TV Gold Thank You For Being A Friend

Remembering the Show With Golden Girl Power!

Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia – they were the other fab four. The stars of TV comedy The Golden Girls showcased the power of female friendship and made ageing look fun!

The warm, witty show kicked off in 1985 with widowed Southern belle Blanche (Rue McClanahan) welcoming new flatmates into her Miami home. Her ad on the bulletin board of a grocery store had been answered by guileless fellow widow Rose (Betty White) and acerbic New York divorcée Dorothy (Bea Arthur). The fourth resident was Dorothy’s sharp-tongued Sicilian mother Sophia (Estelle Getty).

Over its celebrated run, the 183-episode series followed the group as they grappled with relationships, romance, ageism, bereavement, homophobia and death. The Golden Girls racked up countless awards, including two Emmys for best comedy series. Each of the four stars bagged an individual Emmy – one of only three series to ever achieve this, plus the Queen Mother was one of the show’s biggest fans.

The part of Sophia was the first to be cast. Estelle Getty had wowed audiences in her run of the play Torch Song Trilogy and believed this was her last chance to land a television gig. At 62, the actress was actually a year younger than her on-screen daughter and endured three hours in make-up to become the 80-year-old matriarch.