Miriam Pataki

Miriam Pataki (born c. 1952), is a fictional character on Hey Arnold!.

As Olga and Helga's mother, she pretty much just mopes around the house all day, probably as a hint for having depression. In "Olga Comes Home", there's a huge hint of Miriam having depression: when Bob said that Olga can't mope around being depressed in her bed and Miriam said, "Sure she can, I do." She is also an alcoholic; she passes out all the time (and doesn't know where she is when she wakes up), and slurs her words. In the episode "Helga on the Couch", after she found Helga in her room with her Arnold shrine gear on, Miriam said, "I need a smoothie," which may further hint at possible alcoholism. On occasion, Miriam gives Olga's trophies some dusting, but without her around, Helga's and Big Bob's lives pretty much fall apart. Miriam is mostly indifferent to everything around her. However, she can surprise people with what she can do, when given the chance. At one time she was a world-class swimmer, but she dropped out of college to get married. She also won a bull-riding title in her youth. In "Road Trip", she is revealed to be a pretty good karaoke singer, as she won 2nd place in a Karaoke singing contest. Miriam was also very successful in running Big Bob's business when he was injured.

Miriam often is seen making smoothies, which probably is a sign of her alcoholism, and seems to be emotionally attached to her blender. Another hint to Miriam's alcoholism is that she oftens passes out on the couch and is sometimes seen waking up while on the couch, and makes up excuses like she's "looking for her keys". In "Helga and the Nanny", Bob and Miriam are talking about Miriam's community service job at the animal shelter. In "The Beeper Queen", Miriam drives Helga to school, and Arnold see's them pull up and asks if Miriam has gotten her driver's license back. Helga states that she has not, indicating that she possibly got her license suspended for DUI. In The Patakis Miriam was supposed to be shown twelve-stepping. Miriam mentions that when she was 15, it was the "summer of love," which was in 1967. This places her birth year around 1952 ("Road Trip").

Although Miriam quite often seems to favor Olga over Helga, she also shows ample concern for Helga. She constantly checks on Helga to make sure she is okay, and has been seen to bond well with her on multiple occasions. In "Olga Gets Engaged", it is revealed that she dropped out of college