Bea Arthur vs Betty White
You can get a fairly good idea how cast members get along when one of them ‘goes up,’ that is makes a mistake that causes filming to pause.
I say 'fairly good idea' because they are still actors performing before a live audience so, of course, everyone is going to be on their best behavior. But sometimes a bit of animosity or impatience creeps in on an actor’s face.
"She was not that fond of me," Betty White said of co-star Bea Arthur. "She found me a pain in the neck sometimes. It was my positive attitude—and that made Bea mad sometimes. Sometimes if I was happy, she'd be furious!"
Arthur’s adopted son Matthew Sacks offered some insight into her ‘feud’ with Betty White, "My mom unknowingly carried the attitude that it was fun to have somebody to be angry at.” Given that Arthur’s character on the Golden Girls would frequently become irritated with White’s character’s daffiness, that undercurrent actually added to the comedy.
After the series ended, a drunken Arthur reportedly called Betty White a “c—t” backstage at an awards ceremony. Rue McClanahan explained her relationship with Marine Corps veteran Bea Arthur this way, “Bea and I didn’t have a lot of relationship going on. Bea is a very, very eccentric woman.”
Golden Girls writer-producer Stan Zimmerman was quoted as saying about Arthur, “I was scared of her at first. She’s an imposing person - she’s Maude!”
Fact is, Bea Arthur wanted to end the series after 5 seasons but was talked into doing another two years. Adding to tensions, Estelle Getty suffered from extreme stage fright and would sometimes freeze up before a scene. Still, each member of the core cast won Emmies for their performances.
Though the program left us in 1992 (new episodes anyway), Golden Girls remains without a doubt one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history.
Rose : I got caught up at work and I barely had time to pick up this cake. I wanted to make Sven feel welcome.Blanche: Rose! That cake is from the Get It While It’s Hot Erotic Bake Shop!Dorothy: looks at the cake Whoa-ho!Blanche: Why, Rose Nylund, why, that cake is in the shape of — Dorothy: Blanche, we know what it is. Rose: I thought it was in the shape of Florida!
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