The energetic blonde with the honeyed voice and girl-next-door beauty was one of the rare performers to remain as popular into her nineties with new generations of viewers - thanks to reruns of “Golden Girls” - as she was in her sitcom heyday. White, who played Sue-Ann Nivens on “ The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s and Rose on “The Golden Girls” from 1985-92, was a staple on TV for more than 60 years, having started as the sidekick on a local Los Angeles daytime show that kept her on live TV five hours a day, five days a week. White was also the subject of a recent book by Variety alum Ray Richmond, “Betty White: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life.” “I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age,” White told the magazine. Just this week, White graced the cover of People magazine. The approach of White’s 100th birthday sparked numerous tributes and appreciations of her long run in the industry. “I just love to work and the word ‘no’ did not exist,” White told Variety. She told Variety in an email Q&A in 2020 that her career blossomed in the early days of TV because she was fascinated by the medium. White’s work schedule had slowed considerably as she reached her late 90s. She had round-the-clock caretakers in her final years, Witjas said. She spent most of the past two years at the home she loved with her many pets.

Perhaps that explains Arthur not participating in a Golden Girls reunion on the 1990s sitcom Ladies Man.Witjas emphasized that White had not been ill but had been extremely cautious during the COVID-19 pandemic. Colucci says that while White, Getty, and McClanahan were less fazed by below-the-belt jokes regarding their characters, their co-star ultimately struggled. The same tell-all also revealed that she was actually offended by how much the show poked fun at her character. The Golden Girls was known for its solid narratives, and she was simply no longer impressed with how the episodes were panning out.Īrthur wanted to leave the show while it was still resonating with people. According to the book Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind The Lanai written by Jim Colucci, who interviewed 20 actors and crew members of the show, including Arthur, the actress felt that by the later years, the quality of the sitcom was starting to slip. There were several reasons Bea Arthur left Golden Girls which included feeling like the writers had done everything they could with the four main characters.

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