The Golden Girls was one of the ’80s biggest sitcoms, but the veteran stars also brought along decades of Hollywood dirt — with Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur all caught up in surprising celebrity sex scandals…
Click through the gallery above for all the shocking details!
1 of 8
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Betty White got her start in the 1950s hosting a morning TV talk show in L.A. — where she was already trying to hide away from her past as a nude model! To her constant chagrin, one image from a deck of vintage naked playing cards managed to sneak out into the public eye.
2 of 8
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Betty wasn't ready for that kind of exposure. She insisted to late-night host
David Letterman in 1985 that the photo wasn't really her — but her co-stars weren't convinced.
Estelle Getty once wanted to tell the studio audience about a magazine that published the pics. “Betty begged her not to do it,” said an insider, “and she was serious!”
3 of 8
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Rue McClanahan struck gold twice alongside Bea Arthur in The Golden Girls and Maude — but she started out her acting career by dropping her clothes. The aspiring actress took on plenty of early roles as a stripper in sordid low-budget films, and put on a particularly daring show that challenged the censors in 1968's Hollywood After Midnight.
4 of 8
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That experience paid off with her Broadway debut, though — as Rue stripped down to bra and panties onstage with young
Dustin Hoffman for the 1968 production of
Jimmy Shine. The musical ended up lasting as long as one of Rue's many marriages. She went through five divorces before marrying her final husband Morrow Wilson in 1997.
5 of 8
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Life also imitated art when Rue — who played sex-crazed Blanche on the show — had a breast job in 1991 to impress her boytoy lover Michael Thornton. The couple briefly turned heads in Hollywood with their 27-year age difference — but, said an insider at the time, "She wants to be young and carefree again!"
6 of 8
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Bea Arthur was enjoying a wholesome change with The Golden Girls — after shocking the nation alongside Rue as the title character while starring on Maude. The controversial sitcom once featured its lead character having an abortion. The pioneering show also took on mental health issues, and even made an episode out of Bea's real-life facelift. But she kept some things hidden!
7 of 8
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The press would often report on Bea's stint with the Marine Corps, where she served as a truck driver after enlisting in 1943. But hidden in Bea's medical records was a “misconduct report” for contracting a venereal disease — which left her “incapacitated for duty” for five weeks in 1944!
8 of 8
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Bea went on to two marriages and was married twice — also adopting two sons. Rumors of a secret lesbian life still always followed her. “I think it's because of the voice,” Bea once said dismissively, “but who cares?” She was dedicated to her gay fans, however — and her will left funds for The Bea Arthur Residence to open for gay youth in NYC's East Village.
Betty White got her start in the 1950s hosting a morning TV talk show in L.A. — where she was already trying to hide away from her past as a nude model! To her constant chagrin, one image from a deck of vintage naked playing cards managed to sneak out into the public eye.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Betty wasn't ready for that kind of exposure. She insisted to late-night host
David Letterman in 1985 that the photo wasn't really her — but her co-stars weren't convinced.
Estelle Getty once wanted to tell the studio audience about a magazine that published the pics. “Betty begged her not to do it,” said an insider, “and she was serious!”
Photo credit: Getty/Files
Rue McClanahan struck gold twice alongside Bea Arthur in The Golden Girls and Maude — but she started out her acting career by dropping her clothes. The aspiring actress took on plenty of early roles as a stripper in sordid low-budget films, and put on a particularly daring show that challenged the censors in 1968's Hollywood After Midnight.
Photo credit: Getty/Files
That experience paid off with her Broadway debut, though — as Rue stripped down to bra and panties onstage with young
Dustin Hoffman for the 1968 production of
Jimmy Shine. The musical ended up lasting as long as one of Rue's many marriages. She went through five divorces before marrying her final husband Morrow Wilson in 1997.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Life also imitated art when Rue — who played sex-crazed Blanche on the show — had a breast job in 1991 to impress her boytoy lover Michael Thornton. The couple briefly turned heads in Hollywood with their 27-year age difference — but, said an insider at the time, "She wants to be young and carefree again!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Bea Arthur was enjoying a wholesome change with The Golden Girls — after shocking the nation alongside Rue as the title character while starring on Maude. The controversial sitcom once featured its lead character having an abortion. The pioneering show also took on mental health issues, and even made an episode out of Bea's real-life facelift. But she kept some things hidden!
Photo credit: Getty Images
The press would often report on Bea's stint with the Marine Corps, where she served as a truck driver after enlisting in 1943. But hidden in Bea's medical records was a “misconduct report” for contracting a venereal disease — which left her “incapacitated for duty” for five weeks in 1944!
Photo credit: Getty Images
Bea went on to two marriages and was married twice — also adopting two sons. Rumors of a secret lesbian life still always followed her. “I think it's because of the voice,” Bea once said dismissively, “but who cares?” She was dedicated to her gay fans, however — and her will left funds for The Bea Arthur Residence to open for gay youth in NYC's East Village.
Photo credit: Getty Images
