The Only Recurring Cast Members Still Alive From The Golden Girls

Many classic sitcoms that have been around for a long time ended their run many years ago. As such, there are several old favorites that feature sitcom actors who have sadly passed away. Sometimes, a series might feature actors you may not even know are dead, but other shows make the inevitable laws of mortality easier to anticipate. 

The very premise of beloved NBC classic "The Golden Girls" puts it in this latter category. The sitcom revolves around a quartet of older women, and its series finale aired in 1992. It's not a massive surprise that all four members of the main cast have passed away — though it's worth noting that Rose Nylund actor Betty White lived until 2021, when she died at the age of 99. 

While the show revolves heavily around its four stars, there are many actors you forgot guest starred on "The Golden Girls," and the show always had a robust recurring cast. As such, White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty might not be with us anymore, but the following "Golden Girls" cast members are still alive. 

Lynnie Greene had one of the most daunting tasks on "The Golden Girls." As the actor who played young Dorothy Zbornak in the show's flashback scenes, she had to replicate Bea Arthur's iconic mannerisms and speech patterns. What's more, she had to capture Dorothy's signature acerbic chemistry with her mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty). Getty, as it happens, was actually a year younger than Arthur, so there was hardly a need to cast another actor to play a younger version of her character for the flashbacks. 

As anyone who's seen Greene on one of her four "Golden Girls" episodes can readily tell, she was immensely successful. Still, despite her talent as an actor, Greene was already nearing the end of her brief on-screen career during her tenure on the classic series. Apart from the NBC show and an obscure late-1970s sitcom called "On Our Own," her acting résumé consists of a handful of guest star roles and a small part in the 1984 romantic comedy "Over the Brooklyn Bridge." She hasn't acted since 1994. 

However, instead of walking away from the TV industry, she merely changed lanes. Going by Lyn Greene, she's made her mark as a successful behind-the-scenes operator. She's worked as a producer for shows like the Neil Patrick Harris-Tony Shalhoub sitcom "Stark Raving Mad," the FX plastic surgeon drama "Nip/Tuck," and Showtime's "Masters of Sex." She's also a writer who has penned scripts for each of the aforementioned shows, as well as other series like "J.A.G." and "The Crew."  

For a show that ran in the 1980s and early 1990s, "The Golden Girls" is remarkably inclusive and features a number of storylines that explore LGBTQ+ rights. One of the sitcom's most impactful gay characters is Blanche Devereaux's (Rue McClanahan) brother Clayton Hollingsworth (Monte Markham). Clayton only appears on two episodes, but they both cover pivotal moments in his life. Season 4's "Scared Straight" depicts the difficulty of coming out and how the person's loved ones handle the news, and Season 6's "Sister of the Bride" is effectively a same-sex marriage episode that introduces Clayton's partner, Doug (Michael Ayr). 

Apart from presenting Clayton as a well-rounded human being instead of a derogatory parody, "The Golden Girls" made an inspired choice by casting Markham in the role. A chiseled veteran actor who was known for his many Westerns, his starring roles on the TV shows "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and "The New Perry Mason," and his turn as the powerful "Seven Million Dollar Man" Barney Hiller on "The Six Million Dollar Man," he was just about as far removed from malicious LGBTQ+ stereotypes as you can get. As if to underline this, Markham's time on "The Golden Girls" partially coincided with his lengthy stint as senior lifeguard Captain Don Thorpe on the testosterone-heavy "Baywatch," of all shows. Apart from a few years' break between 2001 and 2008, he's continued to work steadily ever since, often tackling multiple projects per year. 

Dorothy Zbornak's daughter, Kate Griffiths, has a strange history on "The Golden Girls." She's an early-game character who appears on two episodes — Season 1's "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding" and Season 2's "Son-in-Law Dearest" — but she's played by two different actors. The first of them is Lisa Jane Persky, whose one-episode appearance in 1985 came just before a seriously busy time in her career.

Persky joined "The Golden Girls" with a handful of small movie roles and guest star appearances under her belt, but come 1986, she was everywhere. In that year alone, she appeared in no less than five different projects, including the Kathleen Turner-Nicolas Cage film "Peggy Sue Got Married" and Jim McBride's acclaimed crime film "The Big Easy." She continued to keep busy until she stopped acting in 2006, appearing in movies like "When Harry Met Sally" and shows like "The X-Files." Apart from her career in front of the camera, she's also a prolific writer and photographer, and was a notable figure in New York City's legendary punk music club CBGB during its 1970s heyday. 

The second actor to portray Kate Griffiths was "Too Close for Comfort" star Deena Freeman, who took over on "The Golden Girls" Season 2, Episode 23, "Son-in-Law Dearest." Her turn in the role sees Kate in a very different place than she was during Lisa Jane Persky's reign. While the character was getting married on Season 1, Season 2 features her first major marital crisis and explores the concepts of cheating and forgiveness.

Freeman has remained active in the entertainment industry well after her appearance on "The Golden Girls." She's made guest star appearances on numerous TV shows, from the Dick Van Dyke crime drama "Diagnosis Murder" to the CBS sci-fi drama "Intelligence." Additionally, she's appeared in a few movies and voiced several characters in Pixar-themed video games. She's also starred in many commercials and works as an acting and speech coach. 

Dorothy's other child on "The Golden Girls," musician Michael Zbornak, has slightly more screen time than Kate Griffiths. He appears on three episodes, and actor Scott Jacoby plays him each time. Essentially a disenfranchised drifter by nature, Michael is somewhat more bohemian than his sister, and often causes concern for his mother. 

While Jacoby is clearly one of the younger "Golden Girls" cast members, he was already an experienced performer when he landed the role of Michael. He started as a child actor in the late 1960s, and appeared in a long series of films and shows throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s, working in projects that ranged from horror to serious drama. Though he was still quite young when he appeared on "The Golden Girls," he was already near the end of his acting career. His most recent movie role in the horror sequel "Son of Darkness: To Die for II" is from 1991 — just two years after his final "Golden Girls" episode. In 2001, Jacoby briefly explored the other side of the camera as the co-writer and co-director of the punk documentary film "Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style," but apart from that he seems to have put the film industry behind him.