50 Fun Facts About Touched by an Angel

Which civil rights icon made a cameo as herself in the Touched by an Angel episode 'Black Like Monica'?

Rosa Parks filmed the cameo in 1999, in an episode that turns Monica into a Black woman so she can feel a small Illinois town's bigotry first-hand.

Which boxing legend appears as himself to a bullied boy in the Touched by an Angel episode 'Fighting the Good Fight'?

Muhammad Ali appears as himself, and the angel Tess speaks for him to young Tim, who has taken up boxing to face his tormentors.

Which singer and ordained minister played Tess, the tough but loving boss of Monica, on Touched by an Angel?

Della Reese was already a pioneer: in 1969 she became the first Black woman to host her own talk show, simply titled Della.

On Touched by an Angel, Andrew, like Adam in the pilot, is the angel of what?

Death is Andrew's beat, and audiences took to him quickly: introduced as a recurring guest in season two, he was a regular by season three.

Which comedy legend guest-starred with her real-life daughter Carrie Hamilton in Touched by an Angel's 'The Comeback'?

Carol Burnett played a mother whose Broadway dreams were once ruined by a rival's dirty trick, with Carrie Hamilton as the daughter now chasing the same stage career.

Which Canadian singer appeared as herself in 'Psalm 151', a Touched by an Angel episode about a dying boy's wish list?

Celine Dion is the idol of the boy's best friend, a girl who goes by the name Celine herself. Dion also sang on the show's platinum-selling soundtrack album.

What red 1972 convertible, a gift in the first episode, does Tess drive throughout Touched by an Angel?

Cadillac Eldorado is the model, and Tess always takes the wheel. In the finale she hands the keys to Monica, who drives it away across the desert.

The Touched by an Angel actress who played trainee angel Gloria married which rock guitarist in 1981?

Eddie Van Halen stayed on good terms with her after their divorce: he and their son Wolfgang were both guests at her second wedding in 2011.

Monica, the caseworker angel of Touched by an Angel, speaks with the accent of which country?

Ireland is where Monica first set foot on Earth, and a sixth-season episode sends her back there to work with a group of teenagers from the north.

Where in the American West, far from Hollywood, were most episodes of Touched by an Angel produced?

Salt Lake City was home base from the pilot onward, and the Utah capital also hosted filming of the show's spin-off series.

Which broadcast network aired all nine seasons of Touched by an Angel, from the 1994 premiere to the 2003 finale?

CBS wanted an angel drama after its executives read a magazine story about how popular belief in angels was becoming in America.

Which actress, later a producer of The Bible miniseries, starred as Monica on Touched by an Angel?

Roma Downey owes her first name to two grandmothers, Rose and Mary: Ro plus Ma. She missed only two of the show's 211 episodes.

Which One Day at a Time star joined Touched by an Angel late in the run as trainee angel Gloria?

Valerie Bertinelli first appeared near the end of season seven as a brand-new angel, made to understand twenty-first-century life, then stayed for the last two seasons.

Which Touched by an Angel spin-off followed the Greene family as they toured America in a trailer helping strangers?

Promised Land ran for three seasons from 1996, and its first episode was shown as a special instalment of the parent series.

Which Spartacus star played an 83-year-old gym-chain owner in the Touched by an Angel episode 'Bar Mitzvah'?

Kirk Douglas played a proud self-made man who credits his recovery from a stroke to sheer willpower and thinks religion is for the weak.

Which boy band appeared with soprano Charlotte Church in the Touched by an Angel episode 'Voice of an Angel'?

NSYNC shared the bill in an episode where Monica, jealous of a girl's beautiful singing voice, walks off her assignment and ends up in a karaoke bar.

Which Little House on the Prairie star guest-starred with her then husband in Touched by an Angel's 'The Peacemaker'?

Melissa Gilbert and Bruce Boxleitner, married in real life at the time, played a couple whose marriage is coming apart after the loss of their son.

After Touched by an Angel, the actress who played Gloria starred alongside Betty White in which 2010s sitcom?

Hot in Cleveland ran from 2010 to 2015 and brought her a Screen Actors Guild nomination; she went on to host cooking shows for Food Network.

In Touched by an Angel's 'Beautiful Dreamer', Tess warns a boy by telling the story of which presidential assassin?

John Wilkes Booth is Tess's cautionary tale for a schoolboy who announces he wants to kill for a living: she spells out what shooting Abraham Lincoln went on to cost.

What reward does Monica finally earn in the Touched by an Angel finale after passing one last test?

Promotion to supervisor comes only after Monica offers to give it up and stay beside an innocent prisoner as his guardian; that sacrifice was the real test.

Which actor played Andrew, who joined Monica and Tess as a regular in Touched by an Angel's third season?

John Dye had once hoped to become a civil rights lawyer before acting won out. He also directed one episode of the series, in its final season.

In the Touched by an Angel episode 'The Peacemaker', what is the job of the husband facing divorce?

Hostage negotiator is the bitter irony of the story: a man paid to talk strangers out of a crisis cannot defuse the one at home, where grief for his son nearly ends his marriage.

The Touched by an Angel actress who played Tess toured as a teenager with which gospel great?

Mahalia Jackson heard her sing at 13 and put her in her road show. Decades later the actress became an ordained minister and founded a church of her own.

Which Dallas star played Mike, a lawyer turned small-town mayor, in the two-part Touched by an Angel finale?

Patrick Duffy's Mike agrees to defend the drifter a grieving town blames for a school explosion, though the jury still convicts.

Touched by an Angel's ratings fell sharply in season eight after a move from Sunday to which night?

Saturday proved costly: a top-ten show only two seasons earlier, the series was soon drawing about half of its old audience.

