In the Royal Pains episode “The Good News Is…,” before Eddie’s (Henry Winkler) wedding, Hank (Mark Feuerstein) manages to reconcile his father Eddie and brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo). At the wedding, Hank also helps out when a wedding guest, Annette the theater legend, experiences confusion and memory loss.
That theater legend claim is legit. Annette is portrayed by Cloris Leachman. She was in the original run of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, among others. Leachman went on to dominate on TV (she holds the record of winning eight Primetime Emmy Awards) and she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Last Picture Show. Leachman is well-recognized for her roles as Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. More recently, she played Lois’s mother Ida Gorski on Malcolm in the Middle. Royal Pains airs Wednesdays at 10pm on USA.
