Angela Petrillo

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Angela Petrillo
Portrayed by	Brenda Vaccaro
Character Information
Nicknames	Big Sally
Gender	Female
Occupation(s)	Chief make-over artist in cosmetics at Bamberger's Welder (presumably)
Family Members
Spouses Phillip Petrillo (husband) † Children Harvey Petrillo (son) Five unnamed sons Four unnamed daughters Other Relatives Salvadore Petrillo (father in-law) † Sophia Petrillo (mother in-law) Dorothy Zbornak Gloria Harker (sisters in-law) Lucas Hollingsworth (brother in-law) Katherine Harker Kate Zbornak-Griffiths (nieces) Jim Harker Michael Zbornak (nephews) Angelo Grisanti, Jr. (uncle in-law) Angela Vecchio (aunt in-law) Stanley Zbornak (ex brother-in-law)
Romances
Phillip Zbornak (late husband)
Production Information
Appears In	The Golden Girls
Debuts in	"Ebbtide's Revenge" (The Golden Girls) (1990)
Final Appearance	"Ebbtide's Revenge" (1990)
Episode Count	1

Angela Petrillo (née Maclaverty) is a minor character in The Golden Girls. She is the widow of Sophia's son, Phil, and the mother of their ten children.

Angela made her only physical appearance in the Season 6 episode "Ebbtide's Revenge". She was portrayed by Brenda Vaccaro.

Biography

Background

In 1964, Angela married Phillip Petrillo, unknowingly in exchange for a dowry of two-million lire ($47 USD). Phil wore a wedding dress with a plunging neckline to their wedding. While his mother Sophia was deeply embarrassed by the dress, Angela and her family were extremely supportive and thought that Phil looked beautiful.

Phil and Angela allegedly lived in a trailer park in New Jersey. Angela loved Phil unconditionally, and they had ten children over the course of their marriage, one of which was named Harvey. Sophia resented Angela for allowing Phil to crossdress. It was later revealed that the dowry check Angela's father had given the Petrillos bounced, and Sophia used the bounced check as an excuse to hate Angela.

In the two-part episode "Golden Moments", Phil and Angela had an argument and she decided to leave him. Sophia decided that she needed to go live with Phil to help him pick up his pieces. The ladies tried to convince Sophia to stay with them, but just as they're about to give up, Phil and Angela send word that they've reconciled.

In "The Housekeeper", one of Phil and Angela's daughters got married, and Sophia made the trip to attend the wedding. Sophia mentioned the wedding was beautiful until the bride lifted her veil.

Death of Phil

In 1990, Phil died of a heart attack at the age of 55. While Angela stayed at Blanche's house, she learned with the help of Rose's experiences at a grief counseling center that Sophia wasn't just upset about the dowry, which Angela paid back to her, but the fact that she never stopped Phil's cross-dressing. Angela answered that he's been doing that all his life. Afterward, Sophia said that she always wondered what she said and did to make Phil the way he was, and Angela told her that he was a good man. Sophia broke down crying, and Angela hugged her.

Relationships

Phil Petrillo

To be added.

Sophia Petrillo

“The dress thing. Why didn't she stop the dress thing?”

— Sophia referring to Angela and Phil's wedding; "Ebbtide's Revenge" (1991)

Angela's mother-in-law. From the moment she began speaking about her, Sophia made it apparent that she didn't like Angela. She called her "Big Sally" because she knew Angela hated the nickname, and she refused to visit Phil due to her hatred of her. She even treated Angela poorly and insulted her at Phil's funeral. Days later, when Dorothy forced Angela and Sophia to confront each other, Sophia revealed she hated Angela because the two-million lire dowry check Angela's father wrote bounced. Despite Angela cutting her a check for the amount -- $47 USD -- Sophia was still snide with her and refused to accept it as an apology.

Thanks to the counselling training of Rose Nylund, however, it was revealed that the true reason Sophia resented Angela was because Angela did nothing to stop Phil from crossdressing.

Dorothy Zbornak

To be added.

Family tree

Mr. Petrillo †

Mrs. Petrillo †

Don Angelo Grisanti, Sr. †

Eleanor †

Uncle Nunzio †

Aunt Teresa †

Aunt Renata

Uncle Bruno †

Uncle Vito

Uncle Gino †

Salvadore Petrillo †

Sophia Petrillo

Regina Grisanti

Angela Vecchio

Carmine Vecchio †

Angelo Grisanti, Jr.

