Unless you live under a rock, there is no way you haven’t heard of the mega-hit show, The Golden Girls. The show aired from 1985 to 1992 and captured the hearts of audiences worldwide.
A show that was not expected to run beyond the first season became such a massive success that it’s even still talked about over 30 years after its last episode aired!
Newsner recently sat down with Stan Zimmerman, staff writer for Season 1 of The Golden Girls, to get to know some of the stories behind the scenes! Keep reading to learn little-known facts about everyone’s favorite show.
No one can forget the formidable Estelle Getty in her role as Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls. While viewers remember her for her iconic one-liners and sizzling put-downs, Stan Zimmerman remembers her for something else entirely; her warmth.
Zimmerman, a young writer at the time, recalls the first time Getty came over to talk to him: “I was very excited that she was coming over to talk to me and my writing partner, Jim. And she’s like, teeny tiny. And she came in her layover and she’s like, ‘come here, come here’.”
He goes on: “She pulls us to the back of the set and we’re like, ‘just follow her. She’s Estelle Getty!’ And she said to us, ‘your secret’s safe with me’. And I thought that we’re Jewish. And it was actually, that we’re gay. And she had got to know a lot of gay people through this play, Torch Song Trilogy.”
He shared how at the time he was told by his management that he should keep his identity a secret on-set. He said, “People find it hard to believe. But we could not talk about ourselves, our true selves at work. And, this was, you know, 1985. And our representatives said you had to keep that quiet. And she was, willing to do that for us. And I thought that was really nice and, very sweet.”
Estelle Getty’s lesser know side…
Zimmerman shared that while her character delivered zingers on camera, in real life, she had a motherly quality about her. He recalled: “She had that very motherly quality. And even years after, when I was not writing Golden Girls, we would talk on the phone. And she’d always like to know, like, ‘who you’re dating? Where you working?’ And, you know, and not shy about giving advice about any of that.”
And while Estelle played the oldest Golden Girl, she was younger than both Bea Arthur and Betty White! As a result, the makeup team would have to make her appear older through the use of makeup.
Stan recalled a funny story about this: “She had to put on old age makeup. And then I think between season one and 2 or 2 and three, she went and got a facelift.
And then, like [the makeup team were like] ‘Estelle, now we need to do your makeup. Why are you looking better?’ But I think she was just so excited to be in Hollywood. And can you imagine your whole life you strive for something and never reaching it and you know, and probably many times you thought of giving it up,” he says.