Stanley Zbornak

Stanley Zbornak is a fictional tv character featured on The Golden Girls and played by Herb Edelman.

The Bane of Dorothy's existence
Stan was Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband, and was, for lack of a better term, a loser. He walked out on Dorothy after 38 years of marriage, after he had an affair with a flight attendant named Chrissy (whom he later married and divorced). Stan was also married to a woman named Katherine (Elinor Donahue), but that marriage also disintegrated.

Dorothy had her own terms for him. She has called him a "Dirtbag" and a "yellow-bellied sleazeball" among various epithets. On numerous occasions Dorothy also lamented his inconsistency at making love, namely his premature ejaculation.

Stan made his first appearance on the show in the first season, attending the wedding of his and Dorothy's daughter, Kate. At this point, Dorothy was still extremely resentful towards her ex, and confronted him after the ceremony to give him a piece of her mind. This stemmed from the fact that Stan had decided to have his lawyer call Dorothy and tell her that he was getting a divorce after leaving her, which Stan couldn't do face-to-face with Dorothy. This seemed to clear the air somewhat, and Dorothy's hatred gradually softened into mild annoyance where Stan was concerned. At one point, Stan sought Dorothy for comfort when Chrissy left him for a younger man; he and Dorothy subsequently had a one-night stand with each other, though Dorothy did not consider a reconciliation after that.

Stanley made several appearances on the show from time to time, usually showing up on the doorstep, saying his trademark line, "Hi, it's me, Stan", which would result in the door being slammed on his face or Dorothy uttering a cry of exasperation. Stan would come to the house whenever something had gone wrong in his life (which happened often), and needed Dorothy's shoulder to cry on. Dorothy, albeit reluctantly, would usually offer advice or words of sympathy, with the occasional barb thrown in for good measure.

Dorothy's roommates, Blanche Devereaux and Rose Nylund barely tolerated him, and Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's mother, was downright hostile to him. This never deflated the oblivious Stan, however.

Stan was, to be candid, one of life's losers. He was a novelty salesman, and judging from Dorothy's comments, not a very successful one. He was childish, selfish, and vain; even his own mother disliked him (though she pretended to pamper him). The one good thing about his life was his marriage to Dorothy, which he threw away (a fact he has lamented more than once). Even when he managed to persuade Dorothy to remarry him, he ruined it by asking her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement.

Stan never really stopped loving Dorothy, and had to live with the fact that he'd really messed up a good thing with his infidelity. Even when Dorothy was on the way to marry Lucas Hollingsworth in the final episode, he posed as her limo driver and pulled over on the side of the road to ask her if she really loved her fiancee. When Dorothy says yes, Stan intimates that he will always love her, and Dorothy says the same to him. He then takes her to the church "in style".

He attended the ceremony and when the minister asked if anyone objected to this pairing, Stan almost did so, but he decided to hold his peace. At that moment, he realized that his part in Dorothy's life was at an end. Although he would always be a part of her life, due to their children, Dorothy had moved on.

In an episode of The Golden Palace, Stan fakes his death to avoid taxes by the IRS and moves to Madrid.