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. In Italy, the series aired on Rai Uno (or Rai 1) as Cuori senza et (Ageless Hearts) from 1987 until 1994. Their hair also hasnt greyed (or is colored), and they style their hair in a more contemporary way. In order to try and determine the real ages of the Golden Girls, we need to look at other sources of evidence. The show was aired as a bilingual broadcast using a two-channel sound system (Zweikanalton). For, That was the case. 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. Her thesis examined menstrual education in Victorian England. Betty White was actually the oldest Golden Girl. Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). They decided that a separate cook would distract from their friendship. Blanche was probably around 50 when the show began, rather than 54. (season two, episode five). She was said to have worn aged cosmetics in character to make her appear to be an eighty-something woman. That means with a little digging, coming up with each Golden Girl's age is easy for a superfan. The story follows four older single women (three widows and one divorced) who share a home in Miami, Florida. Life. In order to try and determine the real ages of the Golden Girls, we need to look at other sources of evidence. Because none of the other Golden Girls explicitly disclose their ages, the logical process begins with Dorothy. Mulligan and Manoff were alumni from one of Susan Harris' earlier shows, Soap. The Golden Girls began in 1985 and concluded in 1992, both in real life and in the fictional realm. 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. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Sophia was supposed to accompany her, but she ends up staying in Miami with the other females, which leads to the spin-off series, The Golden Palace. Unlock new opportunities and expand your reach by joining our authors team. 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. 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. [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. 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. There are no tricks. Arthur felt the characters had been in every possible scenario, and wanted to end the series while it was still successful. In any event, Arthur chose to commit to a seventh and final season. Dorothy is revealed to be a Leo in another episode, which means she was born in July or August of 1932, making her character 53 years old at the time the series began. It won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. Ironically, the actress who played Sophia, Estelle Getty, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, Dorothy. All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. [52][53] Debbie Reynolds was brought on as a guest star in the season six episode "There Goes the Bride: Part 2" to test her chemistry with the other actresses as a possible replacement for Arthur, but producers decided that nobody could replicate the chemistry of the four original actresses. "[60] Anna Wyckoff of the Costume Designers Guild wrote, "Evans took the direction from the producers to create a vibrant look for the four mature leads, and ran with itredefining what 'dressing your age' looked like. 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 this article, we will explore the evidence and try to uncover the true ages of the Golden Girls. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women. The classic NBC comedy The Golden Girls broke boundaries with its cast of four older women, a representation that was previously lacking on television. As of 2016, it was the 17th-most watched television finale. The show never approached the popularity or acclaim of the original, and ranked 57th[citation needed] in the annual ratings. Sarah Jessica Parker and Betty White, both of whom play a 55-year-old woman. Dorothy was likely in her late 40s, rather than her early 50s. This indicates that she was likely in her late 40s when the show began. Social norms regarding women in their fifties have also changed since Golden Girls premiered. She was also impressed by Getty's audition for the role of the mother of Steven Keaton (played by actor Michael Gross) for a guest episode of Family Ties. Richard Vaczy and Tracy Gamble, previously writers on 227 and My Two Dads, also assumed the roles of producers and head writers. Your email address will not be published. For example, in the pilot episode, Blanche states that she is 54 going on 55, which would mean that her age at the start of the show was 54. How Old Were the Golden Girls Supposed to Be? In "And Just Like That.", Miranda and Charlotte are 54, while Carrie is 55. . From left to right- Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls. White's birthday is January 17th and Arthur's was May 13th. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television. This means that she was 63 years old by the time the show premiered in 1985. 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. There was a lot of competition to get your words into the script. All four cast members got Emmy nominations for their roles in the Golden Girls. [24] The Cosby Show director Jay Sandrich, who had previously worked with Harris, Witt, and Thomas on Soap, agreed to direct the pilot episode. Betty White as Rose Nylund in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). Similarly, Estelle Getty, who played Sophia, was 79 when the show began and 83 when it ended. Rose's age is the easiest to track down, thanks to Dorothy openly saying it in Season 1, Episode 22, "Job Hunting." 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. 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. When all of the evidence is taken into account, it seems likely that the Golden Girls characters were actually younger than their stated ages. [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". [24], Shortly afterward, he met with producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, who were pitching a show about a female lawyer. 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. Writer and producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason created a sitcom with this kind of image as a "four women" show, which became Designing Women on CBS. 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. The company expected the show to appeal to older female viewers. Sophia was never afraid to admit how old she was, often using it to her advantage over the other women in the house. The women's ages were usually not explicitly stated, although some deductive work gives a pretty safe estimate of how old each Golden Girl was at the start of the series. [111], Golden Girls 3033 is an animated pilot created by Mike Hollingsworth. 