Things weren’t always so golden between Betty White and Bea Arthur on the set of The Golden Girls.
While the late actresses seemed like best friends on screen for seven seasons of the hit sitcom, which aired from 1985 to 1992, co-producer Marsha Posner Williams is lifting the lid on their behind-the-scenes feud.
“When that red light was on [and the show was filming], there were no more professional people than those women, but when the red light was off, those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together,” Williams joked at an event celebrating the show’s 40th anniversary in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 18, per The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Williams, Arthur — who played Dorothy Zbornak — often referred to her costar using the C-word.
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Williams said that Arthur “used to call me at home and say, ‘I just ran into that [C-word] at the grocery store. I’m gonna write her a letter,’ and I said, ‘Bea, just get over it for crying out loud. Just get past it.’”
“I remember, my husband and I went over to Bea’s house a couple of times for dinner. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door, the c-word came out,” Williams recalled another time Arthur described White using colorful language.
Williams also recalled that things often got tense between the two on set. “Betty would break character in the middle of the show [and talk to the live audience], and Bea hated that,” she shared.
Golden Girls, which also starred Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, was a golden goose for NBC for seven seasons, though it could have run longer, said Williams.
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While the majority of the cast were in favor of continuing beyond season 7, Arthur was apparently the only holdout.
“The show would have continued after seven years. Their contracts were up and … the executives went to the ladies, and Estelle said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going,’ and Rue said, ‘Yes let’s keep going,’ and Betty said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going,’” she recalled. “And Bea said, ‘No f***ing way,’ and that’s why that show didn’t continue.”
Arthur died in 2009 at age 86, while White died in December 2021 at age 99. Their costars McClanahan and Getty died in 2010 and 2008, respectively. McClanahan was 76, and Getty was 84.
