate played Abraham Lincoln in a school play. According to Dorothy, Kate's freeing of the second graders moved the audience to tears. When she was young, she was an avid fan of Paul McCartney and had an overbite.
Marriage to Dennis Griffiths[]
Kate introduces Dennis to her mother; "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding" (1985)
When Kate was around thirty-eight years old, her father had a one-night stand with an airline stewardess and ran away with her to Maui.[1] He sent her mother a divorce through the mail, and Dorothy ended up getting Kate, her brother, and the family house in the divorce.[3] Six months before the events of "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding", Kate began seeing a podiatrist named Dennis Griffiths. Dennis eventually proposed and Kate accepted, and the two began planning a wedding in the Bahamas so that her father could attend.[4]
Kate with her mother; "Son-in-Law Dearest" (1987)
Kate travelled to Miami to introduce Dennis to Dorothy and tell her the news, but Dorothy was less than thrilled that Kate would be marrying in the Bahamas. Dorothy and her roommates convinced Kate and Dennis to hold the wedding in Miami, with their house serving as the reception venue. Kate agreed so long as Dorothy was able to restrain herself from fighting with Stan. Kate and Dennis's wedding went off without a hitch, but the reception was tense due to the poorly-contained animosity between her parents -- while Dorothy did her best to be civil, Stan repeatedly undermined and jokingly insulted Dorothy.[4]
Son-in-Law Dearest[]
Kate and Dennis later moved to New York and got an apartment there. They later began having problems in their marriage, unsuccessfully attempting to conceive a child. These marital strains led to Dennis having an affair with another woman, and Kate left for Miami to stay with her mother while she figured out what to do next. Dennis followed Kate to Miami and tried to convince her to come back home, much to the others' chagrin. Kate agreed to talk to Dennis, and as their conversation went on , the two agreed to reconcile their differences and try to work through their marital problems.[5]
Family[]
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| Mr. Petrillo † |
| Mrs. Petrillo † |
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| Don Angelo Grisanti, Sr. † |
| Eleanor † |
| Uncle Nunzio † |
| Aunt Teresa † |
| Aunt Renata |
| Uncle Bruno † |
| Uncle Vito |
| Uncle Gino † | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Salvadore Petrillo † |
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| Sophia Petrillo |
| Regina Grisanti |
| Angela Vecchio |
| Carmine Vecchio † |
| Angelo Grisanti, Jr. |
| Philomena Grisanti † |
| Uncle Mario † | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stanley Zbornak |
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| Dorothy Zbornak |
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| Gloria Harker |
| Mr. Harker |
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| Phillip Petrillo † |
| Angela Petrillo |
| Cousin Apollonia |
| Cousin Graziella | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dennis Griffiths |
| Kate Griffiths |
| Michael Zbornak |
| Lorraine Wagner |
| Katherine Harker |
| Jim Harker |
| Harvey Petrillo |
| Five sons |
| Four daughters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Robby Zbornak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career[]
Dorothy once mentioned that Kate is an interior decorator in New York.
Appearances[]
The Golden Girls (1985-1992)[]
Season 1
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| 1. "The Engagement": | Mentioned | 14. "That Was No Lady": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding": | Debut | 15. "In a Bed of Rose's": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Rose the Prude": | Absent | 16."The Truth Will Out": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Transplant": | Absent | 17. "Nice and Easy": | Absent | ||
| 5. "The Triangle": | Absent | 18. "The Operation": | Absent | ||
| 6. "On Golden Girls": | Absent | 19. "Second Motherhood": | Absent | ||
| 7. "The Competition": | Absent | 20. "Adult Education": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Break-In": | Absent | 21. "The Flu": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Blanche and the Younger Man": | Absent | 22. "Job Hunting": | Absent | ||
| 10. "The Heart Attack": | Absent | 23. "Blind Ambitions": | Absent | ||
| 11. "The Return of Dorothy's Ex": | Absent | 24. "Big Daddy": | Absent | ||
| 12. "The Custody Battle": | Absent | 25. "The Way We Met": | Absent | ||
| 13. "A Little Romance": | Absent | ||||
Season 2
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| 1. "End of the Curse": | Absent | 14. "The Actor": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Ladies of the Evening": | Absent | 15. "Before and After": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Take Him, He's Mine": | Absent | 16."And Then There Was One": | Absent | ||
| 4. "It's a Miserable Life": | Absent | 17. "Bedtime Story": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Isn't It Romantic": | Absent | 18. "Forgive Me, Father": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Big Daddy's Little Lady": | Absent | 19. "Long Day's Journey into Marinara": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Family Affair": | Absent | 20. "Whose Face is This, Anyway?": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Vacation": | Absent | 21. "Dorothy's Prized Pupil": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Joust Between Friends": | Absent | 22. "Diamond in the Rough": | Absent | ||
| 10. "Love, Rose": | Absent | 23. "Son-in-Law Dearest": | Appears | ||
| 11. "'Twas The Nightmare Before Christmas": | Absent | 24. "To Catch a Neighbor": | Absent | ||
| 12. "The Sisters": | Absent | 25. "A Piece of Cake": | Absent | ||
| 13. "The Stan Who Came to Dinner": | Absent | 26. "Empty Nests": | Absent | ||
Trivia[]
- Her age is a matter of inconsistency, as she should be around 40 if her parents were married for 38 years, then divorced for 1-2 years when her mother moved into Blanche's house. Yet she is portrayed to be in her 20s-30s.
- Kate may have had a child after making up with her husband, as Dorothy mentions buying a Batman toy for her grandson Robby. However, this could also be Michael's son with Lorraine. Kate might have had a child by the end of the series, as during "The Monkey Show" Stan and Dorothy at the end say they have grandchildren.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 1, "The Engagement". Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (September 14th, 1985)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 9, “Joust Between Friends”. Gordon, Scott Spencer (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (December 6, 1986)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 20, “Adult Education”. Berg, James and Zimmerman, Stan (writers) & Shea, Jack (director) (February 22nd, 1986)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 2, "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding". Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Bogart, Paul (director) (September 21st, 1985)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 23, “Son-in-Law Dearest”. Shea, Patt and Weiss, Harriet (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (April 11th, 1987)