‘Golden Girls’ — Their Vicious Backstage Feuds

“The Golden Girls” was a hit show about four wisecracking ­senior citizens who were the best of friends — but the actresses spent their years on the set going after each other’s throats!

 That’s just one of the stunning secrets behind the classic sitcom, with show insiders telling The National ENQUIRER the ugly truth behind the ladies' smiles. Debuting in 1985, the ­series featured Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as retirees living together in Florida. It was seven seasons of stress and torture for some, though — with Bea, who played Dorothy ­Zbornak, and Estelle, who portrayed her mother, Sophia Petrillo, being the main sources of strife!

Rue, who played sexpot Blanche Devereaux, complained endlessly about Bea’s overbearing ways. John Caldwell, a close friend of Rue’s, said Bea, who served in the Marine Corps, “should have been a master sergeant in the Army. She’s a bitch on and off TV!” John, who admitted in 1991 that the “four detest each other,” said Estelle as a main source of resentment — for constantly flubbing her lines! 

“She screws up the show in more ways than you can imagine,” Rue once said. John revealed that Bea, Rue and Betty — who played the naive Rose Nylund — even tried to have Estelle axed from the show, but the producers stood by the actress. Little did anyone know that Estelle's mistakes were likely symptoms of the dementia that would tragically take her life in 2008. “We should have known something was wrong,” Bea lamented years later.

Bad blood had already existed between Rue and Bea from their clashes working together on “Maude” — but Rue revealed that Bea was especially cruel to Betty. Rue said that several times when the two were filming a scene Bea would just suddenly start calling her cruel names. And Betty’s refusal to defend herself stuck in Rue’s craw! 

“She’s so timid, it’s disgusting!” Rue complained of Betty — who at 95 is the only surviving Golden Girl. One source says Bea hated Betty because Betty thought she was the star of the show, “and acted like it!” Added one insider: “The show’s execs had a major headache because of the Bea and Betty feud. They simply ­hated each other.”

The women were rocked by personal scandals. Bea was outraged after she performed for a children’s AIDS benefit, and discovered only 9 percent of the $829,000 raised actually went ­toward helping kids! Rue lost over $650,000 in bad business deals and, in 1993, sued the man who urged her to dump her money into them. Six-times married Rue also became involved with Dirk Summers, a man accused of swindling such stars as Jonathan Winters and June Allyson. 

Rue called off their engagement when she learned of his past — which ­included a fraud conviction! She'd marry for the last time in 1997, but was estranged from hubby Morrow Wilson when she died at 76 in 2010 from her second stroke in less than a year. Health woes haunted the other women, as well. 

Bea had a tumor removed from her uterus in 1991 — during the show’s last season. Fortunately, it turned out to be benign, but by 2008 Bea was in a wheelchair — and died from cancer at 86 in 2009. None of Estelle's cast mates attended her California funeral in 2008. One mourner fumed, “After having such a long working relationship together, it’s a real slap in the face to Estelle.”

But that wasn't the first time that a "Golden Girls" gathering had been foiled. The show ended in 1992, and Bea would later put an end to plans for a TV reunion movie in 1997. The other actresses were eager to revisit their characters, but Bea admitted there was little love lost among the four. “We’re awfully different personality-wise,” Bea sniffed, “and we just do not socialize with each ­other!”