The golden sisters biography

Premiering in , The Golden Girls was an instant smash, attracting a diverse audience for a then-novel concept — depicting the lives of four older women sharing friendship, a home and a lot of cheesecake.

In the decades since, the award-winning series starring Betty White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty has found new generations of fans, thanks to frequent reruns and streaming platforms. Check out 10 facts you may not know about the golden girls and the actresses who so memorably played them:

The show began life as a sketch for an NBC presentation

In the fall of , actresses Doris Roberts and Selma Diamond, who co-starred on the hit NBC shows Remington Steele and Night Court, made an appearance promoting NBC’s slate of programming for potential advertisers.

The pair adlibbed a bit about the upcoming cop show Miami Vice, changing the concept to the idea of retirees playing cards together in a Florida retir