ALL IN
THE FAMILY/CBS/1971-83
*(Rob Reiner/costar) Mike Stivic, a
know-it-all, Polish-American college student
married to the daughter of a bigoted New York
loading dock foreman. Mike's liberal political
persuasion was constantly at odds with his
father-in-law, Archie with whom he lived while
going to school. Their shouting matches over a
variety of social issues often ended with Mike
being called a "dumb pinko-Commie Pollock" or a
"Meathead". Once Archie proclaimed “Sticks and
stones will break my bones but your are one dumb
Pollock.“ When Mike finally received his degree
in Sociology, he moved to California in 1978
with his wife, Gloria (Sally Struthers) and his
young son, Joey (Jason & Justin Draeger), thus
effectively being written out of the script.
During the 1982 season, he divorced his wife and
ran off to a commune to be a flower child. His
wife, Gloria resurfaced in a short-lived
spin-off GLORIA/CBS/1982-83 which dealt with her
struggles after the divorce.
ANGEL
STREET/CBS/1992
*(Pamela Gidley/costar) Dorothy
"Dotty" Paretsky, a cigarette-smoking police
detective of Polish-Catholic descent working for
the Violent Crimes Unit of the Chicago Police
Department. Dorothy grew up in the Polish Hill
section of Chicago also known as Angel Street.
She was teamed with a African-American female
partner.
ANYTHING BUT LOVE/ABC/1989-92
**(Holly Fulger) Robin Dulitski, a
dental hygientist and best friend of writer
Hannah Miller who owned the apartment building
in which Hannah lived. Robin has known Hannah
since she was five-years-old. They referred to
each other as Mrs. Schmenkman.
BANACEK/NBC/1972-74
*(George Peppard) Thomas Banacek, a
cool, suave Polish-American investigator who
assisted insurance companies in solving theft
and loss cases. His fees for his efforts
afforded him a luxurious home in the exclusive
Beacon Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts.
Banacek's mathematician father was born in
Warsaw, Poland. When he moved to American he
worked for an Insurance but after 20 years of
service he was replaced by a computer. His son,
Thomas remembers this little affront and now
says "I don’t; work for anybody, I work for
myself." Banacek charges 10% commission on the
value of any items recovered. George Peppard was
very popular with the Polish viewing audience
who reveled in his positive, non-stereotypical
persona. His character often dropped a Polish
proverb or two along the trail of his criminal
investigations. Some examples: "There's an old
Polish proverb that says"..."Just because a
dress is red satin, doesn't mean it comes off
easy"; "A truly wise man never plays leap frog
with a unicorn"; and "Only someone with nothing
to be sorry about smiles at the rear of an
elephant." The BANACEK series was originally
broadcast as a rotating segment of the NBC
WEDNESDAY MYSTERY MOVIE. See also "Irish"
section on MADIGAN.
BARNEY
MILLER/ABC/1975-82
**(Maxwell Gail) Detective Stanley "Wojo"
Wojohowicz, a naive, but lovable plainclothes
police officer working at the 12th Precinct, a
run-down police station located in Greenwich
Village in New York City. Wojo was single, loved
baseball and wore the oddest color combinations
when it came to his shirts and ties.
BLUE
THUNDER/ABC/1984
**(Dick Butkus) Officer Richard "Ski"
Butowski, a hulking policeman who assisted
special Los Angeles Police Department unit
responsible for "Blue Thunder," a high -tech
helicopter.
THE
BOBBY VINTON SHOW/SYN/1975-78
*(Bobby Vinton) Bobby Vinton, a
popular Polish-American singer who starred in
his own musical variety show that featured
songs, comedy sketches and animated shorts.
Polish-Americans who had already dubbed him the
"Polish Prince" adopted his song "My Melody of
Love" as their anthem.
CHINA
BEACH/ABC/1988-91
*(Marg Helenberger) Karen Charlene ("K.C.")
Koloski, a civilian prostitute and heroine
addict (born in Kansas City) working at the
China Beach R & R facility in Da Nang, Republic
of Vietnam during the late 1960s. K C. charges a
$100 an hour and has type "O" blood. During her
stay in Nam she befriended an Irish-American
nurse named Colleen McMurphy. In 1967 K. C. got
pregnant with a child fathered by General A. M.
Miller. She later gave up her baby (Karen) to a
Vietnamese woman as she said "until I get my
life together." Just before the Fall of Saigon,
she retrieves her child (played by Shay Aster)
and tells her to contact Boonie Lanier, a
soldier who loved her. Back in the states,
Boonie raised Karen as one of his own. K. C.
went on to become the owner of a diner and later
a high powered business woman. Christine Elise
played Karen during her college years.
