Lillian is a major one-off character in the 1988 NBC sitcom The Golden Girls. She is a friend of Sophia's who was moved to a cheaper, run-down nursing home after her family was unable to keep up with the cost of keeping her at Shady Pines.
Lillian is portrayed by the late Ellen Albertini Dow.
Personality and Characteristics[]
Lillian is typically a kind and soft-spoken older woman, but she has frequent panic attacks and spells of amnesia due to her growing senility.
Biography[]
At some point in the past, Lillian was put in the Shady Pines nursing home, where she befriended Sophia Petrillo.
Sophia's Choice[]
Lillian's finances were no longer enough to fund her stay at Shady Pines, so she was transferred to a cheaper, more run-down nursing home called Sunny Pastures. After Sophia finds out about this, she convinces her daughter Dorothy to take her to Sunny Pastures to see her. Upon arriving at the home, Dorothy is shocked at how terrible things are there. Sophia decides to break Lillian out of the home and brings her roommate Rose along to help her do it. Dorothy tries to cover up the fact that Lydia was taken from the home by saying she's visiting them.
As Sophia tries to care for Lillian, Lillian suddenly begins to have a fit and shouts that she doesn't know any of the women. The next day, however, she is calm and sweet like nothing ever happened. The ladies realize that Lillian needs special care that they can't provide, and Dorothy and Sophia take their case to the Sunny Pastures manager. It's revealed that the staff are not intentionally mistreating their residents -- but Sunny Pastures is a non-profit nursing home and they simply can't secure proper funding to clear up their issues.
When Dorothy and Sophia return home, Rose reveals she has found a home that will help Lillian -- however, she will need an extra $150 a month as her own benefits don't cover it. Blanche chimes in that she will use her new bonus check to help pay for Lillian's living arrangements. Though the ladies are glad that they were able to help Lillian, they still don't feel like anything has changed. Dorothy remarks that they feel lousy because even though they were able to help Lillian, they weren't able to fix anything at Sunny Pastures, and Blanche remarks that even though Lillian was lucky, there are many, many more elderly people who are much worse off than she is.[1]
Appearances[]
The Golden Girls (1985-1992)[]
Season 4
| |||||
| 1. "Yes, We Have No Havanas": | Absent | 14. "Love Me Tender": | Absent | ||
| 2. "The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo": | Absent | 15. "Valentine's Day": | Absent | ||
| 3. "The One That Got Away": | Absent | 16."Two Rode Together": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Yokel Hero": | Absent | 17. "You Gotta Have Hope": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Bang the Drum, Stanley": | Absent | 18. "Fiddler On the Ropes": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Sophia's Wedding, Part 1": | Absent | 19. "Till Death Do We Volley": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Sophia's Wedding, Part 2": | Absent | 20. "High Anxiety": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket": | Absent | 21. "Little Sister": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Scared Straight": | Absent | 22. "Sophia's Choice": | Debut | ||
| 10. "Stan Takes a Wife": | Absent | 23. "Rites of Spring": | Absent | ||
| 11. "The Auction": | Absent | 24. "Foreign Exchange": | Absent | ||
| 12. "Blind Date": | Absent | 25. "We're Outta Here, Part 1": | Absent | ||
| 13. "The Impotence of Being Ernest": | Absent | 26. "We're Outta Here, Part 2": | Absent | ||
[]
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References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 22, “Sophia's Choice”. Gamble, Tracy and Vaczy, Richard (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (April 15th, 1989)