Dorothy Zbornak - Family

Family

Dorothy Petrillo was born in New York, New York, in July or August 1927 (though her age was stated as being 60 in the last season, this birth year would actually make her 63, and in an episode she says that she is a Leo), to Italian immigrants Sophia (Estelle Getty, who was actually a year younger than Arthur) and Salvadore Petrillo, and was nicknamed "Pussycat" by her mother, and "Spumoni Face" by her father. She has two younger siblings: brother Phil, a cross-dresser, who died later in the show's run; and a sister, Gloria, who was nicknamed "Kitten" and married into money, and with whom Dorothy was sometimes estranged. In the fourth season episode Foreign Exchange, Dorothy wondered whether she is the biological daughter of the Petrillos, since Dominic and Philomena Bosco claimed that the hospital switched babies. However, in the third season episode "Mother's Day," Sophia Petrillo's mother is also played by Bea Arthur, so it is implied that Dorothy and Sophia are biologically related (though in one episode Dorothy states that her grandmother was in her 90's when she was only a few years old, though it is never made clear if it is her paternal or maternal grandmother). In that episode and three others which took place in Dorothy's young adulthood, Dorothy Zbornak was portrayed by a tall, dark-haired actress named Lynnie Greene. In the episode "Clinton Avenue Memoirs," Dorothy was shown as a young child (played by Jandi Swanson) jealous of the attention that her parents were giving to her baby brother Phil, until her father tells her that he loves her very much.

She was a "bookworm", and an over-achiever in high school. Yet, she suffered from low self-esteem, in part because one previous boyfriend was emotionally abusive, while another one supposedly stood her up on the night of her prom (he later returns as a character played by Hal Linden). In reality, he did show up, but was disrespectful toward Sophia, who did not like the way he was dressed or his attitude, and turned him away, without telling Dorothy. Dejected, she later accepted a date with Stanley Zbornak (Herb Edelman) because she "felt she couldn't do any better". She became pregnant while still in high school, resulting in a shotgun wedding to Stan possibly in 1946 (however, in the Season 5 episode titled "An Illegitimate Concern," Dorothy states that her wedding date was June 1, 1949). The marriage produced two children: Kate and Michael, who both appeared on the show. However, possible continuity errors on the show make either of them far too young to be the result of Dorothy's teenage pregnancy. The child of that pregnancy would have been in their late 30's to mid 40's during the show's run, while Michael and Kate were clearly depicted as being in their 20's.

Stan and Dorothy eventually moved to Miami, but divorced after 38 years when Stan fell for a stewardess named Chrissy and ran off to Maui with her. In the first season episode "The Return of Dorothy's Ex," Stan mentions how they bought property together when honeymooning in Miami. Dorothy and Stan were frequently mentioned to have been married for 38 years at the time of their divorce, which occurred some time shortly before the show's 1985 premiere; However, in the episode "An Illegitimate Concern" Dorothy specifically mentions June 1, 1949 as her wedding date, making it impossible that she and Stan were married for 38 years. They would eventually make several attempts to reconcile, but never ultimately got back together.