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. Harold Gould played two of Rose's boyfriends, Arnie and Miles. However, Season 3, Episode 25, "Mother's Day," confirms Blanche was 17 in 1949, when she and her mother reminisce about one of Blanche's dates. Prior to that, when old people were shown on television, you could almost smell them., Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, and Betty White as Rose Nylund in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). Betty White was famous in Hollywood for being a pioneer of television dating back to the 1950s. Your email address will not be published. However, this older age makes sense because Sophia is Dorothys mother. was an off-Broadway show that opened in the summer of 2003 in New York City at Rose's Turn theater in the West Village, and ran until November of that year. Celebrities It wasnt until she was informed of Roses naivety that she gained the confidence to play the role and pull off the character. Blanche (played by Rue McClanahan) was thought to be around 47 years old in the first season of Golden Girls. ", 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. 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. 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. 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. It shattered stereotypes and even made that demographic entertaining for audiences of all genders and ages. For instance, Blanche mentions in one episode that she was married in 1952, which would have made her 21 at the time. She was born on July 25, 1923, making her 62 years old by the time the sitcom premiered. The film Golden Girls was a critical and commercial triumph. 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. Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). 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). [67], The Golden Girls was shot on videotape in front of a live studio audience. In Australia, the show airs daily on FOX Comedy. She thought an accentuated Southern accent would be sexy and strong and attractive to men. By Zachary Guida Jan 31, 2023 10 Ways Audience Popularity Gave TV Characters Greater Roles Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. In "And Just Like That", Miranda and Charlotte are 54, while Carrie is 55. Who was the youngest Golden Girl cast member? How old were The Golden Girls supposed to be? Getty came to Weiner's mind soon after, when it became time to begin casting of The Golden Girls. She passed away after suffering complications from a stroke at 99 years old on December 31, 2021, just 17 days before her 100th birthday. 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. 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. Blanche Devereauxs age had been a mystery and a recurrent joke for most of the Golden Girls, and it had been saved until last. And that was, to me, what made it seem like it could be a contemporary, young show. How Old Were the Golden Girls? Sophia, Dorothy's straight-talking mother, was the oldest character in the Golden Girls' house. 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.. "[47] Getty died in 2008, the result of dementia with Lewy bodies. 2. The hot young It Girl neighbor downstairsthe new Carrie Bradshaw if you will, a bruising realizationdrops the slur. The Golden Girls: How the Classic Sitcom Ended, Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams Is Iconic for Pushing Boundaries. Blanche lied to her housemates about her age so easily (and Sophia promptly called her out and said shed be 70 when the kid graduated), its reasonable to assume she was 53 when The Golden Girls premiered. Chick Vennera played a prize fighter and TV reporter Enrique Mas. In Southeast Asia, Rewind Networks began airing reruns of The Golden Girls on its HD channel, HITS, in 2013. On November 9, 2010, the studio released a complete-series box set titled The Golden Girls: 25th Anniversary Complete Collection. She was especially intimidated by her co-stars, who were all higher profile actresses than she was. (Photo Credit: New Line Cinema/ HBO/ MovieStills DB and MovieStills DB). The ages of the Golden Girls were never revealed on TV. Although the womens ages were rarely disclosed, some deductive work may be used to approximate how old each Golden Girl was at the commencement of the series. Bill Dana played Sophia's brother Angelo and her father. Designing Women began competing against The Golden Girls. [6], The show features an ensemble cast and the plot revolves around four older single women (three widows and one divorce) sharing a house in Miami. Sophia was 86 by the series' end. Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kristen Davis in And Just Like That. (Photo Credit: MovieStills DB). Win free shoes, organize your shoe closet, see the latest styles + more, About 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. Producers wanted to cast McClanahan as Rose and White as Blanche based on roles they had previously played; White portrayed the man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, while McClanahan co-starred as the sweet but scatterbrained Vivian Harmon in Maude. 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 was Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls? However, White and McClanahan wanted to play against their typecasting, so McClanahan was cast as Blanche instead. Characters from both shows made occasional crossover guest appearances on the other show, with the four girls guesting on Empty Nest and Mulligan, Dinah Manoff, Kristy McNichol, David Leisure, and Park Overall appearing on The Golden Girls in their Empty Nest roles. But what made the show golden were its stellar cast and the beloved characters they portrayed. [26] She found the concept interesting, as "it was a demographic that had never been addressed," and she soon began work on it. [109] The production ended because the producers failed to secure the rights and received a cease-and-desist order by the creators of the original television show. Season 2, Episode 25, "A Piece of Cake," reveals Sophia celebrated her 50th birthday in 1956, putting her at 79 at The Golden Girls' beginning. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy. Between 1973 and 1977 White made several appearances on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Sue Ann Nivens, the snobby, man-obsessed supporting character. [25] NBC senior vice president Warren Littlefield was among the executive producers in the audience who were amused by their performance, and he envisioned a series based on the geriatric humor the two were portraying. Empty Nest launched its own spin-off in 1991 set in Miami in the same hospital where Dr. Weston worked.
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