‘80s Sitcom Stars Betty White, Bea Arthur ‘Couldn’t Warm Up to Each Other’ Outside of 'The Golden Girls'
Betty White and Bea Arthur were not friends outside of The Golden Girls. The veteran sitcom stars, who co-starred together on the NBC hit from 1985 to 1992, reportedly couldn’t stand each other in real life.
During a Golden Girls 40th anniversary event at NeueHouse Hollywood, co-producer Marsha Posner Williams shared details on the feud between the two TV stars.
“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 said, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The producer also claimed that Arthur repeatedly referred to White by using the "c-word.” “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 said.
One of the things Arthur reportedly hated was White’s habit of joking with the live studio audience between scenes. “Betty would break character in the middle of the show [and talk to the live audience], and Bea hated that,” Williams said.
In 2016, White’s son, Matthew Saks, told THR his mom didn’t “dig” White’s antics with the audience. “It’s just not the right time to talk to fans between takes,” he said. “It rubbed my mom the wrong way. ...My mom was the real deal. I think she felt she was more of an actress than Betty. Mom came from Broadway. Betty starred on a game show at one point.”
In his book The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, TV writer Stan Zimmerman noted he never felt tension between Arthur and White on set. But he added, "I only heard stories and recently learned, from producer Marsha Posner Williams on a podcast, that Bea thought Betty was two-faced.”
The Golden Girls starred Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, White as Rose Nylund, Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, and Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo. While the sitcom about four senior citizen friends was a hit for seven seasons, Williams said it was Arthur who said “no f---ing way” to continuing on for an eighth year.
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