Arlene Golonka

“I began to get recognition in the days when we had stars with names like Marlon Brando, Tab Hunter, Rory Calhoun, Rip Torn and Rock Hudson. I just thought it would be nice to have an Arlene Golonka in there.” –Arlene Golonka

Arline Leanore Golonka was born on January 23, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elinor Wroblewski Golonka and Frank Golonka. Her father passed away when she was two years old and her mother later married Edward Rejba. Elinor and Edward then had two children named Zorine and Jimmy.

Golonka was of Polish descent, living in a Chicago neighborhood and attending Wicker Park High School. A social worker encouraged her to follow her dream of becoming an actress.

Over the years, she worked as a waitress while also pursuing her interest in acting by appearing in summer stock productions as Arlene Golonka. She took singing and acting classes in her pre-teen years.

Eventually, she studied at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and the Second City, later becoming a member of The Actors Studio. She also performed at the Chicago Playboy Club and in the Hinsdale Summer Theatre’s production of Burlesque alongside Bert Lahr. Her roommate in New York City was Valerie Harper, who would also go on to realize a successful career in entertainment.

Following her first major production, The Night Circus, she performed at the Shubert Theater in Connecticut and on Broadway in 1958. Though the play closed after seven performances, her stage career continued with other Broadway productions, including Take Me Along; Come Blow Your Horn; and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She recorded a comedy album called You Don’t Have to Be Jewish in 1965.

By 1967, Golonka relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television. During this period, she made numerous appearances in small roles on The Flying Nun, Barnaby Jones, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D., and many more. She also occasionally provided voices in animated serials, including Yogi’s Treasure Hunt and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Her career also continued with supporting roles in over thirty films, along with Golonka teaching acting.