‘Golden Girls’ Creatives Spill the Tea

This confirms to me that Bea's hatred of Betty had to do with something Betty did and that Bea never got over. They used to walk arm and arm on set and hand in hand to lunch every day. That's not the behavior of two women who can't stand each other. Bea started calling Betty a cunt and Marsha told her to "get over it", but get over what exactly? Sounds like something specific happened and Bea started hating Betty around season 4.

I totally think Betty let Bea motorboat her once and then put the kibosh on it and Bea was hurt. Also nice to know that Deena Freeman, the off-brand Didi Conn who played the second Kate Zbornak, was in the audience.

Who’d have thought there would be a need of an “off-brand Didii Conn” but R2, you nailed it - that’s exactly what Freeman was. I remember her playing Cousin April for a season or so on Too Close For Comfort.

R3 I never thought there would be a need for an off-brand Meg Foster but grateful there was!

"Betty told me I could play with her titties. Then she took them away. CUNT!!!"

This story is like the Datalounge Pentagon Papers.

There are clips on Youtube of Betty being fun on the set, jokingly teasing Bea after flubbing a line and talking to the audience during filming. Bea didn't seem amused. (Though the audience loved it.). In the article at OP, one of the panelists seems to be referencing this YouTube clip when he talks about Betty breaking character.

I think Betty nailed it when she said that she was always sunshine and giggles, and that seemed to annoy Bea. Maybe Bea saw Betty's behavior as attention-seeking and possibly even fake. And maybe she thought that Betty was kissing up to the audience for popularity. And possibly it happened too many times on a bad day.

Gonna see if I can find a video of this somewhere so I can see the whole panel discussion.

I wish they would have invited Lynnie Greene, who guest starred as "Young Dorothy" in a few episodes. She copied Bea's body language, gestures, and speaking style perfectly. She's also shared some tidbits in a podcast before, such as Bea being in a bad mood when she had to play Sophia's mother in a flashback. Lynnie suggested that she was upset at having to wear aging make-up, Then her mood got worse when someone bumped her wheelchair into a wall.

[quote] I think Betty nailed it when she said that she was always sunshine and giggles, and that seemed to annoy Bea. Maybe Bea saw Betty's behavior as attention-seeking and possibly even fake. And maybe she thought that Betty was kissing up to the audience for popularity. And possibly it happened too many times on a bad day.

Uh, if you're an actor and on set or in public, that's what you do. Bea was a capital C you next Tuesday and we all know it.

I can't really pick a side in the Bea-Betty war.

R10 it really is the gay Sophie's Choice, isn't it?

[quote] She's also shared some tidbits in a podcast before, such as Bea being in a bad mood

So it was a day ending in “y.”

Is creatives a word we are going to have to put with for some time?

The pathology of Bea’s hatred of Betty is more than I ever imagined. It always seemed like one of those shred of truth things that became exaggerated for affect through the years. But, wow, it sounds like Bea was obsessed.

Calling up a “Golden Girls” producer years after the show ended to say “I just saw that cunt Betty White at the grocery store. I’m going to write her a letter” is not the behavior of a mature, sane, stable woman in her 70s.

To be that deranged and angry over a former coworker who simply annoyed you is baffling. Meanwhile, you’ve had a wildly successful, multi-award-winning career on stage and screen that at least 99 percent of performers would envy.

I used to adore, Bea. But in retrospect she sounds so pitiful and petty.

Plus, Bea was credited first and, I assume, she was paid more than the other ladies. (I have never seen their salaries discussed). Yet, Bea was still bitter as ever.

They even gave Bea a small piece of the show to keep her for the seventh season. That’s unheard of and a gesture none of the other women were offered. And still, all Bitter Bea could do is bitch and complain.

I think her husband dumping her for another woman permanently broke Bea’s brain.

I hope her kids are enjoying the spoils of her career.

"Betty cheated on me with that gum chewer Kristy McNichol! CUNTS!!"

R16 They did give her a small piece of the show but never intended to pay her. They lied to her so she would stay for season 7. She had to sue them for the money. I think it was worth 4 million dollars.

Marc Cherry has spoken about the feud between Betty and Bea and, frankly, I think he has more insight than a lot of these other writers because when you hear his commentary, you can see that he understands BOTH women at a fundamental level and he approaches both of them with genuine empathy and emotional intelligence. He was recently on that Golden Girls podcast that Jennifer Simard has with some horribly annoying shrieking man. That annoying host aside, it was very interesting hearing Marc Cherry's insights on the show and on the girls.

