Buddy Rourke

The Golden Girls article

"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.

Buddy Rourke
Portrayed by	Milo O'Shea
Character Information
Gender	Male
Age	Unknown
Birthday	1930s
Occupation(s)	Former Unnamed position in the Army Pension Office's records department
Romances
Ex-Girlfriends Rose Nylund At least two ex-girlfriends
Production Information
Appears In	The Golden Girls
Debuts in	"Charlie's Buddy" (The Golden Girls, 1987)
Final Appearance	"Charlie's Buddy" (The Golden Girls, 1987)
Episode Count	1

Buddy Rourke is a major one-off character in the 1985 NBC sitcom The Golden Girls. He arrives in Miami to see Rose Nylund, claiming he was a member of Charlie's infantry during World War II and had developed a crush on Rose after reading the letters she'd sent Charlie. Charlie asks Rose to move to Boston with him, but Dorothy learns that not only had he not served in the war, but he had worked at the Army Pension Office, which was how he learned about Rose. Though Rose never learned this herself, she declined Buddy's offer to live with him and he went back to Boston.

Charlie appeared in the Season 3 episode "Charlie's Buddy". He was portrayed by veteran actor, the late Milo O'Shea.

Personality and Traits

Buddy Rourke is an older Irishman of average height, light gray hair and black eyebrows.

Biography

Early life

Buddy was presumably born in the 1930s in the backstreets of Boston, Massachusetts. Buddy didn't fight in World War II, but he did take a job in the records department of the Army Pension Office some time before 1942.

Retirement

Forty-five years later, Buddy retired from his position at the office. He used the information he had previously had access to in the records department to track down widowed pension beneficiaries to con them out of their war pensions. He would visit them in their home states claiming to have been a member of their late husband's infantry, giving the story that he had learned about them through letters they had sent to their husbands during the war. Buddy would romance the widows over a period of days and then ask them to return to Boston with him, convincing them to put up half of the cost of an apartment they would share together. Once the widow gave him the pension money, Buddy would pocket it and ghost them before finding a new victim.

In 1987, Buddy visited the home of Rose Nylund. the widow of 82nd Airborne Infantry Division veteran Charles Nylund, Sr. Buddy spun his usual story, claiming he'd served in the war with Charlie and knew Rose from the letters she'd sent him. From there, he took Rose on dates where she mainly reminisced about Charlie and St. Olaf. While Buddy enjoys hearing Rose's stories, he admits that he didn't have anybody home to send him letters and her letters to Charlie made him feel that somebody did care for him, but that he fell in love with Rose. He tells Rose that he wants her to move to Boston with him, and insists that they keep their finances separate after the move, asking her to put up half a down payment on an apartment before they leave.

Rose tells her roommates, Dorothy and Blanche, about Buddy's offer that night and decides to go with him. However, a suspicious Dorothy does some digging and learns the truth about Buddy -- he never fought in the war, and he was trying to con Rose out of her pension money like he had to several other women in the past. While Buddy knew about Rose and St Olaf, her overenthusiastic memory helped give him things to talk about. Dorothy tells Blanche what she learned, and the two of them worry about what is going to happen to Rose.

When Rose goes to meet Buddy, she declines his offer to live with him, as she loved the happiness he has given her, but she doesn't love him. She gives him Charlie's watch as a parting gift, but the guilty Buddy turns her down. He tells her that he doesn't want her to follow him and he leaves without taking the watch. While he initially promises to write her, he rescinds his promise as he knows he'll never make good on that promise.

Later that night, Dorothy goes to Sophia for advice about what to tell Rose, as she feels conflicted that Rose had been living a lie. Sophia tells Dorothy if Rose is happy and she wasn't harmed by Buddy's lies, then Dorothy should let her have that happiness.

Relationships

Rose Nylund

To be added.

Quotes

To be added.

Appearances

The Golden Girls (1985 - 1992)

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":	Absent
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":	Debut	25. "Mother's Day":	Absent
13. "The Artist":	Absent

Trivia

• If the federal government had known that Buddy had tried to scam multiple Army pension beneficiaries, then he would have been sent to prison long before having the chance to meet Rose.

Site Navigation

V - E - H Rose's Lovers
Main	Charles Nylund, Sr. • Miles Webber
Season 1	Al Beatty • Arnie Peterson • Jonathan Newman
Season 2	Isaac Q. Newton • Patrick Vaughn
Season 3	Al • Buddy Rourke • Mr. Terrific
Season 4	Ernest
Season 5	Buzz Mueller
Season 6	Mickey Moran