7. Don Ameche
Rose loves her job as a candy striper down at the hospital she gets to help the sick, stay active, and meet new and interesting people. Things take a turn for the unexpected, though, when she meets someone a little too interesting a monk named Brother Martin, played by Academy Award winner Don Ameche, who claims to be Rose's father! Martin was living in a monastery in St. Olaf as young man when he made the acquaintance of a 19-year-old girl named Ingrid Kerklavoner. He briefly ignored his vows, and the two had a passionate affair. Martin soon had to leave St. Olaf, though, and he never found out his beloved was with child. When Ingrid died during childbirth, the baby was adopted by a loving couple the Lindstroms. By the time Martin learned of his daughter, she was already living a stable life that he chose not to disturb. Martin recounts the story for Rose, as she reminds him of Ingrid, and both are stunned by the revelations that ensue. Ameche plays Martin as kind and loving the father Rose deserves. Though initially she resents him, the two reconcile quickly, thanks to his warmth and Rose's forgiving nature. The best thing about the episode, though, is that the relationship sticks! There was no TV nonsense, like Martin dying during the surgery that brought him to the hospital or a DNA test dashing their newfound love. In the last scene with Martin and Rose together, they embrace sweetly again, it's what Rose deserves.