Arlene Golonka

Arlene Golonka
As Millie Swanson in 1969.
Born	(1936-01-23) January 23, 1936 (age 81) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1958–2005
Spouse(s)	Larry Delaney (1969–1977; divorced) Michael Longo (1963–1967; divorced)

Arlene Golonka (born January 23, 1936) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Millie Swanson on the television comedies The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D., and often portrayed bubbly, eccentric blondes in supporting character roles on stage, film, and television.

Golonka was born in Chicago in 1936 of Polish descent. She began her acting career in her early teens and went professional in a troupe. After studying at the prestigious Goodman Theatre in Chicago, she made her way to New York City, where she studied with Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner and Uta Hagen.

A life member of The Actors Studio, She appeared in her first major production, The Night Circus with Ben Gazzara, at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut on November 17, 1958. After a week-long trial run, the play moved to Broadway on December 2, 1958, but closed after only seven performances.

Despite that setback, she continued working in other plays such as Take Me Along with Jackie Gleason, Walter Pidgeon and Robert Morse (448 performances from late 1959 to late 1960), Neil Simon's first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn, which ran 677 performances from February 1961 until October 1962, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Kirk Douglas, from November 1963 until January 1964. Golonka appeared in two other Broadway plays from 1965 to 1966, and also took on supporting roles in films produced in the New York City area.