Rose Nylund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rose Lindstrom Nylund was a fictional character featured on the popular 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls, and its spin-off The Golden Palace. She was portrayed by Betty White.
| Rose Nylund | |
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| First appearance | "The Engagement" |
| Information | |
| Age | 55 |
| Year of birth | 1930 |
| Occupation | Grief Counsellor |
| Family | Alma & Gunter Lindstrom, parents Holly Lindstrom & Lily Lindstrom, sisters |
| Relationships | Charlie Nylund (1948-1980) |
| Children | Kirsten Nylund, Charlie Nylund Jr., Bridget Nyland, Janella Nyland, Adam Nyland |
Rose was comically portrayed as naive and simple, although arguably the most kind-hearted. She was best known for her rambling, nonsensical stories about her bizarre hometown, St. Olaf, Minnesota, that her roommates endured with exasperated silence–and the occasional muttered insult.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Pre-1985
Rose was born out of wedlock in 1930 (she was 55 when the show began in September 1985) to a monk and his lover. Her biological mother died during childbirth and her father returned to the monastery. Her first few years of life were spent in an orphanage; during this time she developed a conviction that her biological father was Bob Hope, a belief she would retain until she met her real father toward the end of the series. She was adopted by Gunter and Alma Lindstrom, and raised on a dairy farm in St. Olaf, Minnesota. She had eight siblings (two of which were sisters and also named after flowers: Holly and Lily), and grew up very happy; she stated her parents loved all nine of them equally. It was growing up on a farm that gave Rose her deep love for animals.
Rose’s teenage years are somewhat of a mystery. It was stated that she attended St. Paul Business School and Rockport Community College, but also that she had never graduated from high school (due to a case of mono). She also lost the St. Olaf Butter Queen pageant as a teenager due to a case of "churn tampering." Her parents did not allow her to date until she was eighteen years old, and between her eighteenth birthday and her wedding day, she had over fifty boyfriends. One of these boyfriends was Charlie Nylund, a World War II veteran whom she had known since she was 7 years old (he sold her an insurance policy on her little red wagon). Charlie and Rose fell in love and married in 1948. Rose was a virgin on her wedding night.
Charlie and Rose had a long and happy marriage, and had five children: Bridget, Janella, Kirsten, Adam and Charlie, Jr. Of her children, only Bridget and Kirsten appeared on the show (although Kirsten was played by two different actresses).
Charlie and Rose were married for 32 years when he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1980. His heart attack came when he and Rose were in bed together, and this gave Rose a fear of sexual intimacy for several years thereafter.
After Charlie died, Rose stayed in St. Olaf for a while, but the harsh weather and houseful of memories prompted her to move to Miami, where she found work at a grief counseling center. (She was not very good at the job, herself stating "I have the highest suicide rate at the center!") Shortly before the series began, Rose was thrown out of her apartment for violating her lease (she found a stray cat and kept it as a pet). She went to a supermarket bulletin board to find a new place to rent, and ultimately met Blanche Devereaux there. Blanche offered her the room, and Rose moved in. She gave the cat to a little boy prior to finding Blanche's ad.
[edit] 1985-1993
Rose was laid off from her job at the grief counseling center in 1986, and briefly worked a minimum wage job as a waitress at a coffee shop before being rehired at the counseling center shortly after.
In December 1987, Rose briefly considered leaving Miami for Boston to move in with an old wartime friend of Charlie’s named Buddy Rourke. Dorothy found out that Rourke was a fraud who had repeatedly conned army wives out of their money, but couldn’t tell Rose in time. As it turned out, Rose turned down his offer because although she enjoyed reminiscing with him, she truly didn’t love him. She thanked him for rekindling her memories of Charlie and said goodbye. Dorothy wanted to tell Rose the truth about Buddy Rourke, but Sophia convinced her that, “if Rose is happy and there’s no harm done, let her have that.”
