The Golden Girls, which featured an ensemble cast led by Bea Arthur, ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992 on NBC. The series centers around Arthur, a middle-aged single woman, and her three roommates, played by Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. Over the course of 180 episodes, several celebrities guest-starred on the show, including such luminaries as George Clooney and Leslie Nielsen. Film buffs might find it interesting that one such guest star later became an Academy Award-winning film director. See if you can spot who we’re talking about in the clip below.
In case you find them, one of those Elvis Presley impersonators was played by a young Quentin Tarantino. While still trying to make it as a struggling actor, in 1988, Tarantino was cast in the Golden Girls episode “Sophia’s Wedding: Part 1.” As it turns out, landing the role of an Elvis lookalike was perfect for Tarantino because in the 1980s, he tended to unironically dress up like the famous rock and roll singer—pompadour and all. For that reason, a simple headshot was all the producers needed to see to offer him the part; they didn’t even ask him to audition.
Though it might not be apparent from that clip, Tarantino’s appearance on The Golden Girls helped him when he was trying to get his first film, 1992’s Reservoir Dogs, made a few years later. Not because he impressed anyone with his acting, but because of the residuals he earned from reruns. Since “Sophia’s Wedding” aired in two parts, Tarantino was paid each time those two episodes were shown—and they were eventually included in a “Best of” package, giving them even more exposure. When all was said and done, he earned somewhere in the vicinity of $3,000 for his contribution to comedy history.
That money came in handy when he started preproduction on Reservoir Dogs, which was released in 1992. Obviously, that was only the beginning for Tarantino, who has directed many acclaimed films since then and has won the Academy Award twice (for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained). And to think it was all because he liked to cosplay as a dead rock star.
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