Why Betty White And Bea Arthur Didn't Get Along

Betty White and Bea Arthur seemed to be a match made in heaven on their hit show, Golden Girls. The two ladies starred alongside Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty in the hit written by Susan Harris, per IMDb. The series followed the four women living together in Miami as plenty of hijinks ensued. Golden Girls' first season aired in 1985 and the show enjoyed a successful seven-season run before coming to an end in 1992. The show was a fan favorite, earning four Golden Globes during its run. Luckily, fans can catch reruns on TV Land, The Hallmark Channel, and Hulu. According to TV Web, every episode of the show will also begin streaming on Disney+ in summer 2021, too.

White has been candid about missing her late cast members Arthur, McClanahan, and Getty, per ABC News. "It was always great fun shooting each episode," she said in a statement on July 30, 2020, aka Golden Girls Day (which just so happens to coincide with National Cheesecake Day).  "[I] truly miss everyone involved." Arthur also sang the cast's praises to E! Online in the past. "It was a brilliant working relationship, everybody," she said of her time on the show. "There wasn't a weak link in the whole thing." She also shared that she never expected the show to turn into the hit that it became. "I didn't know it was going to turn into a cult [following]," she dished. "I just thought it was wonderful."

With all the excellent cast feedback, many will be surprised to hear about White and Arthur's feud.

Betty White and Bea Arthur appeared to be the best of friends, but their relationship was trying at times. According to the Los Angeles Times, Arthur died in 2009 at 86 after suffering complications from cancer. Much came out about the alleged rift following her passing, including some inside information from her son, Matthew Saks, in an interview with Closer Weekly in 2015. "It would make my mom unhappy that in-between takes Betty would go and talk to the audience. It wasn't jealousy. It was a focus thing," he shared. 

Saks also revealed that his mother "unknowingly carried the attitude that it was fun to have somebody to be angry at." He even elaborated further on the White habit that irked his mother in another interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. "It's just not the right time to talk to fans between takes," he said of White's tendency to chat with the audience. "Betty was able to do it, and it didn't seem to affect her. But it rubbed my mom the wrong way."

White broke her silence on her relationship with Arthur in an HLN interview with Joy Behar in 2011. "She was not that fond of me," White dished. "She found me a pain in the neck sometimes. It was my positive attitude — and that made Bea mad sometimes. Sometimes if I was happy, she'd be furious!" At least we can still thank the duo for "being a friend" to us on reruns of the hit show.