You have undoubtedly heard of the wildly popular television program, The Golden Girls, unless you’ve been living under a rock. The program, which ran from 1985 to 1992, won over viewers’ hearts all across the world.
Even now, more than 30 years after its final episode aired, people still talk about a show that was never supposed to last past its first season!
Stan Zimmerman, the staff writer for Season 1 of The Golden Girls, recently spoke with Newsner to learn more about some of the backstage tales! Discover hidden details about everyone’s favorite show by reading on.
The strong Estelle Getty, who played Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls, will never be forgotten.Stan Zimmerman remembers her for something very different—her warmth—than the viewers recall for her famous one-liners and scorching putdowns.
“I was very excited that she was coming over to talk to me and my writing partner, Jim,” remembers Zimmerman, a young writer at the time, when Getty initially approached him. And she says, “I’m so small.” “Come here, come here,” she said as she arrived during her layover.
He continues, saying, “We just follow her when she drags us to the back of the set. Estelle Getty is who she is! “Your secret is safe with me,” she told us. I also assumed that we were Jewish. In fact, it was that we are gay. Additionally, the Torch Song Trilogy show introduced her to many LGBT people.
He described how his management at the time advised him to conceal his name while filming. “People find it hard to believe,” he remarked. However, we were unable to discuss who we really were at work. You know, this was in 1985. And you have to keep that quiet, according to our reps. She was prepared to do it for us, too. And I found that to be very pleasant and lovely.
The lesser known side of Estelle Getty
Zimmerman revealed that although her character was a zinger on screen, she had a maternal demeanor in real life. “She had that very motherly quality,” he remembered. We would still speak on the phone years later, when I wasn’t writing Golden Girls. Additionally, she would constantly ask, “Who are you dating?” Where are you employed? Additionally, I’m not afraid to offer counsel on any of those topics.
Estelle was younger than Bea Arthur and Betty White, while playing the role of the oldest Golden Girl! Therefore, the makeup artists would have to use makeup to make her look older.
“She had to put on old age makeup,” Stan remarked, recalling a humorous story about this. After that, I believe she had a facelift sometime between seasons one and two or two and three.
The makeup crew then said, “Estelle, we have to do your makeup now.” How come you appear better? However, I believe she was simply thrilled to be in Hollywood. And can you picture working toward something your entire life, never achieving it, and perhaps even considering giving up on it several times?” he asks.
Zimmerman regrettably remembers witnessing his friend’s decline. They had no idea what was wrong with her at the time. “We didn’t know at the time that she was, experiencing early onset dementia,” the author recalled. Furthermore, I believe that she was greatly worried by her fear of playing in front of a live studio audience and her growing tendency to forget lines.
“And so Friday night tapings were anxiety filled for her,” he said, recalling the nights of filming. And I am aware that she put a lot of effort into overcoming that, but all three of the women were really protective to ensure that she was in the best possible mental position to do so.
Being close to Zimmerman, she told him that she attended treatment multiple times a week, something that few people on set were aware of. “In the writer’s room, they believed that she was out attending Hollywood parties every night,” he claimed. She wasn’t at home studying her lines because of this.
He disclosed the extreme actions they performed. I recall that they called in her managers, with whom we were acquainted, the executive producers, and told them that they needed to keep an eye on her. Ensure that she understands the lines.
Getty was having difficulties at work at the time and was not diagnosed with dementia. According to Stan, “it’s really frightening when you have dementia because you know, all the studying you can do, if you can’t, if your brain can’t retain those lines.”
He discloses the steps they took to assist Estelle in delivering her lines. Therefore, if you see her eating raisins in the TV show, it’s because we scrawled some of the phrases on her hands, and occasionally they taped it to the furniture. Additionally, I believe they had some cue cards to aid her in later years.
Despite her difficulties, Estelle consistently produced quality work. But despite everything, Stan says, “Every time she sent her lines, they were like home runs.” I mean, seeing her was truly incredible. Additionally, we knew that she would always deliver a fantastic joke at the end of the play, so we always turned to her for them.
There was a problem with Betty White.
Zimmerman, however, didn’t have a particularly favorable first impression of Betty White. He told Newsner that White would frequently turn to the studio audience and make jokes about Estelle Getty during tapings if and when Getty fumbled her lines.
“She would approach the stands with the audience watching the taping and crack jokes,” Zimmerman claimed. And I felt it was really unkind of her.
However, Stan has recently come to view things differently as he has aged. “Until recently, I thought, oh, perhaps she was going over there to attract the audience’s attention and give Estelle some time to gather herself and remember the lines,” he adds.
“I’ve heard stories, I didn’t see it particularly when we were there that there were some, I think, personality clashes between Bea and Betty,” he added, recalling some whispers of friction between the two. Their methods of operation differed. You don’t break character since Bea was actually a stage actor. Therefore, even though we were on break, I believe Bea did not like it when she saw Betty just kind of be herself and go up and talk in the middle of a scene.
For this reason, no one can compare to the Golden Girls.
Stan also disclosed that the four Golden Girls’ female stars did something that Hollywood actors rarely do: give credit and gratitude to the creators during interviews. Stan stated: “I must express my gratitude to those four women for going out and discussing the writers on almost all talk shows.” As authors, they were always complimentary. And that’s not something you typically see. I will always be thankful for that.
Additionally, the women never performed ad-libs on the show, despite what many people think! Stan claims that viewers frequently believe that some sequences were improvised, with the women coming up with ideas on the fly, but this is not always the case.
“They said every word, every comma, every period,” Stan remembers. What we wrote was what they said.
In his book The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, Zimmerman discussed his captivating experiences with The Golden Girls as well as other topics.It contains his experiences with some of the biggest women on television, such as Lily Tomlin, Lauren Graham, Roseanne, the four Golden Girls, and more!
His play “Right Before I Go,” a moving tale based on the suicide of a close friend 13 years prior, is presently on tour.
Spread the word about this article to other Golden Girls fans who might be interested in learning these little-known facts!
