Fans may not know how The Golden Girls made it onto TV as a show ahead of its time, but they do know that the quirky friendships between four retired women living in Miami brought all the laughter to a household that anyone could ask for.
There are a ton of interesting behind-the-scenes facts about the show that are sure to surprise some fans, and that shows viewers what the magic of TV is all about.
Either way, friendship is at the core of The Golden Girls.
It sets up the premise of the show when all the characters meet and end up rooming together, as well as sets the stage for all the zany and hilarious situations that Rose, Dorothy, Sophia, and Blanche find themselves in.
Partly due to its strong focus on friendship, fans are comparing the past hit sitcom to the present-day And Just Like That, which some are saying gives a modern look to the premise of The Golden Girls.
Sure, The Golden Girls was all about friendship, but were the actors actually friends off-screen?
Betty White and Fellow ‘Golden Girl’ Were Once Close Friends
Betty White and Bea Arthur hit the ground running with their roles in The Golden Girls and their friendship seems to have taken off in the same, tremendous light.
Arthur’s son, Matthew Saks, shared in one interview that White and Arthur once lived close to each other and that they would actually carpool together to get to set.
Rue McClanahan herself has mentioned in interviews that Arthur would refuse to go to lunch with her if Betty White wasn’t invited to join them.
All of these signs seem to point out that Arthur and White were once very close friends at the start of The Golden Girls; however, unfortunately, things did not stay merry between the two.
Tension Between Betty White And Bea Arthur
It may come as a surprise to fans, but Betty White and Bea Arthur had a strained relationship at times. Some fans attribute the strain to jealousy relating to The Golden Girls surrounding who got funnier lines and more screen time.
Other fans point to the fact that Betty White was the first actress on the show to be nominated for an Emmy.
Despite the fact that all four lead actresses would go on to be nominated, and win Emmy nominations of their own, the tension on the show unfortunately remained.
Bea Arthur Called Betty White The C-Word
Bea Arthur was a part of the Marine Corps, so it may not come as a shock to fans to know that used her fair share of curse words.
She used one choice curse word in particular for her co-star Betty White.
During a tribute to Bea Arthur, who passed away in 2009 from cancer, many friends and celebrities came to share their stories about the late star.
One of the friends who came was The Golden Girls co-star, Rue McClanahan, who shared a story that shocked the audience.
McClanahan reflected on a time she and her husband visited Arthur in 2002 during her one-woman show on Broadway. After McClanahan and her husband thanked Arthur for inviting them to her performance, things heated up.
McClanahan shared with the audience that Arthur took one of her long pauses, looked at McClanahan’s husband, and said, “I love Rue! Betty [White] is a cunt!”
This was not the first time that the public had become aware of the tension between the co-stars, but it was the first time one of the Golden Girls ever spoke about one another in that way.
Betty White’s Thoughts On Her Relationship With Bea Arthur
Betty White didn’t have a lot to say about her relationship with Bea Arthur for years after The Golden Girls ended. She broke her silence on the matter in 2011 during her book tour for her memoir, If You Ask Me.
One article shared that during the tour, White said, “Bea had a reserve. She was not that fond of me. She found me a pain in the neck sometimes.”
White added, “It was my positive attitude — and that made Bea mad sometimes. Sometimes if I was happy, she’d be furious!”
Although White’s comments about her relationship with her co-star don’t reveal exactly why the two weren’t close, it clearly seems that the ladies may have just had two big, different personalities that didn’t allow them to mesh together.
Bea Arthur And Rue McClanahan Were Close Friends
Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan met each other while filming the TV series All in the Family and its spin-off, Maude.
In the same tribute to Bea Arthur, McClanahan spoke about her former co-star’s softer side as she reflected on the comfort and support Arthur provided for her when McClanahan’s mother passed away during the first season of Maude.
According to McClanahan’s story, she called Arthur after learning about her mom’s passing. The Golden Girl invited her co-star over to stay the night, made up the guest bedroom, and laid next to McClanahan for hours to provide comfort.
In her speech, McClanahan said, “I felt for the first time in six days a feeling of peace coming over me. My grief dissipated.”
She added, “I guess she had that sort of motherly quality, didn’t she?”
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