Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “The Golden Girls”

Close Casting Calls

Though the script always called for a “Bea Arthur” type, casting directors saw a few other women before Bea made up her mind. First, they met with actress Lee Grant and Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. According to Stritch herself, she blew the audition by being too vulgar. She recounted the audition gone wrong in her one-woman show, where she explained that she tried to break the ice by asking if she could improvise the dialogue. She did so by changing the line “Ying, don’t forget the hors d’oeuvres” into “Ying, don’t forget the f**king hors d’oeuvres.”

Well, that type of language just won’t work on network television.

Arthur, believing that she would simply be reprising her role as Maude and Betty and Rue would be playing characters they’d played before, was hesitant about accepting the part. But once Rue told her that she was going to be the hypersexual vixen and Betty was going to be sweet and naive one, then she was on board.