Golden Girls Wiki
Advertisement
Golden Girls Wiki
The Golden Girls opening screenshot

Betty White as Rose Nylund
"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.

Charmaine Gertrude Hollingsworth is the sister of Blanche, Virginia, Clayton, and Tad Hollingsworth.

Charmaine was mentioned numerous times throughout the series, and made her only on-screen appearance in the Season 5 episode "Sisters and Other Strangers". She was portrayed by veteran television and film actress Barbara Babcock.

Personality and Traits[]

When she was a child, Charmaine would feign fictious ailments to get out of doing chores and helping people, including heart flutters, a tipped uterus, and a spastic colon. Charmaine apparently never grew out of this habit, as she insisted that she had attached kidneys and thus couldn't be a donor for her sister Virginia, who was dying of renal failure.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Rose: I thought you had a sister, Charmaine.
Blanche: Oh, you can't count her! Why, she's an awful, selfish, neurotic woman who made me and Virginia miserable our entire lives!
— Blanche describes Charmaine to her roommates, "Transplant" (1985)

Charmaine is mentioned in the season one episode, Transplant, where Blanche and her other sister Virginia discuss Charmaine, and how when they were children, she would apparently feign illnesses and other conditions so she could get out of doing chores around the house. Later in the same episode, after Rose asks Blanche about Charmaine, Blanche comments that Charmaine made her and Virginia miserable their entire lives.[1]

In "Nice and Easy", Blanche mentions Charmaine while recalling the wild stunts she pulled during her teenage years. This included dropping out of school for a month to be a Magician's assistant, nearly eloping with a much older gas station attendant, as well as hitchhiking to New York and joining the Rockettes using a fake name; and that she was grateful Charmaine always found her and was able to talk sense into her.

When they were in high school, a jealous Charmaine challenged Blanche to a cheer contest to determine which one of them would be the new cheer captain. The two performed in front of the entire school, and by Blanche's own admission, she didn't perform very well. Though Charmaine had blown the contest out of the water, Blanche was picked as the new cheer captain -- not for her ability to cheer, but because she wore black lace panties with a French word written on the backside.[2]

In another episode, Blanche discusses how a man made a pass at her, and she told her sister, the only person she could trust, about what happened. Charmaine, upon hearing about this man, went over to his house with a gun and threatened to shoot him in the head if he ever tried it again. When Dorothy asks "just because he made a pass at you?", Blanche realizes she forgot to add that the man was Charmaine's husband. This could be either of her two sisters, but due to the animosity between Blanche and Virginia earlier, is more likely to be Charmaine.

Golden years[]

In Charmaine's only physical appearance, "Sisters and Other Strangers", Charmaine reveals that she is now the author of a book entitled Vixen: Story of a Woman. Based on the description of Vixen, who has "flaxen hair" and "a proud bosom", Blanche believed that the character was based on Blanche and her sexual escapades. It is later revealed that book is loosely based Charmaine's sexual escapades, and the sisters make up when they realize they have more in common with each other than they realized.[3]

Career[]

Charmaine began a writing career sometime before the events of "Sisters and Other Strangers".

Family tree[]

To be added.

Relationships[]

Blanche Devereaux[]

Charmaine's younger sister. Charmaine allegedly made the childhoods of Blanche and Virginia miserable.[4] When Blanche and Charmaine were in high school, a jealous Charmaine challenged Blanche to a cheer contest to determine which one of them would be the new cheer captain. The two performed in front of the entire school, and by Blanche's own admission, she didn't perform very well. Though Charmaine had blown the contest out of the water, Blanche was picked as the new cheer captain -- not for her ability to cheer, but because she wore black lace panties with a French word written on the backside. Blanche had no qualms about beating Charmaine, even decades later chuckling "That'll teach Charmaine to be Daddy's favorite".[5]

In "High Anxiety", Blanche discusses how a man made a pass at her, and she told Charmaine, the only person she could trust, about what had happened. Charmaine went over to the man's house with a gun and threatened to shoot him in the head if he ever tried it again. When Dorothy expressed shock at Charmaine's hostility, Blanche realizes she forgot to add that the man was Charmaine's husband.[6]

In Charmaine's only physical appearance, "Sisters and Other Strangers", Charmaine reveals that she is now the author of a book entitled Vixen: Story of a Woman. Based on the description of Vixen, Blanche believed that the character was based on her and her sexual escapades. It is later revealed that book is loosely based Charmaine's sexual escapades, and the sisters make up when they realize they have more in common with each other than they realized.[7]

Appearances[]

The Golden Girls (1985 - 1992)[]


Site Navigation[]

V - E - H
The Golden Girls characters
Main Cast Blanche DevereauxDorothy ZbornakRose NylundSophia Petrillo
Recurring Cast Miles WebberSalvadore PetrilloStanley Zbornak
Family members Alma LindstromAngelo Grisanti, Jr.Angela PetrilloAngela VecchioAurora DevereauxBridget NylundBrother MartinCharmaine HollingsworthCharles Nylund, Sr.Clayton HollingsworthCurtis HollingsworthDon Angelo Grisanti, Sr.Elizabeth HollingsworthGloria HarkerGunter LindstromHolly LindstromDavid BlackmoreJamie DevereauxJanet BlackmoreJim HarkerKate GriffithsLucas HollingsworthLucy WarrenMichael ZbornakPhillip PetrilloRebecca DevereauxTheodore HollingsworthVirginia Warren

References[]

  1. The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 4, "Transplant". Harris, Susan (writer) & Bogart, Paul (director) (October 5th, 1985)
  2. The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 12, "The Sisters". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 3rd, 1987)
  3. The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 21, "Sisters and Other Strangers". Cherry, Mark and Wooten, Jamie (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (March 3rd, 1990)
  4. The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 4, "Transplant". Harris, Susan (writer) & Bogart, Paul (director) (October 5th, 1985)
  5. The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 12, "The Sisters". Lloyd, Christopher (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 3rd, 1987)
  6. The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 20, “High Anxiety”. Weiss, Martin and Bruce, Robert (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (March 25th, 1989)
  7. The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 21, "Sisters and Other Strangers". Cherry, Mark and Wooten, Jamie (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (March 3rd, 1990)
Advertisement