Arlene Golonka obit

 

Arlene Golonka, Actress on Broadway and ‘Mayberry R.F.D.,’ Dies at 85

Her stage work included turns in 'Take Me Along,' 'Come Blow Your Horn' and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'

She was not on the list.

Arlene Golonka, the bubbly actress who starred on Broadway before working behind the counter at Boysinger’s Bakery on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. has died. She was 85.

Golonka died early Monday morning in her sleep at a memory care facility in West Hollywood after a battle with Alzheimer’s, her niece Stephanie Morton-Millstein told The Hollywood Reporter.

Early in her career, Golonka shared a New York apartment with Valerie Harper and played hookers on Broadway in Take Me Along and Kirk Douglas’ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She also was the object of two brothers’ affection in Neil Simon’s first play, Come Blow Your Horn.

She portrayed another prostitute opposite Clint Eastwood in Hang ‘Em High (1968) and was the wife of a CIA agent (Peter Falk) in The In-Laws (1979).

Golonka was introduced as Millie Hutchins during the eighth and final season (1967-68) of CBS’ The Andy Griffith Show. Her sweet, carefree character becomes engaged to county clerk Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson), but a long train trip on the way to the wedding makes it obvious they shouldn’t marry.

When the spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. premiered in September 1968, Golonka’s character was now named Millie Swanson and dating Sam Jones (series star Ken Berry), the head of the town council. She remained on that show for all three of its seasons.

Golonka also had three memorable guest-starring stints on other CBS comedies in the early ’70s. She played Betty Bowerchuck, the daughter of Chuckles the Clown and the girlfriend of Ted Knight, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the accident-prone Nurse Eddie on M*A*S*H; and an escort of one of Archie’s old pals (Larry Storch) on All in the Family.

Arlene Leanore Golonka was born in Chicago on Jan. 23, 1936. She studied at the Goodman Theatre in her hometown.

She came to New York and worked as a waitress before landing a part on Broadway in 1958 in The Night Circus. However, she had to return to her diner gig when the drama, starring Ben Gazzara and his wife, Janice Rule, closed after just seven performances.

Golonka found more security in her next Broadway outing, the musical comedy Take Me Along, which starred Jackie Gleason and Robert Morse and ran for 14 months through December 1960.

In 1961, she starred in Come Blow Your Horn, playing Peggy Evans (Jill St. John’s role in the 1963 movie version), then portrayed Candy Starr in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest from November 1963 until January 1964.

From 1964-66, she was in the Broadway comedies Ready When You Are, C.B.!, directed by Joshua Logan, and The Wayward Stork.

Around this time, she shared an apartment on West 101st Street and Riverside Drive with Harper, then a dancer on Broadway, and three other women; it was Golonka who encouraged Harper to try acting.

Golonka played several characters on a 1965 comedy album, You Don’t Have to Be Jewish, which soared to No. 9 on the Billboard charts. When she couldn’t do the follow-up record, she recommended Harper for the job.

In 1967, Golonka moved to Los Angeles to try her hand at television. She made numerous TV appearances on such series as Car 54, Where Are You?, Get Smart, Barnaby Jones in the episode titled “Bond of Fear” (04/15/1975);The Flying Nun, I Spy, That Girl, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, Cannon, Maude, The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D., Alice, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, One Day at a Time, The San Pedro Beach Bums, Taxi, Murder, She Wrote, The King of Queens, Valerie, Sunset Beat, and Matlock, among others.

 

Meanwhile, Golonka was appearing on television on Naked City, Car 54, Where Are You? and The Doctors and in such films as Love With the Proper Stranger (1963) and Arthur Hiller’s Penelope (1966), starring Natalie Wood. (Golonka played a prostitute named Honeysuckle Rose in that one).

She moved to Los Angeles and worked on shows like Get Smart, Barnaby Jones, The Flying Nun, That Girl, Maude, Alice, The Rockford Files, One Day at a Time, Taxi, Murder, She Wrote and The King of Queens.

She also did voice work on Speed Buggy, The New Yogi Bear Show, Capitol Critters and The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

Her film résumé included The Busy Body (1967), Welcome to Hard Times (1967), Airport ’77 (1977), The Last Married Couple in America (1980), My Tutor (1983) and The End of Innocence (1990).

Survivors include her sister, Zorine; nieces Stephanie, Susan, Amy, Debra, Lisa, Karen and Crissy; and nephews David and Michael.

Asked in a 1969 interview if she ever thought about taking a stage name, she replied: “I began to get recognition in the days when we had stars with names like Marlon Brando, Tab Hunter, Rory Calhoun, Rip Torn and Rock Hudson,” she said. “I just thought it would be nice to have an Arlene Golonka in there.”

Filmography

 

    1963: Love with the Proper Stranger as Marge (uncredited)

    1964: Diary of a Bachelor as Lois

    1965: Harvey Middleman, Fireman as Harriet

    1966: Penelope as Honeysuckle Rose

    1967: The Busy Body as Bobbi Brody

    1967: Welcome to Hard Times as Mae

    1968: Hang 'Em High as Jennifer

    1968–1971: Mayberry R.F.D. as Millie Hutchins-Swanson

    1972: M*A*S*H as Lieutenant Edwina “Eddie” Ferguson

    1973: Speed Buggy as Debbie (voice)

    1973: Sing a Song of Murder Barnaby Jones as Sue Paige

    1974: The Elevator (TV Movie) as Wendy Thompson

    1975: Maude as Maybelle season 4 episode 10

    1975: The Secret Night Caller as Charlotte

    1977: Airport '77 as Mrs. Jane Stern

    1979: The In-Laws as Jean Ricardo

    1980: The Last Married Couple in America as Sally Cooper

    1981: Longshot as Evelyn Gripp

    1981: Separate Ways as Annie Donahue

    1983: My Tutor as Mrs. Chrystal

    1986: Foxtrap as Emily

    1986: Detective School Dropouts (uncredited)

    1987: Survival Game as Barbara Hawkins

    1989: Dr. Alien as Mom

    1989: Trained to Kill as Martha Cooper

    1990: The Gumshoe Kid as Gracie Sherman

    1990: The End of Innocence as Claire

    1990: Murder, She Wrote as Gloria Winslow

    1993: Amore! as Acting Coach

    1995: Cops n Roberts

    1997: Leather Jacket Love Story

    2001: A Family Affair as Leah Rosen