Ironically, the actress who played Sophia, Estelle Getty, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, Dorothy. Characters from both shows made occasional crossover guest appearances on the other show, with the four girls guesting on Empty Nest and Mulligan, Dinah Manoff, Kristy McNichol, David Leisure, and Park Overall appearing on The Golden Girls in their Empty Nest roles. In any event, Arthur chose to commit to a seventh and final season. According to Evans, "I wanted a sexy, soft, and flowing look for Rue, a tailored, pulled-together look for Bea, a down-home look for Betty, and comfort for Estelle. However, with some detective work, audiences can figure them out. The women's ages were usually not explicitly stated, although some deductive work gives a pretty safe estimate of how old each Golden Girl was at the start of the series. [69] One of the other girls then told a story from her own life, which somehow related to the problem (though Rose occasionally regaled the others with a nonsense story that had nothing to do with the situation, and Sophia told outrageous, made-up stories). However, it did so from a very different perspective. Sophia, Dorothys straight-talking mother, was the Golden Girls houses oldest figure. Its probable it examined a lot of the same scenarios as previous episodes. Your email address will not be published. In reality, all but one of the principal cast members of the Golden Girls had enormous age gaps between their true ages and the ages of their roles. Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). However, her popularity with audiences caused Sophia to become a main character in the series. Required fields are marked *. Blanche Devereaux, Dorothy Zbornak, and Sophia Petrillo managed the single life as seniors in Miami for seven seasons. For example, in the pilot episode, Blanche states that she is 54 going on 55, which would mean that her age at the start of the show was 54. However, there are some clues that can be found in the show itself. Finally, Sophia is stated to be in her late 70s, suggesting that she was between 77 and 79. Sophia, Dorothys straight-talking mother, was the Golden Girls houses oldest figure. Despite fan theories that the actresses were playing characters much younger than their actual age, Rue McClanahan's age in 1985 was 52, one year younger than her character on the show. Here We Go Again: My Life in Television. Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. Mulligan and Manoff were alumni from one of Susan Harris' earlier shows, Soap. (season two, episode five). Estelle Getty, who portrayed Sophia, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy, Sophias daughter. In the first season of Golden Girls, it is revealed that Rose (Betty White's character) was 55. Although Getty was impressive, the show's producers went with another actress. According to the calculations, Dorothy was 53 at the start of the series, according to the, Blanche was 17 in 1949, according to Season 3, Episode 25, , Blanche lied to her housemates about her age so easily (and Sophia promptly called her out and said shed be 70 when the kid graduated), its reasonable to, Fun Things to Do for Mothers Day Filled With Activities, Hilarious Thanksgiving Puns for Your Friends and Family, 60 Sweet Merry Christmas Wishes for Mothers 2021 Update, Applauding Employee Appreciation Quotes Befitting for Hardworking Staff, Heart Warming One Month Anniversary Wishes Latest Update 2021, Adorable Thanks for Birthday Wishes Messages to Send Someone. Arguably the main protagonist of the show, Blanche Devereaux is portrayed by Rue McClanahan. This led into the spin-off series, The Golden Palace. One such source is the actors who played the characters. She loves spending quality time with her friends, family, and puppy Luna! The Golden Girls first aired on September 14, 1985, and it continues to appeal to both young and older audiences. Win free shoes, organize your shoe closet, see the latest styles + more, About Do you have knowledge or insights to share? Blanche (played by Rue McClanahan) was thought to be around 47 years old in the first season of Golden Girls. [24] Though her vision of a sitcom about women in their 60s differed from NBC's request for a comedy about women around 40 years old,[27] Littlefield was impressed when he received her pilot script and subsequently approved production of it. (Photo Credit: MovieStills DB). After some careful math, viewers also figured out that Dorothy (played by Bea Arthur) was supposed to be 53. "[44] Writer Christopher Lloyd explained that the usual situation was for all of the more junior writers to be assigned the same scene to write, with the one judged the best version becoming the one chosen. We can also look at other clues from the show itself. Subscribe Although the four main stars appeared to have good chemistry onscreen, there was some tension on the set between Betty White and Bea Arthur, whose personalities clashed during filming. The character of Blanche Devereaux appeared in a total of 8 seasons and a total of 204 full episodes in both The Golden Girls (total of 7 . The program