Thalia Menninger

Thalia Menninger, portrayed by the American actress Tuesday Weld, was the gold-digging dream girl in the CBS situation comedy series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959-1963). She appeared in only the first of the show's four seasons, although she did make a guest appearance in the episode "Birth of a Salesman" during the third season. On one episode, Thalia tried to convince Dobie Gillis, the hapless teenager whose father owned a small grocery store, to go to college to become a physician. Thalia was not so much interested in healing the sick but in the money made by doctors. She often shunned Dobie because she believed that he lacked prospects for financial success as an adult. Ironically, Dwayne Hickman, who played Dobie, was twenty-five at the time the series premiered, and Weld was just sixteen, but she had already, in real life, left her mother's home and purchased her own house.

Thalia's materialism is reflected in her quote: "Even if my father had kidneys of steel, my mother was younger than spring-time, and my sister was married to a trillionaire. . . I'd still want money!" Although regularly pursued by the smart but plain-looking Zelda Gilroy, portrayed by Sheila James, Dobie never really got over Thalia and the other prettier girls who paid him scant attention.

In the 1988 made-for-TV film, "Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis," Dobie had actually married Zelda and fathered a son, and Thalia was played by Connie Stevens. "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" in time was recognized for its role in the popular culture in the United States during the early 1960s.

References

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/dobie-gillis.htm

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