[quote]“The show would have continued after seven years,” she shared. “Their contracts were up and … the executives went to the ladies, and Estelle said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going,’ and Rue said, ‘Yes let’s keep going,’ and Betty said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going.’ And Bea said ‘no fucking way,’ and that’s why that show didn’t continue. …

Honestly, Bea was right. The show had run its course by then. Plus Estelle's problems were getting worse. Her decline was VERY noticeable on the last two seasons of Empty Nest. There's no way they could have done more than one more year on Golden Girls.

My gripe is that they all knew Bea had to be dragged into doing the last two seasons, even testing other actresses and doing episodes without her, so they could have chosen to wrap things up in a much better than how they did.

Bea and Betty co-hosted a Disney anniversary celebration during the shows first season (which I taped and watched over and over religiously as a kid). I doubt Bea would have consented if she hated Betty that much at that point. Especially since Rue and Estelle weren't even invited.

Love the Golden Girls Deep Dove podcast. The hosts are fun and Jennifer is hilarious.

It certainly sounds like they were on friendlier terms when the show began, but something happened down the line to exacerbate Bea’s animosity. Maybe it wasn’t even one big thing, but a bunch of little things that added up over time, like Betty’s joking with the audiences.

Rue speaks at Bea's memorial service and says "cunt."

[quote]I never thought there would be a need for an off-brand Meg Foster but grateful there was!

[quote]—Kay Lenz

You need to back right the fuck off, bitch

R24 - that's hilarious. Never seen that before. Thanks for sharing. Are there additional remarks from Rue at that memorial service? It seems like she was maybe a hostess for the evening?

Do the writers reveal whether Bea went to a Del Taco or an El Pollo Loco on her way to work the morning of the 'incident?

R14 Bea's letter to Betty:

Dear CUNT,

I saw you at the grocery store the other day eating a grape in the fruit section. That's stealing! I knew you were a two-faced thief! Expect a visit from the cops this evening. Don't drop your soap in prison! Hahahahaha!

Sincerely,

Your little Beasy

I enjoyed the clip at R24, especially the PETA rep, but why would Rue tell that story that she told? It doesn't make Bea look good. I'm guessing Betty wasn't in attendance. It would have been upsetting for Betty to hear that.

Betty always struck me as passive-aggressive. And bitchy. But passing off her bitchiness in “jokes”.

Bea always struck me as too direct. I can’t imagine Bea having much patience for that Betty’s … shtick. Drunks don’t have a lot of patience and get annoyed very quickly.

But, look, who cares? The show is joyful and hilarious.

R27 El Pollo Loco is peruviano, not mexicano or even cubano.

Wait, some people aren't absolute best friends with their coworkers? Weird.

Ed Asner and Ted Knight didn't get along on Mary Tyler Moore. Jimmy Walker didn't seem to get along with anyone on Good Times. Richard Dreyfuss didn't get along with Bill Murray on What About Bob? and Robert Shaw on Jaws. People often forget that tv and movies are illusions.

R2 Betty: "No more motorboating for you Bea. 36 times was enough!"

Bea: "You CUNT!"

Don't they say that the real Betty was Sue Ann Nivens.

I thought we were talons g about gays in the workplace? Not B-list actors.

*talking

r37 Did you read the title of this post? You thought it was about gays in the workplace?

[quote]I can't really pick a side in the Bea-Betty war.

Team Bea.

X-over mix

It's just about going to work for as long as you can stand it. When it's time to leave, it's time to leave.

Sometimes your co-workers really are cunts.

I love Rue.

I heard from a reliable source that Bea was pissed that Betty won the Emmy for best actress in a comedy series first in 1986. Then, Rue won the same award in 1987. Bea won in 1988 along with Estelle as best supporting.

R43, Rue said that.

Bea was a weirdo on so many levels. Betty was indeed a cunt though.

Bea seemed like a deeply unhappy person. Who the hell knows what her demons were.

Bea met Angela Lansbury, in "Mame", on Broadway. She was deeply wounded; she desperately wanted to play "Mame". Although she and Angela were very close friends. Angela said Bea never got over losing the part.

Didn't Bea hate Estelle too?

I think that Bea probably had to put up with a lifetime of bullying. First because she was tall (that's rough on girls and young women). Then because her face didn't meet the conventional standards of beauty.

Then when she went into acting, she was in a career that prized women's looks over their talent. (You could argue that any profession does this, but acting is more blatant about it.). In an interview, she became angry when she spoke about how Tallulah Bankhead once told her that Bea's lack of stage presence was due to her bone structure.