is about four elderly ladies who live . It could also be because the show was trying to emphasize the idea that age is just a number and that life does not end at a certain age. How Old Was Rose Nylund On Golden Girls? [59], Costume designer Judy Evans created distinctive looks for each of the four actresses to suit their characters' personalities and to reflect the Florida setting. Another brief run of the show began on 27 April 2020 till summer 2020 on Channel 5, but only showed episodes up to the season-four finale and is returning to Channel 4 starting from early 2022. [52][53] Debbie Reynolds was brought on as a guest star in the season six episode "There Goes the Bride: Part 2" to test her chemistry with the other actresses as a possible replacement for Arthur, but producers decided that nobody could replicate the chemistry of the four original actresses. The owner of the house is a widow named Blanche Devereaux (McClanahan), who was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund (White) and divorce Dorothy Zbornak (Arthur) after they both responded to an ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store a year before the start of the series. Empty Nest launched its own spin-off in 1991 set in Miami in the same hospital where Dr. Weston worked. The Golden Girls is an American comedy that was produced by Susan Harris and aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. After some careful math, viewers also figured out that Dorothy (played by Bea Arthur) was supposed to be 53. Although Sophia appears to be much older than the other girls in the show, Getty was actually younger than both Bea Arthur and Betty White. The ages of the Golden Girls were never revealed on TV. | ISBN978-1-4516-1369-8. Rose even went to the trouble of looking up the information in official documents, only to discover that it had been removed by authorization of the governor.. And that was, to me, what made it seem like it could be a contemporary, young show. Audiences can figure things out with a little detective work. Rose, who was born in 1934, would have been around 51, while Sophia, who was born in 1906, would have been 79. Their fears were allayed when the preview screening garnered a standing ovation and the program was instantly renewed for 12 more Golden Girls episodes. RELATED: How Old Were the Golden Girls Supposed to Be? McClanahan deliberately exaggerated her accent, stating, "I played Blanche the way I felt Blanche. Based on the assumption that Season 1 and Season 2 took place in the same year, Rose would have been 55 at the start of The Golden Girls. You have a lot of table reads where the actors will mess it up because they don't understand what the characters are doing, or they misinterpret. McClanahan and White were friends on- and off-screen. [81], Forever Golden: A Celebration of The Golden Girls released in select movie theaters across North America via Fathom Events on September 14, 2021, marking the show's 36th anniversary. At the age of 86, Bea Arthur passed away from lung cancer in April 2009. Often deemed as the den mother of the main characters in the show, Bea Arthur played the role of Dorothy Zbornak, a substitute teacher hailing from New York City. McClanahan continued to portray the role of Blanche in the spin-off series The Golden Palace, which only lasted for one season from 1992 to 1993. [55] Producers used this residence for exterior shots during the first two seasons. This suggests that her character was likely around the same age. [109] The production ended because the producers failed to secure the rights and received a cease-and-desist order by the creators of the original television show. Dorothy, meanwhile, is stated to be in her early 50s, which could mean that she was anywhere between 50 and 54. The women in The Golden Girlsall have white, short hair styled in a way we often associate with older individuals. Its a tiny marvel, looking back, that the Golden Girls magnificent casting came together as well as it did. Apparently, writer Susan Harris envisioned a Bea Arthur type when conceptualizing the character of Dorothy. [41], The show was the second television series to be produced by the Walt Disney Company under the Touchstone Television label, and was subsequently distributed by Buena Vista International, Inc. (which holds as the ownership stake in Disney Channel Southeast Asia, now DisneyABC Television Group). All the lead actresses won Emmy awards for their performances on the show. [32], Getty, who went through a three-hour transformation to become Sophia, wore heavy make-up, thick glasses, and a white wig to look the part. [52], The house's address was mentioned as being 6151 Richmond Street, Miami. Rue McClanahan was the youngest of the Golden Girls, according to Parade. [54] The model used for exterior shots of the house from the third season through the end of the series was part of the backstage studio tour ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios. As head writers, Speer and Grossman, along with Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro, who won an Emmy Award for outstanding writing for the first season, gave general ideas to lower staff writers, and personally wrote a handful of scripts each season.