Golden Girls’ Betty White and Bea Arthur’s Bitter Feud Detailed By Show Producer

Golden Girls producer Marsha Posner Williams revealed that late costars Betty White and Bea Arthur—who played Rose and Dorothy on the show, respectively—didn’t get along during its seven-season run.

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Things weren’t always golden on the Golden Girls.

The classic sitcom’s producer revealed that late costars Betty White and Bea Arthur—who played onscreen besties Rose Nylund and Dorothy Zbornak, respectively—were far from friends in real life.

“When that red light was on [and the show was filming], there were no more professional people than those women,” producer Marsha Posner Williams shared during a 40th anniversary panel for the Golden Girls on June 18, per The Hollywood Reporter, “but when the red light was off, those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together.”

In fact, Marsha recalled becoming an outlet for Bea to vent about Betty throughout the series’ seven-season run, noting that the Maude actress “used to call me at home and say, ‘I just ran into that C [word] at the grocery store. I’m gonna write her a letter.’”

“I said, ‘Bea, just get over it for crying out loud,’” she continued. “‘Just get past it.’”

And that kind of language was far from unusual for the pair when they were together, too. As Marsha explained, “I remember, my husband and I went over to Bea’s house a couple of times for dinner. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door, the C-word came out.”

And while the Mrs. Doubtfire producer wasn’t sure exactly how Betty and Bea’s long-running feud began, she believed it played a part in the show—also starring the late Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux and Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo—coming to an end in 1992.

Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Beatrice Arthur Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic

“The show would have continued after seven years,” Marsha 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.’”

Bea, however, was not willing to sign another contract.

“Bea said ‘no f–king way,’ and that’s why that show didn’t continue,” Marsha alleged. “Betty would break character in the middle of the show [and talk to the live audience], and Bea hated that.”