Which Olympic figure skating champion guest-starred in 'On Edge', a Touched by an Angel episode about a skater?

Tara Lipinski, a year after her gold medal, played Alex Thorpe, an Olympic hopeful who teaches a con man's daughter to skate before he finally owns up to his crimes.

Which A Different World star played Kathleen, a fallen angel and old friend of Monica, on Touched by an Angel?

Jasmine Guy's Kathleen kept coming back to undermine Monica, on one occasion setting out to ruin her performance evaluation.

Which country star played Audrey Carmichael, a jingle-writing single mother, in several Touched by an Angel episodes?

Wynonna Judd first played Audrey in a fifth-season story about her gravely ill son, then came back for two later visits from the angels.

From which heavenly division had Monica just moved up to casework when Touched by an Angel began?

Search and rescue was her third posting: Monica says she started out in the choir, moved on to annunciations, and only then joined the rescue squad.

A Touched by an Angel flashback shows Monica and Tess meeting during the first airing of which Orson Welles broadcast?

The War of the Worlds went out in October 1938, so by the show's reckoning the two angels had known each other for well over fifty years.

Which executive producer threw out the dark first pilot of Touched by an Angel and rewrote it with joyful angels?

Martha Williamson at first turned the job down, calling the original pilot upsetting, then phoned back to ask whether the post was still open.

Which country singer played Wayne Machulis, older brother of Joey, in several Touched by an Angel episodes?

Randy Travis's Wayne is the town sheriff by the finale, where he picks up his guitar and sings for the drifter held in his jail.

Which Happy Days star played Sophie, a homeless woman befriended by Monica, on Touched by an Angel?

Marion Ross came back as Sophie for the two-part finale. Her 1999 Emmy nomination for the series came for a different guest role, a mother who is losing her memory.

Which Major Dad star played Russell Greene, the laid-off father sent on a mission in Touched by an Angel?

Gerald McRaney introduced Russell on the parent show, then led its spin-off for three seasons as the family roamed the country helping people in need.

Which first lady did the Touched by an Angel actress behind Monica portray in a 1991 miniseries?

Jackie Kennedy it was: A Woman Named Jackie won the Emmy for outstanding miniseries in 1992, two years before she first appeared as the angel Monica.

Which cleft-surgery charity, the title of a Touched by an Angel episode, made the star behind Monica an ambassador?

Operation Smile lent its name to a story in which Monica babysits a girl born with a facial cleft whose mother keeps her out of sight; the actress later joined its missions abroad.

Which blues guitarist joined Al Jarreau and Dr. John as guest stars in the Touched by an Angel episode 'Indigo Angel'?

B.B. King turned up in a story set at a struggling blues club, where Tess proves to be the Countess, the singer who once put the place back on the map.

Gloria, the newly created trainee on Touched by an Angel, takes her name from which Christmas hymn?

Angels We Have Heard on High supplies the name: a little girl the new angel befriends picks it, and Tess coaxes Gloria into singing the hymn to her.

In the Touched by an Angel episode 'Jones vs. God', a South Dakota farmer takes God to court over what?

A drought is crippling his town, so he sues the Almighty; Tess acts as counsel for the defence and Monica is called as a witness.

In a Touched by an Angel Christmas episode, Monica tells Joey how she once met which American author?

Mark Twain's tale is how Monica keeps Joey company on a Christmas night when his brother has gone missing and only his truck has been found.

Which M*A*S*H actor played Satan, posing as a small-town prosecutor, in the Touched by an Angel finale?

David Ogden Stiers's devil goes by the plain name Jones, and he wins his case: the innocent drifter Monica is defending is found guilty.

In the Touched by an Angel finale, Monica's last case takes her to which aptly named Colorado town?

Ascension is still grieving a school boiler explosion from two years earlier, and its people had abandoned their pastor and stopped going to church.

What keepsake does Andrew give Monica as the angels part ways in the Touched by an Angel finale?

A pocket watch is his reminder of their friendship. Moments later Tess hands over her car keys, because she is leaving the job to sit at God's feet.

Which comedian guest-starred in the MADtv episode with 'Touched by an Atheist', a spoof of Touched by an Angel?

George Carlin was the guest star that week. The series was also sent up by an animated sitcom and in a Weird Al Yankovic song about television.

A story in which magazine about the growing belief in angels prompted the network to order Touched by an Angel?

Newsweek ran its piece while angels were everywhere in American culture, from a bestselling 1990 book about them to a Pulitzer-winning play.

Which Oscar-nominated star of Sounder played Sam, a senior angel who oversees Andrew, on Touched by an Angel?

Paul Winfield's Sam steps in during season two, taking over an assignment from Tess when her anger at a white supremacist group gets the better of her.

The Touched by an Angel actress who played Tess had a 1959 hit single adapted from which Puccini opera?

La bohème supplied the tune: the single reworked Musetta's Waltz and climbed to number two on the American pop chart.

Which Emmy-winning St. Elsewhere writer created Touched by an Angel, though the first pilot was scrapped as too dark?

John Masius made the angels of that first version dead people, one of whom revives a dog, and the network had it redone. He later created the drama Providence.

Which actor, the villain of Dumb and Dumber, played the recurring angel Adam on Touched by an Angel?

Charles Rocket's Adam turns up as early as the pilot, and the actor was still returning for guest spots in the ninth and final season.

Which Stargate actor played Rafael, the youthful angel who often helps Monica, Tess and Andrew on Touched by an Angel?

Alexis Cruz played Skaara in the original Stargate film and its television follow-up; his Rafael was the angel sent in when teenagers needed reaching.