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.

Sadly, Zimmerman also recalls seeing his friend deteriorate. At the time they didn’t know what was going on with her. The writer recalled: “We didn’t know at the time that she was, experiencing early onset dementia. And I think that with, the anxiety she had of performing in front of a live studio audience, knowing she was starting to forget lines really troubled her.”

He recalled taping nights: “And so Friday night tapings were anxiety filled for her. And I know she worked really hard to get through that, but all three of the women were very protective to make sure, you know, that she was in
the best state mentally to get through it.”

Since she was close to Zimmerman, she confided in him about going to therapy several times a week, a fact that not many knew on set. He said: “In the writer’s room, they thought that she was out going to Hollywood parties every night. And that’s why she wasn’t home studying her lines.”

He revealed the drastic measures they took. “And so I remember they called in her managers, who we became friendly with, the executive producers and said, you’ve got to be on top of her. Make sure she learns the lines.”

At the time Getty didn’t have a dementia diagnosis and was struggling through her work. Stan recalls: “But when you have dementia, you know, all the studying you can do, if you can’t, if your brain can’t retain those lines, then it’s very scary.”

He reveals the measures they took to help Estelle with her lines. “And so when you see in the TV show, if she’s sitting there eating raisins, it’s because we wrote some of the lines on her hands and, or sometimes they taped it to the furniture. And I think in later years they actually had some cue cards to help her out.”

But even with her struggles, Estelle delivered every time. Stan says: “But even through all of that, when she sent her lines, they were like home runs every time. I mean, it was so amazing to see her. And we always went to her for those jokes at the end of the scene, because we just knew that she was going to, you know, hit it out of the park every time.”

Something wasn’t right with Betty White…

Meanwhile, Zimmerman’s initial impression of Betty White wasn’t all that positive. He revealed to Newsner that during tapings – if and when Estelle Getty messed up her lines – White would often turn to the studio audience and make jokes at Getty’s expense.

Zimmerman said: “She would walk up to the stands with the audience watching the taping and make jokes. And I thought that was very cruel of her.”