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[9], The pilot was taped on April 17, 1985.[10]. This would mean that Dorothy, who was born in 1938, would have been around 47 when the show started. Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Betty White as Rose Nylund, and Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). The series, starring Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan as four women sharing a Miami home, was an instant hit -- and eventually won all four of its stars Emmys. 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. She was portrayed by Betty White for 8 years, totalling 204 episodes.. Rose was supposed to be played by Rue McClanahan, while Blanche Devereaux, one of Rose's roommates, was to be played by White.However, Jay Sandrich, the director of the show, suggested that Betty and Rue switch . Blanche would have been 60 by the series' end. How Old Were the Golden Girls? Ironically, despite being the oldest actress in the show, Betty White was the last of the main stars to survive. 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. Then, in Season 3, Episode 5, "Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself," Sophia tells Dorothy the story of the night Dorothy was conceived. Saving the most difficult to track down for last, Rue McClanahan's character Blanche Devereaux kept her age a mystery (and a recurring joke) throughout most of The Golden Girls. Interestingly enough, Estelle Getty suffered from stage fright and would often freeze on camera during the filming of The Golden Girls. Though Littlefield nixed their idea, he asked if they would be interested in delivering a pilot script for Miami Nice, instead. Celebrities The Golden Girls received critical acclaim throughout most of its run, and won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. As of September 15, 2021, every episode was made available to stream on Disney+ in Germany and Austria. Your email address will not be published. Arthur flipped upon reading the script, but felt hesitant about McClanahan's approach, as she did not "want to play (their Maude characters) Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann Nivens." Rue McClanahan. The Golden Girls first aired on September 14, 1985, and it continues to appeal to both young and older audiences. Rose went so far as to search through official records to find out, only to learn it was "deleted by authority of the governor." The show promptly received a full order of 12 episodes. The cast of The Golden Girls, Sophia, Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose, have been even further immortalised in two puppet parody shows Thank You For Being A Friend[110] and That Golden Girls Show: A Puppet Parody, both created by Australian screenwriter Thomas Duncan-Watt and producer Jonathan Rockefeller. McClanahan and White were friends on- and off-screen. She wanted to be a Southern heroine, like Vivien Leigh. This could be because the writers wanted to create an atmosphere of timelessness, allowing the show to appeal to viewers of all ages. One such source is the actors who played the characters. Dorothy meets and marries Blanches Uncle Lucas in the hour-long series finale, which aired in May 1992, and moves to Hollingsworth Manor in Atlanta, Georgia. Theme: Newsup by Themeansar. Rue McClanahan was the youngest of the Golden Girls, according to Parade. Dorothy, following an impassioned speech in which she told the girls that I love you, always, she says as she rushes back into the home through several entrances for their final goodbyes, before making her final exit, saying, Youll always be my sisters. Continually , leaving the other three females to fend for themselves. [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). Their fears were allayed when the preview screening garnered a standing ovation and the program was instantly renewed for 12 more Golden Girls episodes. However, White and McClanahan wanted to play against their typecasting, so McClanahan was cast as Blanche instead. Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak and Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). Did Rue McClanahan have a Southern accent? Getty came to Weiner's mind soon after, when it became time to begin casting of The Golden Girls. Blanche (played by Rue McClanahan) was thought to be around 47 years old in the first season of Golden Girls. Mulligan and Manoff were alumni from one of Susan Harris' earlier shows, Soap. However, this older age makes sense because Sophia is Dorothys mother. [11], Ideas for a comedy series about older women emerged during the filming of a television special at NBC Studios in Burbank, California, in August 1984. Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). Required fields are marked *. Betty White was famous in Hollywood for being a pioneer of television dating back to the 1950s. I kept reading scenes to them and saying, 'God, this is brilliant [] There's nothing trendy about this show. Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper and Betty White as Ellen Harper-Jackson in the 1983 sitcom Mamas Family (Credit: NBC). Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 17:40, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy, Lights, Motors, Action! Every episode of The Golden Girls was made available to stream on Hulu on February 13, 2017. Space was limited on the soundstage, so when the kitchen was off camera, it was usually detached from the rest of the set and the space used for something else. How old were the ladies on golden girls in real life? 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. [7][8], The first episode features a cook/butler named Coco (played by Charles Levin), but the role was dropped before the second episode. Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kristen Davis in And Just Like That. (Photo Credit: MovieStills DB). [55] Producers used this residence for exterior shots during the first two seasons. [71], On Metacritic, the series has an overall score of 82 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, the show is about four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida.It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions . Both Betty White and Bea Arthur were 63 when The Golden Girls premiered, coinciding with the fan theory. 2023 Wording Vibes - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, Although the womens ages were rarely disclosed, some deductive work may be used to, The Golden Girls began in 1985 and concluded in 1992, both in real life and in the fictional realm. Your email address will not be published. It won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. 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.. Rue McClanahan is the youngest Golden Girl! In her spare time, Maddy loves playing volleyball, running, walking, and biking, although when she wants to be lazy she loves to read a good thriller. The show ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992 and featured four women in their golden years living together in Miami. [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. (Photo Credit: New Line Cinema/ HBO/ MovieStills DB and MovieStills DB). After some careful math, viewers also figured out that Dorothy (played by Bea Arthur) was supposed to be 53. "[38] Both actresses had dramatically different training and acting backgrounds; Saks commented on White's habit of breaking the fourth wall to engage and joke with the studio audience during breaks between filming, which Arthur found unprofessional. Ellen Albertini Dow played Sophia's friend Lillian and an unnamed hospital patient with a flower cart. Sophia then recounts to Dorothy the account of the night Dorothy was conceived in Season 3, Episode 5, Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself. Sophia claims it happened in 1931, so Dorothy was most likely born in 1932, based on her sign. Casting director Judith Weiner had seen Torch Song Trilogy, and thought Getty was terrific in it. 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. "We had games going all the time off camera." 13. How Old Were the Golden Girls Characters Supposed to Be? 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. There was a lot of competition to get your words into the script. [51], During season six, some uncertainty arose over whether Bea Arthur would commit to future seasons, or leave the show once her contract expired, to pursue other projects. Social norms regarding women in their fifties have also changed since Golden Girls premiered. [41] Rue McClanahan, who shared a dressing room with Getty, described the severity of Getty's stage fright: "She'd panic. To portray Sophia Petrillo, Getty was required to wear makeup and a wig to appear visibly older than her co-stars. 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. 1. dog | 281K views, 6.6K likes, 7.7K loves, 9.7K comments, 2.9K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from AMC Princess Ana - Team AMC Ana: This is Ana's FIRST. The oldest character in Golden Girls is Sophia (Estelle Getty), who is thought to be about 80 years old at the start of the series. She was said to have worn aged cosmetics in character to make her appear to be an eighty-something woman. However, there is also some evidence to suggest that these ages may not be accurate. [107] When that idea was not well received, Harris retooled the series as a vehicle for Richard Mulligan, and the following year Empty Nest debuted, starring Mulligan as pediatrician Harry Weston, a widower whose two adult daughters moved back home. Afterwards, Getty had returned to New York, but gained permission from her manager to return to California in early 1985. She expressed that she would not continue if changes were not made, but changes were made and jokes regarding Dorothy's physique appeared less often. However, she wasn't much older than Bea Arthur. It has recently come to light that the leading ladies of AndJust Like That, Sex and the Citys reboot, are basically the exact same age as the leading ladies in The Golden Girls a fact that has completely blown our minds!