Sophia Petrillo
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3Sophia is best known for her wisecracks, put-downs and brazen remarks, often commenting on Dorothy’s lack of love life, Blanche’s promiscuity, and Rose’s stupidity. However, despite her sharp criticism of her daughter and housemates, she loves and cares for them deeply; she even sees Rose and Blanche as surrogate daughters. The other women usually seek Sophia out for advice, which Sophia is all too willing to share, usually beginning with her catchphrase, "Picture it…" Like Rose’s stories, Sophia's parables often end with a moral from which advice can be gleaned. These stories usually also involved historical figures, with Sophia claiming to have had trysts with Pablo Picasso, Sigmund Freud, and Winston Churchill, among others. She also claims to have befriended many famous people including Golda Meir, Mama Celeste, Mussolini, and claimed in the episode "Miles To Go" that Robert Frost was always nipping at her nose, confusing him with Jack Frost.
Sophia also has a tendency to be overly dramatic, as evidence in various episodes. In "Family Affair", she donned her mourning dress, complete with hat and opaque veil, after the ladies found Dorothy's son Michael in bed with Rose's daughter Bridget. She announced that she was in mourning as Michael was dead to her, and only took off the veil until Michael apologized to her and Dorothy, as well as promising to call her every month.[3]
Due to Sophia's Sicilian descent, there were regular hints in the series that she and her family have some mafia connections; she has made reference to several vendettas. It is even hinted that Sophia herself has done mob work. In "The Case of the Libertine Belle", she stated that that no one in her family had "ever left a body to be found". In "Rose's Big Adventure", Sophia also claimed to have been present at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to which she then took back stating, "Oh yeah, I was at the movies that day. All day." In "Valentine's Day,
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