Beloved Sitcom Star Betty White May Not Have Been as Sweet as She Seemed

All in the Family’s Sally Struthers is recalling a not-so-fond memory of beloved Golden Girl Betty White. During the January 13 episode of the Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast, Struthers recalled an incident where White “fat-shamed her.” Noting that she knows precisely how beloved White was (as is), she shared what happened when the two were collaborating on the pilot for a game show.

“I have to say, now that she’s gone, I wanna talk about Betty White for just a moment. And I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her — very passive-aggressive woman.

She asked her housekeeper to bring in a plate of whatever to us while we were all sitting and talking about what was working about the game show and what wasn’t. Then the plate was set in the middle and it was cookies, I think.”

That’s when Struthers reached for a cookie, and White spoke up…

“She said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear, you don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

Sally Struthers’ Bad Experiences on ‘All in the Family’ Close

White, best known for her work on shows like The Golden Girls, Hot in Cleveland, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and movies like The Proposal, died on December 31, 2021, just weeks shy of celebrating her 100th birthday. Upon her passing, fans and celebrities mourned, recounting their favorite White experiences and her funniest moments. Among the most highlighted were memorable quips made by White’s sweet, naive, and sometimes bizarre Golden Girl Rose Nylund.

Struthers, who lived close to The Golden Girls house in Brentwood, CA., shared her experience with another legendary series star: Bea Arthur. Arthur and Struthers had previously collaborated on All in the Family, where Arthur guest starred as Maude, before starring in her spin-off, Maude. Remembering Arthur, Struthers recalled how Arthur would “put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock” the stone-faced producers and network execs. She fondly remembered Arthur as “filthier than a drunken sailor.”

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For her role as Gloria in the acclaimed classic sitcom All in the Family, Struthers earned two Emmy Awards. While speaking with Saperstein and Belloti, she discussed her weight being brought up by All in the Family creator Norman Lear when he explained why he cast her. Lear felt that “Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs,” so they thought that they could “soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter.” She recalled Lear telling her:

“So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

Arthur, White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty led the enduring The Golden Girls for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. White, Getty, and McClanahan reprised their roles for the short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace. Struthers went on to join a different beloved group of girls, the Gilmore Girls, where she portrayed Lorelai’s quirky neighbor Babette during the show’s seven-season run, later returning for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Struthers most recently appeared in the Ted Danson-led A Man on the Inside. White’s legacy, meanwhile, will live on when the US Postal Service releases her postage stamp this March.

The Golden Girls Sitcom Where to Watch stream rent buy

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*Availability in US Release Date September 14, 1985 Network NBC