On the Golden Girls, a lot of the writer's jokes attacked Bea's looks. She complained to the writers about it. There were jokes about Rose being dumb and Blanche being promiscuous, but the jokes didn't phase the actresses because Betty and Rose were the complete opposite of their characters. But the jokes about Dorothy's looks couldn't be shrugged off in the same way.

Then her character's main trauma was being left by her husband of 35 years due to infidelity. In real life, her husband left her after about 28 years and two adopted kids. He was married to his next wife within a couple of years, and he had a baby with her at around 60 years of age.

R49, I thought I read Bea was brutally raped and that is why she couldn't have children of her own.

Mary Tyler Moore said that Sue Ann Nivens was the character that was most like Betty. I know they were all stage actresses, but I always felt Rue was the true stage-trained actress of the bunch. When she tried not to break character, she would do certain poses/acting discipline exercises to keep her composure. She also looked out for Estelle in scenes and would literally direct her on camera to help her finish a scene. She was not above laughing when Estelle went off-script while Bea always looked pissed as hell. The one time I can recall Bea laughing was during the ep Even Grandmas Get the Blues when Blanche was discussing having a baby. I also noticed Bea would always look at Betty when Estelle ad-libbed. So, they had some sort of comradery.

As for the Betty/Bea rumors, I suppose Bea didn't care for the way Betty would ham it up in between scenes, not out of envy, but because she seemed to be more of an introvert. I can recall a couple of scenes where Betty's personality would pop up during a scene where she'd add a little move or expression that was not in the script and Bea would look surprised yet smile. This was throughout the entire seven seasons, so, if the rumor is they had a fallout during the series, I didn't notice any change.

Bea's ex-husband Gene Saks left her for a blonde woman named Keren. Maybe Bea was triggered by Betty's fake blonde hair and was having traumatizing Vietnam flashbacks every time Betty was around.

Simone Griffith who was on Bea's short-lived sitcom Amanda's, said that Bea didn't speak to her much on the show and she believed it was because she looked a lot like Gene's new wife. That's from Jim Colucci's book Golden Girls Forever. Simone was a guest star on The Golden Girls playing one of Stan's girlfriends (the writers were really trying to piss be off weren't they?) but she said Bea was very nice to her.

*piss Bea off

Bea was an incredibly immature and unpredictable woman and was probably responsible for several unsolved murders in the greater Los Angeles area.

I don’t think Bea fucked anyone after her husband dumped her.

That explains all of her rage.

R16- Beatrice Arthur was a DYKE so I don't think the fact that her husband left her was SO heartbreaking.

Betty White might have acted all sweet on camera and in front of the studio audience but we all know in real life she was totally like her character Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

R54 LOL. Bea and and her accomplice Angela.

Bea must have had some qualities since Angela loved her.

Bea also sort of looked like Angela's husband.

R56 Bill Macy said Bea didn't want to continue doing Maude because she was shattered after her husband left her for a younger woman.

I think Bea was probably bi.

All women I've met who came from theatre were bi.

Plus, in Hollywood, everyone fucks everyone. It's very incestuous.

[quote]I thought I read Bea was brutally raped and that is why she couldn't have children of her own.

When Bea was in the Marines during World War II she had a horrible case of veneral disease that took a while to clear up. That may have left her infertile.

[quote]Bea met Angela Lansbury, in "Mame", on Broadway. She was deeply wounded; she desperately wanted to play "Mame".

Bea was a Vera, not a Mame. And she was neither a Sally nor a Phyllis.

Why would a woman put up with a bitter, nasty woman like Bea?

r49 Estelle was terribly afraid of death, and Sophia is at the butt of a death joke nearly every episode.

Was Estelle good on Empty Nest? I stopped watching after Kristy McNichol left. The series should be on DVD by now. There should also be a magnificient Golden Girls boxset.

*magnificent

Why can't we edit our posts and correct spelling mistakes? DL, it's not 1995 anymore!

*box set

*R63 and R64

I'd orgasm if I saw both Betty and Bea at the grocery store at the same time!

R59, yes, but wasn't that a result of the rape?

In regards to Betty...

Better to be a Sue Ann Nivens than an Ellen Harper Jackson.

Estelle...

She was terrified of death so I'm glad she had the dementia so she never realized when she was going out.

Where did the "Bea was raped in the Marines" story come from?

I’ve only read it on here. Probably the same loon who keeps saying that Stan and Dorothy lost their first baby to explain away the reason was in his 20’s when they had been married for 38 years..

R70, R71, I read that about Bea some years ago and it wasn't here.

I don’t know why people find this so amazing. There have been plenty of nasty cunts and assholes every place I have worked who don’t realize what actual bitches they are, and you just have to learn to ignore or tolerate it and go about getting your work done. TV shows are no different