how old were the golden girls supposed to be

The show dealt with many controversial issues, such as coming out and same-sex marriage,[75] elder care, homelessness, poverty, HIV/AIDS and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, US immigration policy, sexual harassment, teenaged pregnancy, artificial insemination, adultery, bad medical care, sexism, miscegenation and interracial marriage, antisemitism, age discrimination, environmentalism, addiction to pain killers, problem gambling, nuclear war, death, and assisted suicide.[76]. To portray Sophia Petrillo, Getty was required to wear makeup and a wig to appear visibly older than her co-stars. The show never approached the popularity or acclaim of the original, and ranked 57th[citation needed] in the annual ratings. They decided that a separate cook would distract from their friendship. In this article, we will explore the evidence and try to uncover the true ages of the Golden Girls. [62] Evans generally dressed the actresses in expensive pieces and high-quality fabrics, despite the recurring theme that the four characters were struggling with money, because, "The main idea was to make them look good. She passed away in 2010, at the age of 76, after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Contact Us 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. This "created a great deal of stress and competitiveness amongst those of us who weren't in that inner sanctum. 5. Your email address will not be published. Cheers. For simplicity, because the program lasted seven seasons, each season is treated as a different year for the purpose of simplicity. This indicates that she was likely in her late 40s when the show began. Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper and Betty White as Ellen Harper-Jackson in the 1983 sitcom Mamas Family (Credit: NBC). [67], The Golden Girls was shot on videotape in front of a live studio audience. 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). In "The Golden Girls", Rose is 55, Dorothy is 53, Blanche is 47 and Sophia is 79. Despite her enjoyment in playing Dorothy, the show eventually concluded when Bea Arthur decided to depart the show in 1992. At the request of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was reputedly a big fan, the cast of The Golden Girls performed several skits as their characters in front of her and other members of the British royal family at the 1988 Royal Variety Performance in London.[77]. The Golden Girls began in 1985 and concluded in 1992, both in real life and in the fictional realm. Here We Go Again: My Life in Television. This suggests that her character was likely around the same age. [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. 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. In Germany, airing of the show started in January 1990, only months before the German reunification, by German public broadcaster ARD in the late evening programme on their main channel Das Erste. In order to try and determine the real ages of the Golden Girls, we need to look at other sources of evidence. The film featured five episodes from the show: "The Pilot", "The Flu", "The Way We Met", "Ladies of the Evening" and "Grab That Dough". Plus, Sophia was a great cook. [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. Iconic Golden-era Hollywood actress Scarlett OHara was also reportedly an inspiration for the role. White, Betty (2010). We hope this article on how old were the golden girls has been interesting and has also been able to bring back good memories. McClanahan said, "Betty and I loved word games, and we would play word games every day,". consisted of two back-to-back episodes of the sitcom: "Break-In" (season one, episode eight) and "Isn't It Romantic?" For, That was the case. The program is about four elderly ladies who live . 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. The series also ranked among the Nielsen ratings' top ten for six of its seven seasons. Dorothy, meanwhile, is stated to be in her early 50s, which could mean that she was anywhere between 50 and 54. [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. Both Betty White and Bea Arthur were 63 when The Golden Girls premiered, coinciding with the fan theory. Mulligan and Manoff were alumni from one of Susan Harris' earlier shows, Soap. Rose is said to be in her mid-50s, suggesting that she was between 55 and 59. 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. [24][30], In the pilot script, Blanche was described as "more Southern than Blanche DuBois", so McClanahan was perplexed when she was asked by director Sandrich during the filming of the pilot not to use the strong Southern accent she had developed, but to use her natural Oklahoma accent instead. Rose's age is the easiest to track down, thanks to Dorothy openly saying it in Season 1, Episode 22, "Job Hunting." Richard Vaczy and Tracy Gamble, previously writers on 227 and My Two Dads, also assumed the roles of producers and head writers. She joined the cast as Rose Nylund, a Norwegian-American hailing from St. Olaf, Minnesota. After the pilot, the character of Coco was eliminated from the series. [40] However, Arthur preferred that her three castmates and she all break for lunch together on workdays. The Golden Girls Almost Had a Fifth Main Character - Here's Why He Was Dropped The Golden Girls broke boundaries with its main cast of older women, but it originally broke even more with the lost fifth member of the hit sitcom. She is also the only living core cast member from the series. The writers observed that in many of the proposed scripts, the main interaction between the women occurred in the kitchen while preparing and eating food. Bill Dana played Sophia's brother Angelo and her father. Sarah Jessica Parker and Betty White, both of whom play a 55-year-old woman. Reportedly, White doubted that she could effectively play the role of Rose. However, there are some clues that can be found in the show itself. "We had games going all the time off camera." 13. Rose Nylund was 55 years old when the show premiered, as Dorothy stated in the Season 1 episode Job Hunting.. How old was Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls? Sophia is to join her, but in the end, she stays behind with the other women in Miami. Ironically, despite being the oldest actress in the show, Betty White was the last of the main stars to survive. As a tribute to the success of The Golden Girls, all four actresses were later named Disney Legends as part of the class of 2009.[78]. RELATED: The Golden Girls: How the Classic Sitcom Ended. In an interview with The Village Voice in 2011, White stated that Arthur found me a pain in the neck sometimes. Bea Arthur was not a part of the main cast but did guest star in a double episode, reprising her role as Dorothy.[106]. In a 1988 interview, Getty commented on her phobia and expressed how working with major stars, such as Arthur and White, made her even more nervous. It is interesting to note that the ages of the characters are never directly addressed in the show. I kept reading scenes to them and saying, 'God, this is brilliant [] There's nothing trendy about this show. Initially, the producers wanted Betty White to play Blanche because she had been famous for playing promiscuous characters in the past. Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). She was just as uptight as a human being could get. In 1989, Marc Sotkin, previously a writer on Laverne & Shirley and a producer on another Witt/Thomas series, It's a Living, assumed head writing responsibilities, and guided the show (to varying degrees) during what were its final three seasons. [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. [82], Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released all seven seasons, with edits, of The Golden Girls on DVD in Region 1 and Region 4 with the first four being released in Region 2. [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". [39] In 2011, White stated that she believed it was her "positive attitude" and perky demeanor that got on Arthur's nerves. Among all of the great roles she played over the course of her legendary career, the late, great Betty Whitewho passed away on Dec. 31, 2021, at the age of. 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. 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. Sophia, Dorothys straight-talking mother, was the Golden Girls houses oldest figure. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women. Maddy Hiltz is someone who loves all things history. [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. [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. Gettleman says she suffered from advanced. Hurwitz later created Arrested Development for Fox and later for Netflix. [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 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. It ran from September 1992 to May 1993 and also starred Cheech Marin and Don Cheadle. She'd be walking around like Pig-Pen, under a black cloud. In the pilot episode, the three are joined by Dorothy's 80-year-old widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo (Getty), after the retirement home where she has been living has burned down. From left to right- Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls. 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. 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. How to Start a Fire in Dayz A Comprehensive Guide, How to Be More Ladylike: Speak Softly, Dress Modestly, Carry Yourself with Grace, How to Eat Babka: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners, How to Wire a Weed Eater: A Step-by-Step Guide. [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. Estelle Getty portrayed the role of Sophia Petrillo, the mother of Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthurs character). Beginning in 1990, Marc Cherry served as writer and producer, years before creating Desperate Housewives, which ran on ABC from 2004 to 2012. Sophia was never ashamed to confess her age, and she often took advantage of it to get an advantage over the other ladies in the home. 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. 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. She took to writing her lines on props at which she could glance easily, like the wicker purse Sophia always carried with her. At this time, syndicated reruns began airing, distributed by Buena Vista Television (now DisneyABC Domestic Television), the syndication arm of Disney, whose Touchstone Television division produced the series. 100 Black-Owned Businesses to Shop Now. (Photo Credit: New Line Cinema/ HBO/ MovieStills DB and MovieStills DB). "[45], After season three, Arthur had expressed her growing dissatisfaction with the disparaging jokes made about her physical appearance, which were often in the scripts. Before The Golden Girls, she was most renowned for creating the series Soap, which parodied daytime soap operas such as The Young and the Restless. Assuming her child would graduate at 17, that would make Blanche 48 in 1986 and 47 at the start of the series. [70][self-published source?] Getty was the first actress to be cast, and her role was intended to make the rest of the characters appear younger. This program, on the other hand, was centered on a group of older ladies. Because none of the other Golden Girls explicitly disclose their ages, the logical process begins with Dorothy. How Old Were the Golden Girls? She received her Bachelors of Arts in history and her Masters of Arts degree in history both from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. 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. 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. Styles We didn't want the show to be about four dowdy ladies. Please endeavor to share this article with family, friends, and colleagues. [24] The Cosby Show director Jay Sandrich, who had previously worked with Harris, Witt, and Thomas on Soap, agreed to direct the pilot episode. (Note: Is this article not meeting your expectations? As of September 8, 2021 all 7 seasons of The Golden Girls were made available to stream on Disney+ in Canada. In conclusion, the evidence suggests that the Golden Girls characters were actually younger than their stated ages. 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. Kathy Speer and Terry Grossman were the first head writers of the series, and wrote for the show's first four seasons. This faade, along with the Empty Nest house, sustained hurricane damage leading to Disney's 2003 decision to bulldoze the houses of "Residential Street" and construct its Lights, Motors, Action! Hulu estimated that over 11 million hours were spent viewing this sitcom in 2020 alone, making it one of the top ten most binge-watched series on the streaming service. This was the first time since 1993 that The Golden Palace was seen on American television. She loves spending quality time with her friends, family, and puppy Luna! Levin had been suggested by then-NBC president Brandon Tartikoff based on Levin's groundbreaking portrayal of a recurring gay character, Eddie Gregg, on NBC's Emmy-winning drama Hill Street Blues. [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. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Golden_Girls&oldid=1139544706, "Thank You for Being a Friend" (instrumental), "I was running all over the house grabbing anybody who would listen. 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. Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Betty White reprised their roles in the 1992 spin-off series The Golden Palace (Credit: CBS). By Zachary Guida Jan 31, 2023 10 Ways Audience Popularity Gave TV Characters Greater Roles 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. Why is Good UI/UX Design Imperative for Business Success? 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. "[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. But one of the questions that has always been asked is: how old were the Golden Girls characters supposed to be? The part of Sophia Petrillo was the first of the four roles to be cast. Apparently, writer Susan Harris envisioned a Bea Arthur type when conceptualizing the character of Dorothy. She was born on July 25, 1923, making her 62 years old by the time the sitcom premiered. [3] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Golden Girls number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time. Roses age is the easiest to determine, owing to Dorothy revealing it in Season 1, Episode 22, Job Hunting. Dorothy exposes Roses age is exposed during a chat in which Rose describes her problems finding a new career after leaving her prior one at the grief counseling center. How old were the ladies on golden girls in real life? Its time to look back at the golden years with our favorite Golden Girls. Their regular writer declined, so Witt asked his wife, Susan Harris,[24] who had been semiretired since the conclusion of their ABC series Soap. Each of the four main stars received an Emmy Award, making The Golden Girls one of only four sitcoms in the Primetime Emmy Awards history to achieve this. During its original run, The Golden Girls received 68 Emmy nominations, 11 Emmy awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Viewers for Quality Television awards.