[43]. When all of the evidence is taken into account, it seems likely that the Golden Girls characters were actually younger than their stated ages. From left to right- Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls. In the hour-long series finale, which aired in May 1992, Dorothy meets and marries Blanche's uncle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen) and moves to Hollingsworth Manor in Atlanta. In Southeast Asia, Rewind Networks began airing reruns of The Golden Girls on its HD channel, HITS, in 2013. [124] The eatery closed in November 2017 after less than a year of operation.[125]. Dorothy is revealed to be a Leo in another episode, which means she was born in July or August of 1932, making her character 53 years old at the time the series began. Estelle Getty auditioned and won the role as the feisty mother of character Dorothy Zbornak, due, in part, to the rave reviews she garnered in her off-Broadway role reprisal for the 1984 Los Angeles run of Torch Song Trilogy. She remarked that it was revolutionary because it was the first time older women were shown in an atmosphere where they were well-groomed, well dressed, had active sex lives. In Australia, the show airs daily on FOX Comedy. : Extreme Stunt Show attraction, later replaced by Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The basic facts to work with are that The Golden Girls began in 1985 and ended in 1992, both in real life and in-world. [83] The 21-disc collection features all 180 episodes of the series as well as all special features contained on the previously released season sets; it is encased in special collectible packaging, a replica of Sophia's purse. The Golden Girls will always be remembered as a show that put a spotlight on senior women in a way no other show had done before. [70][self-published source?] Sue's personality as the perky housewife host on a fictional television station of the show . How old was Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls? Getty was the first actress to be cast, and her role was intended to make the rest of the characters appear younger. She was also 63 years old by the time The Golden Girls premiered in 1985. "It was so exciting to be with four people with that chemistry. However, the exterior backdrop seen through the kitchen window changed from the view of Chicago high-rises to palm trees and bushes for the Miami setting. Reportedly, a second season was approved before being cancelled the day before the network announced its 199394 schedule. Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper and Betty White as Ellen Harper-Jackson in the 1983 sitcom Mamas Family (Credit: NBC). Richard Vaczy and Tracy Gamble, previously writers on 227 and My Two Dads, also assumed the roles of producers and head writers. Arthur died from cancer in 2009 at age 86 and McClanahan followed in. [24], Shortly afterward, he met with producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, who were pitching a show about a female lawyer. The adventures of Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), Rose ( universally beloved Betty White) and Sophia (Estelle Getty) -- four older women who lived in a Miami home together -- took audiences by storm and provided representation to a group generally overlooked by television of the time. : Extreme Stunt Show, discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, List of awards and nominations received by The Golden Girls, "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time", Golden Girls appears to get better with pop culture age, "7 Things You Might Not Know About The Golden Girls", "The Golden Girls - Cast/Crew Documentary (2/9)", "These Are the Most-Watched TV Series Finales of All Time: 17", "The TV Ratings Guide: 1987-1988 season ratings", "Golden Girls: A 20th Anniversary Oral History", "Catching Up with the Golden Girls' Susan Harris", "Crackle's Creator Conversation: Soap's Susan Harris", The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, "Betty White and Bea Arthur's Friends Open Up About Their On-Set Feud", "Say It Isn't So, Girls! Luckily, Susan Harris didnt lose her spark after Soap concluded, as she included much of the humor and sharp wit that made Soap popular in The Golden Girls as well. Lifetime, which held the rights to The Golden Girls at the time, aired reruns of The Golden Palace in the summer of 2005, and again in December of that year. Dorothy states she is a Leo in Season 4, Episode 10, "Stan Takes a Wife," placing her birthday either in late July or early-to-late August. The series ran for a total of seven seasons and a total of 180 full-length episodes. The Golden Girls: How the Classic Sitcom Ended, Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams Is Iconic for Pushing Boundaries. Arthur's son, Matthew Saks, later spoke of tension between the two actresses, stating that his mother, "unknowingly carried the attitude that it was fun to have somebody to be angry atIt was almost like Betty became her nemesis, someone she could always roll her eyes about at work. Shopping Guide [45][46] The cast often had to stay behind after the audience had departed to redo scenes where Getty had flubbed her lines, and although this was at first met with resistance from the producers, cue cards were eventually introduced to help her. Rue McClanahan is the youngest Golden Girl! Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Betty White reprised their roles in the 1992 spin-off series The Golden Palace (Credit: CBS). McClanahan said, "Betty and I loved word games, and we would play word games every day,". Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Bea Arthur as the beloved main cast of the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). [108] After the end of The Golden Palace, Getty joined the cast of Empty Nest, making frequent appearances as Sophia in the show's final two seasons. The main cast of The Golden Girls included Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, Betty White as Rose Nylund, Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, and Estelle Getty as Dorothys mother, Sophia Petrillo. For example, one or more of the women would become involved in some sort of problem, often involving other family members, men, or an ethical dilemma. [28], The pilot included a gay houseboy, Coco (Charles Levin), who lived with the girls. These ages seem to contradict what is stated in the show, suggesting that the characters may actually be younger than their stated ages. As of September 15, 2021, every episode was made available to stream on Disney+ in Germany and Austria. In the first season of Golden Girls, it is revealed that Rose (Betty Whites character) was 55. Its time to look back at the golden years with our favorite Golden Girls. Fans of all ages still enjoy The Golden Girls and its actors today. Starring actress Hodge left after two seasons, David Rasche joined the cast at the start of the second season, and Loni Anderson was added as the new hospital administrator in the third. The show became a huge hit with viewers, thanks to its clever writing and strong performances by the four main stars. [58], The kitchen set seen on The Golden Girls was originally used on an earlier Witt/Thomas/Harris series, It Takes Two, which aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983. Beginning in 1990, Marc Cherry served as writer and producer, years before creating Desperate Housewives, which ran on ABC from 2004 to 2012. Betty White was actually the oldest Golden Girl. (Note: Is this article not meeting your expectations? For example, Betty White, who played Rose, was 76 when the show first aired and 80 when it ended. was an off-Broadway show that opened in the summer of 2003 in New York City at Rose's Turn theater in the West Village, and ran until November of that year. The pilot takes audio from the sitcom and sets it against a futuristic background inspired by The Jetsons. Considering how easily Blanche lied to her housemates about her age (and that Sophia immediately called her out and said she'd be 70 when the kid graduates), it's safe to assume that 53 is her actual age going into The Golden Girls. Sophia states it happened in 1931, making it likely Dorothy was born sometime in 1932, judging by her sign. By the end of the series, Rose was 62. [84], After the original series ended, White, McClanahan, and Getty reprised their characters in the CBS series The Golden Palace, which featured Rose, Blanche, and Sophia selling their house to buy and run a hotel in Miami. On November 9, 2010, the studio released a complete-series box set titled The Golden Girls: 25th Anniversary Complete Collection. But what made the show golden were its stellar cast and the beloved characters they portrayed. Please endeavor to share this article with family, friends, and colleagues. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy. We will always remember Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Bea Arthur, and Estelle Getty for bringing joy into our lives and for being our friends. The classic NBC comedy The Golden Girls broke boundaries with its cast of four older women, a representation that was previously lacking on television. While RTL initially chose to cut some scenes for time, some of the gags remain incomprehensible for their broadcast and all subsequent reruns, only to be restored partially for the release of DVD in 2005. In 2022, we no longer believe that women need to lose their purpose once they hit the big 5-0. Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women. In fact, that's who I think she thought she was."[37]. [48][49] Her co-stars, in an interview, said that her disease had progressed to the point that she was not able to hold conversations with them or recognize them. The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. Chick Vennera played a prize fighter and TV reporter Enrique Mas. Theme: Newsup by Themeansar. One, while the characters ages on the show appeared to be quite consistentBlanche, Rose, and Dorothy were all in their mid-50s, and Sophia was Dorothys widowed, elderly motherthe actors who played them were all somewhat varied in age.