Shocking Things You Never Knew About The Golden Girls

Getty Was Younger Than Arthur

Estelle Getty was actually the second youngest of the four women on the show, but played the oldest role out of the four leading ladies. She was a year younger than Arthur but played her mother! She did an amazing job, however, and it was hard to tell due to all the makeup that costuming used to age her.

“Mother” and “Daughter” in a scene

What ages were all the actresses during the years The Golden Girls was on the air?

Most people are shocked when they first find out that Estelle Getty was younger than the actress who played her daughter, Bea Arthur. Makeup artists can really work magic! When The Golden Girls first debuted in 1985, Getty was 62 years old. Arthur and Betty White were both 63, and Rue McClanahan was only 51 years old at the time. Regardless of age, Getty did an amazing portrayal of an elderly Italian mother, and the role of Sophia Petrillo earned her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Sadly, Estelle Getty died before any of her fellow Golden Girls, in 2008.

Getty without her “Sophia” makeup