Betty White’s character, Rose Nylund, was the youngest of the four women in the household. However, Betty was actually senior to the rest of the actresses in real life and has even outlived all of her costars.
Sadly, Betty passed just a few weeks before her 100th birthday in 2021.
Bea Wasn’t Going to Play Her Role at First
The Golden Girls could have looked a lot different had things gone according to the original plan. Bea Arthur had actually initially turned down the role and the other actresses were all supposed to play different characters.
According to several insiders, Bea didn’t like how similar all of the characters were to the ones they had played on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Maude.
The Girl’s Loved to Play Together
Seriously! Betty White absolutely adored spending her time playing word and puzzle games, hence her appearance on countless game shows over the years! Betty’s enthusiasm for it all was quite infectious and eventually, Rue also wanted in on the fun.
The two women between filming would play together. We are sure this created quite an interesting bond.
Hey, Where’s my Chair?
Of the four main characters on The Golden Girls, only three of them had a seat at the kitchen table. But why?
As the kitchen was basically the main set of the show, producers had their angles all picked out and didn’t want any of the women to have their backs to the lens.
Real Life Inspiration
A lot of people did and still do relate to The Golden Girls. Men and women from all over the United States retire in Florida. It’s really no surprise that the characters and settings are inspired by actual people. Brandon Tartikoff, a producer from the network, used to visit a family member that lived in a similar situation.
After he witnessed the hilarious banter and the strong bonds, he knew he’d found some real television gold.