Golden Girls writer Stan Zimmerman has lifted the lid of life behind the scenes on the iconic TV show – opening up about the close bond between two of the show’s biggest stars.
Stan, who wrote several episodes during the first season of the Golden Girls, noticed an interesting dynamic between two of its stars, Betty White and Estelle Getty.
Recalling his experiences on the set in a new book, The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, Stan recalled how Estelle – who played Sophia Petrillo on the popular series – had trouble remembering her lines when the show first began.
At the time, he says people on set assumed that Estelle – who passed away in 2008 – had been going out ‘to Hollywood parties’ and that she ‘wasn’t studying hard enough’, however he now believes that the actress was dealing with the early stages of dementia, although at the time, she had not been formally diagnosed.
‘The thought in the writer’s room was that she was out going to Hollywood parties because here she was, a sudden celebrity… That she wasn’t studying hard enough,’ he told Fox News.
Estelle was later diagnosed with Lewy body dementia many years later and passed away from the illness just three days before her 85th birthday – and Stan says that, looking back, he believes her struggle to remember her lines was actually an early sign of the disease that would ultimately claim her life.
‘That’s why sometimes [in] scenes, you’ll see Sophia eating raisins. She actually has the lines on her hands,’ Stan explained.
Describing himself as being ‘close with Estelle’, the writer went on to detail his upset at seeing her costar Betty seemingly making fun of her on-set.
Stan started to pick up on a habit of Betty’s when they had to break if Estelle made a mistake, noting the former would walk over the bleachers where the live audience sat and start making jokes.
‘At the time, because I was close with Estelle, I felt, “Why is she making fun of Estelle?” I was very protective,’ he reflected.
However, upon reflection, he realized Betty – who played Rose Nylund for seven seasons – was purposely distracting the audience so people wouldn’t notice the trouble that Estelle was having.
‘I think Betty was steering the attention away from Estelle, going up to the audience so that people would be looking at her over there and let Estelle have the moment to collect herself, look at the script,’ he shared.
Stan added Betty was aware that Estelle struggled with filming a television series, after coming from a theater background, ‘where you rehearse the same script over and over and over and over.’
‘In television, you’re always changing lines, sometimes in between takes,’ he explained, adding: ‘[Betty] knew Estelle had panic attacks every time we went to go film.’
‘Imagine you’re having these feelings. You’re used to being in a career of theater where you’ve memorized lots of lines, and then you’re in front of a huge studio, cameras, multimillions of dollars being spent,’ he said.
Stan added that having the network in the studio and the attention completely on her ‘panicked’ the actress every week, while the other Golden Girls actresses, Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur and Betty, were more experienced with TV.
‘She started talking about how, you know, she had to go to therapy to help her work through her fear of those tape nights,’ he recalled.
He said Betty’s sense of humor and ability to think on her feet leant itself to the situation, describing her off-air personality as her character Sue Ann Niven on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
‘That was a very b***hy, mean character. So I think maybe in my head, I’m thinking, “Oh, she’s just being Sue Ann Nivens,”‘ he said.
He also commented on rumors that Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy Zbornak, and Betty didn’t get along, commenting that he personally never felt like there was friction between to two of them.
‘I have since learned they have very different styles. Bea Arthur really came from the stage and just had a different ethos of working. Whereas, Betty came from television,’ he theorized.
“So, it was just different work ethics.
‘I mean, they both got the job done extremely well. But just a difference of personalities.’
