No, neither Cher nor Jerry Lewis appeared in “The Golden Girls”, but they are connected via the show just the way Leonardo DiCaprio is connected to Patrick Stewart (via Quentin Tarantino’s appearance in “TGG”). Let’s play Six Degrees of “The Golden Girls”!
In 1960’s “Cinderfella”, Jerry Lewis’s fairy godfather was Ed Wynn, a character actor probably better known to kids today than superstars such as Doris Day or Rock Hudson due to his appearance in “Mary Poppins” playing Uncle Albert who floats higher the more he laughs (early stoner?). Ed Wynn’s son, Keenan Wynn, was also a famous character actor (in “For Me and My Gal” with Judy Garland, “Dr. Strangelove”, “Dallas”, to “Taxi” among hundreds of roles), and who appeared with Jerry Lewis in 1964’s “The Patsy”.
While watching “The Patsy” and looking up the Wynn family in Wikipedia, I discovered that Keenan Wynn’s grandaughter Jessica Keenan Wynn appeared in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” playing the younger version of Christine Baranski’s character Tanya; and of course, this movie featured an earthquake-inducing appearance by the one and only Cher.
So what connects Cher and the Wynn family and Jerry Lewis via “The Golden Girls”? It turns out that Jessica Keenan Wynn was born in 1986 and appeared as a baby in Season 2, Episode 16 of “TGG”! Not just a random baby but one that was central to the plot.
Once Jessica grew up, she continued in show business, racking up a lot of theatre credits (currently appearing off and on in “Beautiful” on Broadway) before appearing in “Mamma Mia 2”.
Anyhoo, here’s Cher’s big number in the film singing “Fernando” with Andy Garcia:
