They were our friends far longer than the seven year stretch from 1985-1992 that the popular The Golden Girls was on the air. Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White will live on not only for embodying four spunky old cohorts, but also for the myriad of achievements each accomplished outside of the sitcom.

With the recent passing of McClanahan on June 3rd from a stroke and subsequent brain hemorrhage, one might be led to inquire, ‘Where have all the Golden Girls gone?’

	Estelle Getty, born Estelle Scher in 1923, adapted her married name, Gettleman, into the stage name by which she was best known. She was married to Arthur Gettleman for 58 years until his death in 2004 and the couple bore two sons, Carl and Barry. Getty appeared in some theatre roles before landing the gig on The Golden Girls. She won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the feisty mother figure of the bunch, Sophia Petrillo. After The Golden Girls ended, Getty starred in The Golden Palace and Empty Nest before calling it quits with her acting career. She suffered from Lewy body dementia in her later years and eventually died from natural causes just before her 85th birthday.
	Bea Arthur is a name that nearly everyone recognizes. Born to Jewish parents in New York City, Arthur attended Blackstone College for Girls, which no longer exists, in Blackstone, Virginia. There, she took part in numerous theatrical productions. She got her big break as the character Maude Findlay on the sitcoms All in the Family and Maude. She would win an Emmy as both Maude and subsequently Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls. Like many of her counterparts, she appeared in theatre roles before and after finding success on the small screen. Arthur even earned a Tony award for her role as Vera Charles in the 1966 musical Mame. She went on to make guest appearances on several contemporary television shows, including Futurama, Malcolm in the Middle, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Arthur married twice and bore two sons, Matthew and Daniel, with her second husband, Gene Saks. She died at home in April of 2009 after a battle with cancer.
	Rue McClanahan was born in Oklahoma to a beautician and a building contractor. She received her undergraduate degree in German and Theatre from the University of Tulsa. She starred in several off-Broadway shows before making her debut on Broadway in the 1969 play Jimmy Shine, which hailed Dustin Hoffman as the lead. Her career took off when she starred beside Bea Arthur as Vivian Cavender Harmon on Maude before the two shared the screen once again in The Golden Girls. She also took on the role of Fran Crowley on Mama’s Family. In 1987, her portrayal of the man-eating Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls garnered her an Emmy award as Outstanding Lead Actress. Her personal life, however, was not quite as solid as her professional one. McClanahan had six husbands during her lifetime; she separated from the last, Morrow Wilson, in 2009. But we wouldn’t expect anything less from Blanche.
	Betty White is still alive and kicking at the respectable age of 88. As a recent host of Saturday Night Live and with a new TV show in progress, you never know what tricks she has up her sleeve for the future. The legacy of The Golden Girls continues to live on through the highly adored White, who played the lovably naïve Rose Nylund on the hit show. Thank you, Estelle, Bea, Rue, and Betty for being our friends all these years.