Blossom (TV Series) - Characters

Characters

• Blossom Ruby Russo (Mayim Bialik) – Youngest child and only daughter of Nick and Maddy Russo. Best friend to Six. Longtime on-again off-again girlfriend of Vinnie. Learns many hard lessons from the lives of herself, her family and Six, including abuse, alcohol, drugs, divorce, and many more. Does not always get along with her stepmother Carol, but their relationship does improve over time. Blossom learns from Nick during the run that she was named after the jazz singer Blossom Dearie.

• Nicholas "Nick" Russo (Ted Wass) – Blossom, Joey and Tony's father. The main care giver for his three children after his wife, Maddy, leaves him. He works as a piano player, playing with various gigs with a wide range of bands. He later marries Carol, and becomes stepfather to Kennedy, and grandfather to Nash. Treats Six like his own daughter.

• Anthony "Tony" Russo (Michael Stoyanov) – A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, he has difficulty remembering four years of his life. He dates Playboy bunny Rhonda. Later he marries another woman, Shelly, in Las Vegas after falling off the wagon and getting drunk. He worked at a doughnut shop for a while before becoming a paramedic. He and Shelly welcome a son, Nash Metropolitan Russo, into the world in November 1994.

• Joseph "Joey" Russo (Joey Lawrence) – A not-so-smart baseball player and ladies man. The middle child. Can be sweet and smart when he wants to be. Gets accepted to Arizona State University, but decides to play professional baseball after graduating from high school. Makes everybody's day by saying "Whoa!". Realizes after years that he and Six are friends.

• Six Dorothy LeMeure (Jenna von Oÿ) – Best friend of Blossom. Has a crush on Joey. Parents are divorced. In the pilot, she alluded to the fact that she was named Six because of the number of beers her father fed to her mother in order to get her pregnant. Later, it was explained that she was given the name because she was the sixth child in her family, although none of her siblings were ever seen. Goes through many hard times including becoming an alcoholic, dating a married older man, and a pregnancy scare. Thought of the Russo family as her own family. Talks really fast when she is happy, angry, or nervous. Melissa Joan Hart was originally offered the role of Six, but passed on the role to take the lead role on Clarissa Explains It All instead. Von Oÿ was credited in the pilot's opening sequence, but for the first season was moved to the closing credits as a "guest star". Between the shooting of the Blossom pilot and its pickup as a regular series, von Oÿ had earned a part on the CBS sitcom Lenny (also from Witt/Thomas and Don Reo). With the cancellation of Lenny by March 1991, von Oÿ had reclaimed her originally intended status as a regular Blossom cast member, and in season two moved back to the opening credits.

• Carol (Finola Hughes) – English lady with a daughter named Kennedy. Marries Nick, and becomes stepmother of Blossom, Joey and Tony. Still gets along with 2nd ex-husband.

• Maddy Russo (Melissa Manchester) – Ex-wife of Nick, and mother of Tony, Joey and Blossom. Leaves them to have her own life, and moves to Paris. Returns a few years later to re-connect.

• Buzz Richman (Barnard Hughes) – Father of Maddy. Grandfather of Tony, Joey and Blossom. A war veteran, and has been married multiple times, but Ruby was his first and Maddy's mother. Loves women, cigars, jokes, and alcohol. Moves in with Nick for a while.

• Vinnie Bonitardi (David Lascher) – On-again, off-again boyfriend of Blossom. Nick did not always like him, but their relationship improves over time. Gets along with her family for the most part. Thought of as a tough guy, but can be quite sweet at times.

• Sharon LeMeure (Gail Edwards) – Mother of Six. Divorced. Dated Nick at one time. Tries to be a good mother, although Six gets in some trouble at times. Is almost identical to her daughter in several ways, including her habit of talking very fast when nervous, upset, or happy. She and her daughter have been known to mirror each other on several occasions.

• Shelly Lewis Russo (Samaria Graham) – Wife of Tony, and mother of Nash. She is an illustrator. She planned to get married to her boyfriend Roscoe in Vegas when she got drunk, married Tony, and fell in love. Gave birth to son Nash in the backseat of a vintage Nash Metropolitan.

• Kennedy (Courtney Chase) – A young, precocious English girl about 8 years old. Daughter of Carol and her Scottish ex-husband Graham. Has puppy love for Joey for a little while. Takes a little while but finally gets along with Tony and Blossom. Is best friend of Frank.