Join 1000s of subscribers and receive the best Vintage News in your mailbox for FREE, Heres How the Royal Family Gets Its Money, These 12 Cities Have Changed A Lot Over Time, Police arrest a 72-year-old suburban grandfather suspected of being the Golden State Killer, Im not dead yet: some Buddhist monks followed self-mummification, Project Azorian: Howard Hughes secret mission, 1960s U.S. satellite that started transmitting again in 2013, The Walk of Shame in Game of Thrones historical inspiration, The only unsolved skyjacking case in U.S. history might have a break, Kurt Gdel became too paranoid to eat and died of starvation, Little Ease: One of the most feared torture devices in the Tower of London, The humble English girl who became Cora Pearl, Walt Disney softened the original Snow White story. [36] Once the show was picked up for a first season, new director Paul Bogart felt exactly the opposite, insisting that McClanahan use a Southern accent. Sophia had her 50th birthday in April 1956, making her character 79 years old when the series premiered in 1985, according to a flashback scene in Season 2s A Piece of Cake.. I kept reading scenes to them and saying, 'God, this is brilliant [] There's nothing trendy about this show. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Channel 4, Living and Disney Channel. (season two, episode five). As of 2016, it was the 17th-most watched television finale. 2. [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. [57], The show's designer, Ed Stephenson, took inspiration from his time living in Florida to design a "Florida look" for The Golden Girls house set. Rose was probably closer to 51 than her stated age of 55, and Sophia was likely closer to 79 than her stated age of 77. Getty was the first of the four stars to die in 2008 at age 84. [50] She had reportedly started to show signs of the dementia during the filming of the television series, when, despite more than three decades of theater work, she began to struggle to remember her lines, and in later seasons of the show, had to rely on cue cards. 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. The show became a huge hit with viewers, thanks to its clever writing and strong performances by the four main stars. We will always remember Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Bea Arthur, and Estelle Getty for bringing joy into our lives and for being our friends. She wanted to be a Southern heroine, like Vivien Leigh. The women in The Golden Girlsall have white, short hair styled in a way we often associate with older individuals. The show promptly received a full order of 12 episodes. After the retirement home where Dorothys mother, Sophia Petrillo, lived burned down in the pilot episode, the three were joined by Dorothys 80-year-old widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo. The series finale of The Golden Girls was watched by 27.2 million viewers. Estelle Getty, who portrayed Sophia, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy, Sophias daughter. 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. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women. "We had games going all the time off camera." 13. It happens again, by a handsome male model, the kind she might have once. Casting director Judith Weiner had seen Torch Song Trilogy, and thought Getty was terrific in it. Sophia was 86 by the series' end. In Season 4, Episode 10, Stan Takes a Wife, Dorothy declares that she is a Leo, indicating that her birthdate is in late July or early-to-late August. It wasnt until she was informed of Roses naivety that she gained the confidence to play the role and pull off the character. She was especially intimidated by her co-stars, who were all higher profile actresses than she was. After reruns on different regional channels of the ARD Network, the show later aired on private channels RTL, VOX, Super RTL, Disney Channel and RTLup. Every episode of The Golden Girls was made available to stream on Hulu on February 13, 2017. ", This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 17:40. The Golden Girls is one of the most well-known television shows of all time. consisted of two back-to-back episodes of the sitcom: "Break-In" (season one, episode eight) and "Isn't It Romantic?" The Golden Girls came to an end when Bea Arthur elected to quit the series after six seasons in the top ten and the seventh season at #30. [52], The house's address was mentioned as being 6151 Richmond Street, Miami. We hope this article on how old were the golden girls has been interesting and has also been able to bring back good memories. ISBN978-1-4516-1369-8. [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). Similarly, Estelle Getty, who played Sophia, was 79 when the show began and 83 when it ended. [24] Produced to introduce the network's 198485 season schedule, two actresses appearing on NBC shows, Selma Diamond of Night Court and Doris Roberts of Remington Steele, appeared in a skit promoting the upcoming show Miami Vice as Miami Nice, a parody about old people living in Miami. 