Few TV shows have been as longlasting or impactful as The Golden Girls . The classic sitcom was a stark departure from the status quo, captivating audiences for decades .
To celebrate this incredible achievement, I’ve managed to piece together 10+ Golden Girls behind the scenes secrets that even diehard fans didn’t know. I hope you’ve brought some cheesecake — let’s dig in!
Rue McClanahan was the one who convinced Bea Arthur to take the job.
Early on, Bea was incredibly hesitant to accept her role.
Rue rang her on the telephone and won her over by insisting that it was the greatest script that she or Bea would ever read in their entire lives.
*The Golden Girls* ate a serious amount of cheesecake.
You know how there’s a Superman reference in every episode of Seinfeld ? Well, there’s a cheesecake in nearly every episode of The Golden Girls .
Over the course of the series, the actors are said to have consumed over 100 cheesecakes.
Estelle Getty had a serious case of stage fright.
At times it was so bad that Estelle would completely freeze up and forget her lines.
The crew had to write them on large cue cards to ensure she wouldn’t blank mid-scene.
The roles were reversed in the beginning.
Rue was supposed to play Rose, and Betty was originally supposed to be Blanche!
They were asked to switch roles during a table read by the producers and Betty White blew everyone away.
Show creator Susan Harris originally wanted Lee Grant to play Dorothy.
The pair had worked together previously on Harris’ failed sitcom, Fay .
Supposedly Lee wasn’t particularly thrilled about portraying a character who was old enough to be someone’s grandmother , so she passed.
There were three chairs at the table for a reason.
It seems strange that in a house with four people there were only three chairs at the table. But this was done for strategic reasons.
The crew didn’t want any of the girls to sit with their backs to the camera.
Betty White and Rue McClanahan had a fun way to help the time go by.
Shooting a TV show, while incredibly exciting, can also be incomprehensibly boring at times.
Whenever things started to drag, Rue and Betty would play word games with one another.
Queen Elizabeth II is a huge fan.
So much so that she invited the girls to perform for her at the Royal Variety Performance in London back in 1988.
They performed seven minutes of semi-censored material for her Majesty, according to an interview Bea Arthur gave to a British newspaper.
Rue McClanahan appreciated Blanche’s fashion sense.
So much so that she had a clause written into her contract that allowed her to keep all of Blanche ‘s clothes!
It’s a pretty pragmatic way to eliminate the need to go shopping, that’s for sure.
Elaine Stritch sabotaged her own audition.
Elaine Stritch was a Broadway and comedy legend. She may have very well won the part had she not immediately alienated the writer.
Elaine inserted an unscripted F-bomb into the dialogue. The CBS execs thought it was hilarious but the writer most certainly did not.
Rue McClanahan was constantly pulling pranks.
During a memorable Christmas episode, Blanche gives the girls a calendar of all the men she’s slept with.
Rue thought it would be funny to take pictures of the production crew and insert their pictures into the calendar!
The show introduced a new word to the world!
Unless you happen to be a Florida native , you’ve likely never heard the word Lanai before — I know I hadn’t.
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A Lanai is a rather fancy word to describe a porch.
Estelle Getty spent a lot of time in the makeup chair.
In real life, Estelle was actually younger than her TV daughter!
It took a minimum of 45 minutes every single day of shooting for the team to apply her facial makeup.
*The Golden Girls* Miami home was really in Los Angeles!
All of the shots that you see from the exterior of the house are real!
As a matter of fact, if you happen to have an extra $4 million just lying around, you can actually make an offer to buy the home!
There was a long-standing feud between Betty White and Bea Arthur.
According to Betty, Bea had a very difficult time handling her positive attitude .
Sometimes just the fact that Betty would be in a good mood was enough to make Bea furious.
