I don’t know if Michelle Pfeiffer auditioned for the role of Sonny Lumet on Bosom Buddies, but based on this photoshoot from around that time (see below) I think she certainly could’ve nailed the part of the show’s resident blonde bombshell.
The sitcom that launched the careers of Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari, Bosom Buddies aired for two seasons from 1980–82. In 1980 Michelle was definitely working the television circuit, having landed guest roles on CHiPs and Fantasy Island, plus steady gigs in two short-lived series, Delta House and B.A.D. Cats. It’s within the realm of possibility then that the young, fresh-faced Californian might’ve read for the part of the object of Kip Wilson’s (Hanks) affection. And in a leotard and high heels, she certainly looks the part!
In 1979 she’d even played a similar blonde bombshell in the dozen episodes of Delta House that aired before it was cancelled. That character, creatively called just “The Bombshell,” was a bubbly blonde in tight sweaters who didn’t seem to realize she was every man’s fantasy. Sounds familiar, huh? Donna Dixon, who won the part of Sonny on Bosom Buddies, went on to play her own version of Michelle’s Bombshell. Due to having just played a similar part in Delta House, it’s also just as likely Michelle didn’t go out for the part of Sonny, for that reason and because she was transitioning into her first feature films in 1980, starting with The Hollywood Knights.
Ultimately, Donna Dixon was so fantastic as the bodacious bombshell Sonny that I can’t imagine anyone else in role. I discovered Bosom Buddies in reruns just after it originally aired. It was my favorite show, and Dixon’s sexy dancer Sonny was definitely one of my first introductions to the “blonde bombshell” character type. With her breathy, Marilyn Monroe-style voice and sweet and compassionate demeanor, Dixon as Sonny was impossible not to crush over. She and Hanks were adorable together too. At least once every other week I repeat Kip’s charmingly dorky non sequitor, “Sonny, Sonny, Sonny, Sonny,” just because it’s been so ingrained in my pop culture vernacular for decades now.
Even though Donna Dixon absolutely nailed it, Michelle’s role as The Bombshell on Delta House shows that, circa 1980, she could’ve done a good job as Sonny herself. It’s the kind of role Michelle would very quickly move beyond, though. By 1982 she was breaking hearts as the ultra-cool Stephanie Zinone in Grease 2, the antithesis of a breathy-voiced blonde bombshell. There was no looking back after that. In hindsight, Michelle’s first couple of years as an actress working in television roles that mostly called for her to look pretty and frequently flash a sexy smile feels like someone else’s career. For a brief instant, she was literally The Bombshell, but her talent as an actress moved her beyond those roles very quickly.
Whether or not this little fantasy notion of mine ever happened, it’s fun to wonder if Baby Pfeiffer read for Sonny and Bosom Buddies. Either way, history played out pretty magnificently, with Donna Dixon making her mark as one of the sultriest blonde bombshells in television history. Plus, of course, Michelle Pfeiffer went on to become a movie star and critically acclaimed actress for forty years now. That’s a win all around, in my book.
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