C-16:
FBI/ABC/1997-98
*(Eric Close) Special Agent John
Olansky, Polish-American leader of a maverick
squad of FBI agents based in Los Angeles.
Olansky and his loyal agents get the job done by
not “going by the book.“
COACH/CBS/1989-97
**(Bill Faberbakke) Dauber Dybinski,
a slowwitted student assistant who worked with
Coach Hayden and the Screaming Eagles Football
Team at Minnesota State University.
CRUSADER/CBS/1955-56
**(Brian Keith) Matt Anders, a
freelance writer of Polish descent who helps
people escape the oppressive hands of
dictatorships and Commuist regimes. Matt's
mother died in a Polish concentration camp after
the Polish government was overthrown by
Communists.
DELTA
HOUSE/ABC/1979
*(Josh Mostel) Jim "Blotto" Blutarsky,
rowdy college transfer student living Delta
House a fraternity at Faber College in
Pennsylvania during 1962. Jim was the younger
brother of Bluto Blutarsky (played by John
Belushi), the guy who yelled "Food fight!" in
the movie "National Lampoon's Animal House"
(1978).
THE
DREW CAREY SHOW/ABC/1995+
**(Kathy Kinney) Mimi Bobeck,
overweight cosmetically-challenged secretary of
Polish heritage who worked at Winfred-Louder
Department Store in Cleveland. Mimi is mean,
vindictive, dresses in outrageously colorful
costumes and is the thorn in the side of
assistant director of personnel, Drew Carey.
Mimi later falls in love with Drew’s brother
Steve Carey and (horror of horrors) Mimi becomes
one of the family. Mimi often calls Drew Carey a
“pig” and not surprisingly, her catchphrase is
”Bite me, Pig.“
Mimi’s family heritage of
Polish is mentioned in the March 19, 1997
episode 42 "Two Drews and the Queen of Poland
Walk into a Bar" in which Mimi (a descendent of
Polish royalty) prepares to meet a neighborhood
man called the King of Poland with hopes of
becoming his queen. Unfortunately, the
Polish-American community wasn't amused by the
episode and references to Mimi’s Polish
heritage. In the June 3, 1997 issue of the PAC
NEWS Connection Frank Milewski, who heads the
Anti-Bigotry Committee remarked “The material
was so defamatory that we felt the issue had to
be taken up face-to-face basis...The problem
rests on two characters depicted as Polish on
the March 19th episode of the Drew Carey series.
One was “Mimi Bobeck,” a clown-like caricature
of a Polish woman who has not been given any
ethnic identity until this particular show. The
other was “Stan,” a vulgar and repulsive
individual holding himself out to “King of
Poland.” The PAC concerns were based on similar
complaints in the past as the cancellation of
the old “Dick Tracy“ series by another network
because Asian and Hispanic communities objected
to characters named “Jo Jitsu“ and Go Go Gomez.”
Chris Hikawa, Vice President of Broadcast
Standards & Practices at ABC, initially advised
the Anti-Bigotry Committee that “This storyline
in no way denigrated Polish-Americans. Mimi is
clearly proud of her Polish heritage and does
not exhibit any of the negative stereotyped
traits which are the basis of Polish jokes. We
believe that the program does not ridicule
Polish-Americans and regret that your were
offended.” But later Hikawa reached an agreement
with the producers of The Drew Carey Show
to have the episode entitled “Two Kings and a
Queen” edited for rebroadcast. The character of
the King of Poland will be eliminated from the
program." The PAC also proposed that ABC not
repeat the March 19th episode or put it into
syndication and stop identifying “Mimi” as
Polish. (Check out the related 1997 PAC News
Connection articles at http://www.polamcon.org).
Another character with a Polish surname is Lewis
Kiniski (played by Ryan Stiles), a janitor at
DrugCo Pharmaceutical Company. He has known Drew
Carey since they were kids growing up in
Cleveland. Lewis’ character can be borderline
philosophical but generally is just down right
stupid and “creepy.”
THE FACTS OF
LIFE/NBC/1979-88
*(Nancy McKeon/costar) Jo Polniaczek,
a tom-boyish young lady of Polish descent who
loved to putter with automobile and motorcycle
engines. Alex Rocco played her father, an ex-con
who got enough money together to send her to
Eastland, a suburban New York finishing school
for women where she roomed with a group of young
girls of varied backgrounds. The series followed
their development as friends. All four graduated
and lived with the school's former dietician
where they worked at her business (first a
gourmet shop and later a novelty shop). Claire
Malis appeared as Jo's infrequently seen mother,
Rose Polniaczek.
THE
FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES/NBC/ABC/1989-91
*(Tracy Nelson/costar) Stephanie
Oskowski, a streetwise young women of Polish
descent who joined the convent and later was to
be known as Sister Steve. She taught at St.
