5 Celebrities TVLine Says You Forgot Guest Starred on Golden Girls
A lawyer with a clown’s calling
Dick Van Dyke played Ken Whittingham in the Season 5 episode “Love Under the Big Top.” Ken is a lawyer dating Dorothy who spends his free time dressing as a clown for sick children at a hospital. Dorothy expects Ken may propose when he says he has something important to discuss. Instead, he tells her he wants to leave law and become a full-time circus clown. After he helps keep Blanche and Rose out of jail, Ken and Dorothy end their relationship.
Mario Lopez as Dorothy’s student
In Season 2, Episode 21, “Dorothy’s Prized Pupil,” Mario Lopez played Mario Sanchez, a student receiving private tutoring from Dorothy. She is impressed by his essay about his first feelings in the United States, including the line, “In America, you always feel like you’re among friends,” as Lopez’s character says.
Dorothy enters the essay in a school-district contest, which Mario wins. After his photograph appears in a local newspaper, immigration officials pursue his case, and he is deported to his homeland despite efforts by him and Dorothy to fight it.
Clooney’s early television work
The article describes George Clooney as a major Hollywood star who began his career in television. Before his breakthrough as Dr. Doug Ross on ER, he played Detective Ryan Walker on Bodies of Evidence and had a semi-regular role on Roseanne.
The available account does not give details about Clooney’s appearance on The Golden Girls. It also mentions Sonny Bono, Alex Trebek and Burt Reynolds as brief cameo guests, while distinguishing them from the more substantial guest roles being discussed.
Key points
- Dick Van Dyke played lawyer Ken Whittingham, who hoped to become a full-time circus clown.
- Mario Lopez portrayed Dorothy’s student, whose winning essay brought immigration officials’ attention.
- George Clooney’s early television roles included Bodies of Evidence and Roseanne.
- Sonny Bono, Alex Trebek and Burt Reynolds appeared in brief cameos.