Viola Watkins

Viola "Mammy" Watkins was a character who appears in the Season 6 episode of The Golden Girls titled "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy". The part of Viola is played in the episode by veteran stage/film actress and activist Ruby Dee.

About Viola and "Big Daddy"
When Viola,Blanche's former nanny,visits her in the episode "Wham,Bam,Thank You Mammy" in Season six, she reveals a shocking fact about her father Big Daddy upon his passing; that she and Big Daddy were an item and were deeply in love in a time when marriage in the Jim Crow South was illegal and interracial affairs which were known were not only taboo and frowned upon in society but in many cases were dangerous. When Blanche expresses disbelief that Big Daddy and Viola her black nanny had indeed had an affair, she claims Big Daddy was "a Republican and thus wouldn't do that sort of thing". Viola,who had come to Miami from Atlanta,where she lives and had heard about Big Daddy's death, to retreive a music box which she said that he wanted her to have; when Viola discloses the story of her affair with Big Daddy, Blanche,who still is in disbelief of their affair, also showed bitterness towards her for her leaving the Hollingsworth estate without explanation, having not forgiven her for her leaving; Viola explains that when Big Momma found out about the affair, she was forced to quit and that in another time, the two would have gotten married but couldn't in the Deep South at that time because of the strict laws at the time which prohibited interracial marriage.; she reveals love letters the two exchanged over the course of fifty years, which forces Blanche to accept the truth about her father. Mammy Watkins had stayed in contact with Curtis through their continued love letters and was able to secretly attend Blanche's wedding to her husband George by blending with the caterers. At the end of the episode, she and Blanche make up. She is not seen or mentioned again after this.