Michaels and helped Father Frank Dowling solve
crimes in the city of Chicago.
GAVILAN/NBC/1982-83
**(Kate Reid) Marion Jaworski,
Polish-American supervisor at California's
DeWitt Institute of Oceanography who assigned
projects to a former CIA agent named Gavilan.
GIMME A
BREAK/NBC/1981-87
*(Dolph Sweet) Carl Kanisky, a beefy,
widower police chief of polish descent who lived
in the suburban town of Glenlawn. His family
included Kari Michaelson as Katie; Lauri Hendler
as Julie; Lara Jill Miller as Samantha "Sam";
Pete Schrum as Uncle Ed Kanisky; and John Hoyt
as Grandpa Stanley Kanisky and Jane Dulo as
Grandma Mildred Kanisky. When the chief died (Dolph
Sweet died in real-life), Nell Harper, his black
housekeeper, took care of the children.
THE
GEORGE CARLIN SHOW/FOX/1994-95
**(Susan Sullivan) Kathleen Rachowski,
Polish-American owner of a pet store in New York
City where cabbie George O'Grady got dog food
supplies and got dates with shop's attractive
proprietress.
GLORIA/CBS/1982-83
*(Sally Struthers) Gloria Bunker-Stivic,
the ex-wife of Polish-American Michael Stivic
who abandoned Gloria to live on a California
commune on the sitcom ALL IN THE FAMILY. Gloria
now works in Upstate New York as a
veterinarian's assistant. Her little boy, Joey
Stivic was played by Christian Jacobs.
GRACE
UNDER FIRE/ABC/1993-1997
**(Casey Sander) Wade Z. Swoboda,
tall, blond, Polish-American police officer
living in Victory, Missouri next-door to series
title character (Grace). Also featured was
Nadine Swoboda, Wade,s wife. Wade is a Vietnam
veteran. He carried a silver cigarette case for
good luck. He once discovered that his name was
mistakenly displayed on the wall of the Vietnam
War Memorial. Later in the series, Wade became a
traffic helicopter pilot.
HARDBALL/NBC/1989-90
*(Richard Tyson/costar) Joe "Kaz"
Kaczierowski, a streetwise cop of polish descent
who worked with his detective partner at the
Metro Division of the Los Angeles Police
Department. Kaz's mother, Beverly Kaczierowski,
was played by Patricia Harty.
HAWAIIAN HEAT/ABC/1984
*(Jeff McCracken/costar) Andy
Senkowski, a Chicago police detective of Polish
descent who relocates to Hawaii with his partner
Mac Riley and eventually become undercover cops
for Major Taro Oshira of the Oahu Police
Department. Also featured was Shelley Winters as
Andy's mother, Florence Senkowski.
HENNESEY/CBS/1959-62
**(Henry Kulky) Max Bronsky, naval
orderly of Polish decent who was assigned to the
San Diego Naval Base in California. In the fall
of 1961 Max got promoted to Chief Petty Officer.
Also featured was Frank Gorshin as Seaman
Pulaski.
THE
HEIGHTS/FOX/1992
**(Zachary Throne) Lenny Wieckowski,
Polish-American worker at the Seven Seas
restaurant who plays keyboard with a blue-collar
rock and roll band called The Heights.
HILL
STREET BLUES/NBC/1981-87
**(Robert Prosky) Sgt. Stanislaus
Jablonski, a cynical police officer who
supervised the 7.A.M. roll call at Hill Street
station. After updating his fellow officers
about what was happening on the streets, he left
them with these parting words "Let's do it to
them before they do it to us." Jablonski's
predecessor Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (now deceased)
had ended each roll call with "And, hey! Let's
be careful out there."
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE
KIDS/SYN/1997+
*(Peter Scolari) Wayne Szalinsky, a
Polish-American research scientist who lives
with his lawyer wife, Diane in the town of
Matheson, Colorado, They share their home with
children Amy, a teenager and Nick, a boy
computer genius. Wayne’s ancestor “Lo Fat’
fought Ninjas.
HUNTER/NBC/1984-91
*(Darlanne Fluegel) Officer Joann
Molenski, a female policewoman of Polish descent
working with Detective Sergeant Rick Hunter in
the city of Los Angeles. Officer Molenski
replaced Officer Dee Dee McCall during the
1990-91 season. She was killed three months
later.
KANE &
ABEL/1985 (Miniseries)
*(Peter Strauss) Abel Rosnovski,,
wealthy businessman who created the world’s
largest chains of hotels. Before coming to New
York, Able [born in the Polish countryside]
spent many years working in Siberian prison
camp. Able now struggles to maintain his
business empire while doing battle with William
Kan, a wealthy Bostonian and Wall Street banker.
Abel’s relatives include Alberta Watson as Zofia
Rosnovski; and Kate McNeil as Florentyna
Rosnovski.
