‘Golden Girls’: Betty White & Bea Arthur’s Feud Details Revealed

‘Golden Girls’ Producer Spills Tea on Betty White & Bea Arthur’s Infamous Feud

Touchstone Television/Courtesy of Everett Collection

While the ladies of The Golden Girls were best friends on TV, things were the opposite behind the scenes.

Several crew members of the beloved sitcom reflected on their experiences during a 40th-anniversary celebration event on Wednesday, June 18, as a part of the Pride LIVE! Hollywood festival. During the discussion, coproducer Marsha Posner Williams spilled new details on the alleged feud between leading ladies Betty White and Bea Arthur.

“When that red light was on [and the show was filming], there were no more professional people than those women, but when the red light was off, those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together,” Williams told attendees, per The Hollywood Reporter. “[Bea] used to call me at home and say, ‘I just ran into that c**t at the grocery store. I’m gonna write her a letter,’ and I said, ‘Bea, just get over it for crying out loud. Just get past it.’”

According to Williams, Arthur often used profanity when discussing White. “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,” she stated.

Casting director Joel Thurm, meanwhile, recalled Arthur calling White the C-word while sitting next to the actress on a flight.

While White and Arthur seemingly didn’t get along, the show’s creatives reportedly disagreed on what caused a rift between the two stars. Williams shut down coproducer Jim Vallely’s suggestion that Arthur didn’t like that White received more applause than she did during live taping cast introductions, according to THR. Instead, she said Arthur was not a fan of publicity due to her theatrical background, unlike White, whose background was in TV.

Touchstone/Courtesy of Everett Collection

“The show would have continued after seven years,” Williams continued. “Their contracts were up and … the executives went to the ladies, and Estelle [Getty] said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going,’ and Rue [McClanahan] said, ‘Yes let’s keep going,’ and Betty said, ‘Yes, let’s keep going.’ And Bea said, ‘No f**king way,’ and that’s why that show didn’t continue.”

Additionally, Williams said White would Arthur “hated” that White would sometimes talk to the live audience while filming episodes.

Script supervisor Isabel Omero, however, remembered White and Arthur as being more amicable toward each other, stating the two would walk “arm in arm” while getting notes during filming. Williams joked they did so in case one needed to push the other in front of a rogue golf cart on the studio lot.

White opened up about her relationship with Arthur during a 2011 interview on The Joy Behar Show, stating, “Bea was not that fond of me. … I don’t know what I ever did. I don’t know, but she was not that thrilled with me. But I loved Bea and I admired her.”

The Golden Girls, which ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992, followed a group of four friends enjoying their golden years in Miami. Getty and McClanahan filled out the show’s main quartet alongside White and Arthur.