Rose won St. Olaf’s highest award, Woman of the Year, in November 1988. Unbeknownst to Rose, Dorothy and Blanche altered her list of achievements, making it impossible for Rose to lose. On the way to St. Olaf to the award ceremony, however, she found out about what Dorothy and Blanche did and refused to accept the award. The town named Rose the Woman of the Year anyway, stating she exhibited the principles for which the award stands (and because the other winner was disqualified for keeping her husband's skeleton in the closet).
In October 1989, the company Rose’s husband worked for went bankrupt and eliminated their pension plan. As a result, Rose was forced to look for a higher-paying job. She eventually did, as a personal assistant at a local TV news station. Later that year, Rose began dating college professor Miles Webber, her first significant relationship since Charlie’s death.
Although Rose had known she was adopted since she was a little girl, she did not know the identity of her birth parents (and had came to believe that Bob Hope was her father) until September 1990, when her birthfather was a patient in the hospital at which she volunteered. Although she was initially angry at her father for never wanting to meet her, she quickly forgave him. Like most of the main characters’ relatives, Rose’s birth father was never again seen nor mentioned on the show.
In January 1991, Rose found out that Miles was actually an accountant from Chicago named Nicholas Carbone, and had been placed in the Witness Protection Program due to his involvement with the mafia. After one of the mobsters Miles had put away died, Miles was able to leave witness protection and go back to Chicago. Rose eventually realized that she still loved Miles, and decided to move to Chicago with him. When it is revealed that the mobster had faked his death, Miles was forced to re-enter the program, and said goodbye to Rose. He returned to Miami in March 1991 because he missed Rose too much, but by then Rose had begun dating a man named Karl. Karl reveals himself to be the mobster who is after Miles, but soon is rearrested, leaving Miles free to stay with Rose in Miami. Rose and Miles briefly considered marriage in February 1992, but ultimately decided against it.
In May 1992, on the eve of Dorothy’s marriage to Blanche’s uncle Lucas, Rose initially decided to move in with her daughter Kirsten, but changed her mind when she realized she wouldn’t be needed there. Rose, Blanche and Sophia stayed in Miami after Dorothy’s wedding, and in September 1992 they purchased the Golden Palace Hotel, where Rose was in charge of housekeeping.
[edit] Hobbies
Although all four women volunteered their time, Rose was arguably the most involved in charity work. She drove a bookmobile, was a candystriper at a hospital and helped organize a charity talent show, among other things. She listed cheesemaking as a hobby on her resume, as well. She was a perennial runner up for a Volunteer of the Year award, even coming in second one year to a woman who was already dead.
[edit] Personality
Rose is portrayed as a naive, simple-minded yokel. While this is largely true, there are other sides to her personality as well. She has a nasty competitive streak, which is featured prominently in a November 1985 episode involving a bowling tournament, and a January 1989 episode in which she coaches a little league football team.
Rose has a tendency to scare easily, as illustrated in a November 1985 episode in which the ladies' house is robbed. Rose cares deeply for her friends and family, as well as all animals. She is also surprisingly agile for a woman her age; more than once she has demonstrated her unique dance skills, including her ability to do cartwheels.
[edit] Health issues
Rose suffered a number of major health problems during the series. In January 1987, she had an esophageal spasm that caused a near-death experience. In March 1989, Rose came clean about a decades-long addiction to prescription painkillers. Rose also endured an AIDS scare in February 1990, when she was alerted that a blood transfusion she had during an operation several years before may have been tainted with HIV. In late April/early May 1992, Rose suffered a major heart attack and had to have a triple bypass surgery.
Rose plans to have her head cryonically frozen before she dies, to be placed on another body and revived in the future. The other women also promised to have their heads frozen as well, if only to humor Rose.
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| Main Characters: | Dorothy Zbornak | Rose Nylund | Blanche Devereaux | Sophia Petrillo |
| Recurring Characters: | Lucas Hollingsworth | Stanley Zbornak |
| Episodes: | List of The Golden Girls episodes |
| Spinoffs & Related Series: | The Golden Palace | Empty Nest | Nurses |
| Other: | Susan Harris | "Thank You for Being a Friend" |