Philomena Grisanti †

Uncle Mario †

Stanley Zbornak

Dorothy Zbornak

Gloria Harker

Mr. Harker

Phillip Petrillo †

Angela Petrillo

Cousin Apollonia

Cousin Graziella

Dennis Griffiths

Kate Griffiths

Michael Zbornak

Lorraine Wagner

Katherine Harker

Jim Harker

Harvey Petrillo

Five sons

Four daughters

										Robby Zbornak

Appearances

Season 1
1. "The Engagement":	Absent	13. "A Little Romance":	Mentioned
2. "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding":	Absent	14. "That Was No Lady":	Absent
3. "Rose the Prude":	Absent	15. "In a Bed of Rose's":	Absent
4. "Transplant":	Absent	16."The Truth Will Out":	Absent
5. "The Triangle":	Absent	17. "Nice and Easy":	Absent
6. "On Golden Girls":	Absent	18. "The Operation":	Absent
7. "The Competition":	Absent	19. "Second Motherhood":	Absent
8. "Break-In":	Absent	20. "Adult Education":	Absent
9. "Blanche and the Younger Man":	Absent	21. "The Flu":	Absent
10. "The Heart Attack":	Absent	22. "Job Hunting":	Absent
11. "The Return of Dorothy's Ex":	Absent	23. "Blind Ambitions":	Absent
12. "The Custody Battle":	Absent	24. "Big Daddy":	Absent
25. "The Way We Met":			Absent

Season 3
1. "Old Friends":	Absent	14. "Blanche's Little Girl":	Absent
2. "One for the Money":	Absent	15. "Dorothy's New Friend":	Absent
3. "Bringing Up Baby":	Absent	16."Grab That Dough":	Absent
4. "The Housekeeper":	Absent	17. "My Brother, My Father":	Absent
5. "Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself":	Absent	18. "Golden Moments, Part 1":	Mentioned
6. "Letter to Gorbachev":	Absent	19. "Golden Moments, Part 2":	Absent
7. "Strange Bedfellows":	Absent	20. "And Ma Makes Three":	Absent
8. "Brotherly Love":	Absent	21. "Larceny and Old Lace":	Absent
9. "A Visit from Little Sven":	Absent	22. "Rose's Big Adventure":	Absent
10. "The Audit":	Absent	23. "Mixed Blessings":	Absent
11. "Three on a Couch":	Absent	24. "Mister Terrific":	Absent
12. "Charlie's Buddy":	Absent	25. "Mother's Day":	Absent
13. "The Artist":	Absent

Season 6
1. "Blanche Delivers":	Absent	14. "Sister of the Bride":	Absent
2. "Once, In St. Olaf":	Absent	15. "Miles to Go":	Absent
3. "If At Last You Do Succeed":	Absent	16. "There Goes the Bride, Part 1":	Absent
4. "Snap Out Of It":	Absent	17. "There Goes the Bride, Part 2":	Absent
5. "Wham, Bam, Thank You Mammy":	Absent	18. "Older and Wiser":	Absent
6. "Feelings":	Absent	19. "Melodrama":	Absent
7. "Zborn Again":	Absent	20. "Even Grandmas Get the Blues":	Absent
8. "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia?":	Absent	21. "Witness":	Absent
9. "Mrs. George Devereaux":	Absent	22. "What a Difference a Date Makes":	Absent
10. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... Before They Die":	Absent	23. "Love for Sale":	Absent
11. "Stand By Your Man":	Absent	24. "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 1":	Absent
12. "Ebbtide's Revenge":	Debut	25. "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 2":	Absent
13. "The Bloom Is Off the Rose":	Absent	26. "Henny Penny — Straight, No Chaser":	Absent

Trivia

• Angela and Phil are mentioned as having ten children in "A Little Romance", but in "Golden Moments" they have six, as Angela took four with her. It is possible that the writers made a mistake, or two of the missing four children had grown up and moved out.

Site Navigation

[v · e · ?] The Golden Girls characters Main Cast Leading Ladies Blanche Devereaux  •  Dorothy Zbornak  •  Rose Nylund  •  Sophia Petrillo Recurring Cast Miles Webber  •  Salvadore Petrillo  •  Stanley Zbornak Family Members Blanche's Family Aurora Devereaux  •  Charmaine Hollingsworth  •  Clayton Hollingsworth  •  Curtis Hollingsworth  •  David Blackmore  •  Elizabeth Hollingsworth  •  Jamie Devereaux  •  Janet Blackmore  •  Lucas Hollingsworth  •  Lucy Warren  •  Rebecca Devereaux  •  Theodore Hollingsworth  •  Virginia Warren Dorothy and Sophia's Family Angelo Grisanti, Jr.  •  Angela Petrillo  •  Angela Vecchio  •  Don Angelo Grisanti, Sr.  •  Gloria Harker  •  Jim Harker  •  Kate Griffiths  •  Michael Zbornak  •  Phillip Petrillo Rose's Family Alma Lindstrom  •  Bridget Nylund  •  Brother Martin  •  Charles Nylund, Sr.  •  Gunter Lindstrom  •  Holly Lindstrom