‘Golden Girls’ Actor Explains Why Bea Arthur Had Beef With Betty White

It’s not breaking news to report that Golden Girls star Bea Arthur had little patience with costar Betty White. Sure, the ladies were professional when the cameras were rolling. But when the stage lights went dark, “those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together,” according to producer Marsha Posner Williams. Arthur also had the unpleasant habit of referring to White as “the C-word,” as in, “I just ran into that c— at the grocery store.”

What caused the intense animosity? Actress Lyn Greene, who played young Dorothy in four Golden Girls flashback episodes, told People she believes she might know what was behind the Arthur/White beef. 

The theory involves Sue Ann Nivens, White’s passive-aggressive, two-faced character from The Mary Tyler Moore Show — sort of the anti-Bea Arthur. “Bea prided herself on her lack of artifice, on the fact that she was a straight shooter," explained Green. “And she didn’t suffer fools, and you couldn’t bullshit her.”

The straight-shooter label didn’t apply to White, at least as far as Arthur was concerned. “I think that there were times Bea saw more of Sue Ann Nivens than of Rose Nylund, in that I’m not sure she thought that Betty was always sincere.”

Arthur’s view didn’t jibe with Greene’s personal experience. “I think that (with) Betty, who was the nicest to me, and continued to be after the show was over, sunshine,” she said, “what you saw seemed to be what you would get.”

Maybe Arthur didn’t appreciate having to live up to White’s cheerful disposition on set. “Somebody being overly agreeable can sometimes contrast and make you look like you’re an ogre,” suggested Greene. “One was perky, happy, ‘Anything you say,’ ‘What can we do?’” 

That attitude was the antithesis of Arthur’s serious style and made her appear less than cooperative in comparison. 

But that doesn’t mean Arthur was wrong about White. All in the Family’s Sally Struthers, for one, would likely agree with her. “I didn’t have such a great experience with (White),” Struthers confessed on the Let’s Talk About That podcast. She told one story about White scolding her for reaching for a cookie during a meeting. “Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room, and I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’ Very passive-aggressive woman.” 

For her part, Greene was a fan of both Golden Girls. She remembers earning the respect of Arthur, whom she caught watching video of Greene playing her as a younger woman. “She was watching the playback in her dressing room, and I was passing it, and I could see she was pleased at the portrayal,” she remembered. “I’ve got to tell you, that was everything.”