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 . [30] Stritch's audition flopped, however, and under the impression that Arthur did not want to participate, Harris asked McClanahan if she could persuade Arthur, with whom she worked previously on the CBS sitcom Maude, to take the role. Fans of all ages still enjoy The Golden Girls and its actors today. [39] In 2011, White stated that she believed it was her "positive attitude" and perky demeanor that got on Arthur's nerves. [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). Many episodes were edited to allow more commercials and for content. The Golden Girls was a highly-acclaimed and rated, well-received, popular American situation-comedy/sit-com television series that aired on NBC originally from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Carl Gettleman, one of her two sons, says the co-star of the TV show "The Golden Girls" died early Tuesday, July 22, 2008, at home in Los Angeles. Initially, the producers wanted Betty White to play Blanche because she had been famous for playing promiscuous characters in the past. Born on January 17, 1922, Betty White was the oldest of the four main stars. Some episodes featured flashbacks to previous episodes, flashbacks to events not shown in previous episodes, or to events that occurred before the series began. The ages of the Golden Girls were never revealed on TV. [42], Creator Susan Harris went on to contribute another four episodes to the first season, but became less involved with the sitcom throughout its run; she continued reading all scripts, however, and remained familiar with most of the storylines. It won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. In Australia, the show airs daily on FOX Comedy. Estimating the ages of the characters can be tricky, since the show never explicitly states their ages. 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. The clever use of makeup and a wig aged Getty to match her character's age. [4] In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time". Unlike anything we had ever seen on television before, The Golden Girls featured an ensemble cast of four older single women (Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty) sharing. It's a classic. [33] The character of Sophia was thought by the creators to enhance the idea that three retirement-aged women could be young. [65][66] Eventually, McClanahan went on to create a clothing line for QVC called "A Touch of Rue", inspired by Blanche, but made with affordable fabrics and practical designs. Her thesis examined menstrual education in Victorian England. Blanche was inspired by the popular fictional characters Blanche DuBois (from A Streetcar Named Desire, a famous 1947 Broadway play written by Tennessee Williams) and Vivien Leigh, who portrayed the same character in the 1951 film adaptation alongside Marlon Brando. Ironically, the actress who played Sophia, Estelle Getty, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, Dorothy. If she had returned, her character would have been in her sixties. Privacy Policy, Brands [64] Rue McClanahan had a special clause written into her contract allowing her to keep her costumes, which were mostly custom-made for her, utilising expensive fabrics. Sophia states it happened in 1931, making it likely Dorothy was born sometime in 1932, judging by her sign. It shattered stereotypes and even made that demographic entertaining for audiences of all genders and ages. Empty Nest launched its own spin-off in 1991 set in Miami in the same hospital where Dr. Weston worked. We can also look at other clues from the show itself. The reasons for her departure are speculative, but the popular theory is that Arthur felt as though the quality of the sitcom had begun to slip by the seventh season, and she wanted to leave while the show was still popular. However, with some detective work, audiences can figure them out. 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. Both Betty White and Bea Arthur were 63 when The Golden Girls premiered, coinciding with the fan theory. Rue McClanahan is the youngest Golden Girl! Beginning in 1990, Marc Cherry served as writer and producer, years before creating Desperate Housewives, which ran on ABC from 2004 to 2012. Estelle Getty portrayed the role of Sophia Petrillo, the mother of Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthurs character). Its a tiny marvel, looking back, that the Golden Girls magnificent casting came together as well as it did. Blanche was probably around 50 when the show began, rather than 54. We assume that middle-aged women continue to live their lives working, partying, being mothers, or hanging with their friends. The Golden Palace, a spinoff of the successful sitcom The Golden Girls, will make its streaming debut on Hulu early next year.. On Jan. 10, just one week before Betty White's 100th birthday on Jan. 17, the single season of the sitcom featuring three of the four main characters from the original series -- Rose Nyland (White), Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty . Dorothy, meanwhile, is stated to be in her early 50s, which could mean that she was anywhere between 50 and 54. 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. Required fields are marked *. 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. She thought an accentuated Southern accent would be sexy and strong and attractive to men. Your email address will not be published. On November 15, 2005, Warner Home Video released The Golden Girls: A Lifetime Intimate Portrait Series on DVD which contains a separate biography of Arthur, White, McClanahan and Getty, revealing each woman's background, rise to stardom and private life, which originally aired on Lifetime network between June 2000 and January 2003. Lets see how each actress was cast in their respective roles and how their careers continued after the show concluded. Sophia, Dorothy's straight-talking mother, was the oldest character in the Golden Girls' house. 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.
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