KAZ/CBS/1978-79
*(Ron Liebman) Martin "Kaz" Kazinsky,
an ex-cop, ex-auto thief, who passes the bar
exam and begins his career as an attorney at the
Los Angeles law firm of Bennett, Rheinhart and
Alquist.
KOLCHAK:
THE NIGHT STALKER/ABC/1974-75
*(Darren McGavin) Carl Kolchak, a
wisecracking journalist for the Chicago's
Independent News Service who usually returned
from his assignments with unbelievable tales of
vampire, werewolves, etc.
LAVERNE
& SHIRLEY/ABC/1976-83
**(David L. Lander) Lenny Kosnowski,
Milwaukee brewery truck driver (the dufus
sidekick of Squiggy Squiggman) who lived in the
same apartment complex as brewery coworkers,
Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney. Lenny's
family surname "Kosnowski" translated into
English means "Help! There is a hog in my
kitchen." His last name was "Kolowski" in
earlier episodes.
THE
LIBERACE SHOW/NBC/1952
*(Wladziu Valentino, aka Liberace)
Liberace, popular pianist Wladziu Valentino
("Lee" to his friends) who starred in this
network musical variety program. A syndicated
version of the program was filmed from 1953-55;
followed by THE LIBERACE SHOW/ABC/1958-59; and
then again he reappeared in his own CBS network
series in 1969. He often played the song "I'll
Be Seeing You" as a closing number. Liberace,
earned his nickname "Mr. Showmanship" for his
flamboyant stage shows which included glittering
wardrobes studded in sequins and
rhinestone-covered pianos. Liberace, a child
prodigy, soloed at the age of fifteen with the
Chicago symphony orchestra. During the
Depression, he played his piano in nightclubs to
help his family (using his first stage name of
Buster Keys).To give his act a little more class
in the 1940s, he placed a candelabrum on the top
of his piano. The most flashy part of his act
was his wardrobe. Originally, he wore a tuxedo
with tails and later dressed in a gold or plaid
jacket while performing. However, when his fans
began to out dress him, not to be outdone
Liberace began wearing more and more outrageous
costumes which eventually became an expensive
joke costing an average of $1,000,000 a year and
weighing in excess of 100 pounds a piece. But
with a reported salary of $250,000 a week, he
could afford it. Milton Berle recalled Liberace
once saying that one of his red glittering
jackets was actually "20,000 fire flies in
heat." Negative critiques of his performances
prompted Liberace to invent his now famous quote
"I cried all the way to the bank." Years later
he remarked, "Remember the bank I cried all the
way to?...I bought it." Liberace debuted on
local Los Angeles television in 1951, followed
by a summer musical variety series His last
public appearance was on the 1986 Christmas
telecast of the syndicated talk show series THE
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW. Liberace died in his
favorite Palm Springs home on February 4, 1987.
The Riverside County coroner, Raymond Carrillo
ruled his death (originally listed as congestive
heart failure brought on by inflammation of the
brain) as being due to complications brought on
by the AIDS virus. Memorial services were held
at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Las Vegas (a
town where he often played to sold-out
performances). His body was buried next to his
mother, Frances and brother, George in Forest
Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. In memory of the
ever-smiling performer whose appeal spanned all
age groups, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
placed a wreath on Liberace's star on the Walk
of Fame; and the Palm Springs City Hall flew
their flag at half mast. Artifacts of his career
are now displayed in The Liberace Museum in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83
**(John Schuck) Captain Walter
Koskiusko Waldowski, dentist stationed at the
4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital based in
Korea during the Korean War. Waldowski is
nicknamed “The Painless Pole” and widely known
as the ‘the best-equipped dentist in the Army.”
This Polish character although appearing in the
1970 Robert Altman film M*A*S*H never made it to
the TV series spin-off. In the film he planned
to commit suicide when he believed he was
experiencing “latent homosexuality” after not
being able to “get it on” with an Army nurse.
MAN
WITH A CAMERA/ABC/1958-60
*(Charles Bronson) Mike Kovac, New
York City photographer working freelance for
newspapers, insurance companies, etc. who helped
the police solve crimes. Other cast included
Ludwig Stossel as Anton Kovac, Mike's father.
Ludwig Stossel is remembered for his of
character "The Little Old Wine Maker" the sweet
little old spokesman for Italian Swiss Colony
wine who dressed in an Alpine hat and lederhosen
in a series of TV commercials in the 1960s.
MATT
HELM/ABC/1975-76
*(Lariane Stephens) Claire Kronski,
an attractive private practice attorney working
for Matt Helm, a former intelligence agent
turned private eye. Matt once described Claire
as "the most honest lawyer who ever lived, but
one of the sneakiest people I have ever known."
