There are few sitcoms that have become as iconic as The Golden Girls. Beginning its run in September 1985, the series continued for seven seasons starring Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty before coming to an end in May 1992. The outstanding series not only gained millions of fans, but also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice and also took home three Golden Globes, and as recent as 2014 was placed on the “101 Best Written TV Series of All Time” by the Writers Guild of America. While the show has certainly been one of the most talked about even more than 20 years after it came to an end, there is always more to know! Here are 10 things you never knew about the popular series:
9. Getting Bea Arthur
Casting the perfect group to create a successful show is stressful and it seems the stress led producers down the wrong path when trying to cast the character of Dorothy at first. Although the actress they were looking for was described as a “Bea Arthur type” they didn’t even ask the actress if she wanted to be part of the show and went ahead and auditioned others. It wasn’t until after failed auditions and refusals from actresses that producers finally realized they should ask Bea Arthur herself to be in it. Although she had initial reservations about taking part because she felt her own role as well as Rue McClanahan’s were too similar to their roles in Maude, once she learned that White and McClanahan had switched roles, she agreed to be in the series.
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