Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's mother, was born in April 1906 in Sicily (in the episode "A Piece of Cake" it is revealed her 50th birthday was in April, 1956). She moved to New York, after she annulled her first (arranged) marriage to Guido Spirelli (she was also briefly engaged to a young man from her village, Augustine Bagatelli, as a teenager). Then, she married Salvatore Petrillo (played by Sid Melton ) and had three children with him, Dorothy, Phil (who sometimes cross-dressed), and Gloria (played by Doris Belack and, later, by Dena Dietrich ) who married rich. She was put away in a nursing home by Dorothy and comes to live with the girls when her retirement home, Shady Pines, burned to the ground. Sophia does not have many good things to say about the home, and alludes to poor treatment by the staff many times throughout the series' run, though at least once, she compliments their services. (However in " The Golden Palace ", Shady Pines is revealed as a resort-like facility with exceptional services.) Due to Sophia's Sicilian descent, there are constant hints in the series that she and her family have some mafia connections; she once stated that she had lived through "two world wars, fifteen vendettas, four operations and two Darrins in Bewitched".
Members of Sophia's family who have appeared on the program: her sister Angela (played by Nancy Walker ), her brother Angelo (played by Bill Dana ), her daughter Gloria, and, in flashbacks, her husband Sal, and her mother (played by Bea Arthur ), and Dorothy herself at a younger age, (played by Lyn Green ). Phil is never seen, but he passes away later on the series. At her son's funeral, Sophia ends the long feud she had with her daughter-in-law "Big Sally" (played by Brenda Vaccaro ). Sophia also married Max Weinstock (played by Jack Gilford ), Sal's long-time business parter, shortly after being reunited by the death of Max's wife. Sophia and Max later separated, but remained married.
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