Elaine Stritch on her audition for the lead in The Golden Girls

[escarlit]

thank god she blew it. i cant see liking this woman as dorothy.

[Richiesutherland]

One must always remember that this is scripted, and the emotion is "acted" every night. People get fooled into thinking that these tell-all ladies are feeling their pain 8 times a week. This is brilliantly delivered, nobody is better at it. I just object to Stritch and others "baring their soul" night after night.

[cmcb09]

Granted Bea Arthur was amazing and the best choice they could have made for Dorothy, but would have been kind of funny if Elaine had done a sketch of the Golden Girls or something. She would have been a hoot to watch as Dorothy.

[ryanludens]

LOOK AT THOSE LEGS



[Ramubay]

Put your pants back on old lady. Yuck. 

[mlc2005]

I have heard that Susan Harris (the writer of GG pilot) did have a bit of an attitude (or at least ego). Even Betty White mentioned that Susan Harris got angry and "didn't want to have anything more to do with the show" after another writer won a writing Emmy for the first season over her. Harris did write a few more episodes for the show, but my guess is Elaine was right that she did have an attitude.

[whoiscraig]

Jeeze, put some pants on!

[mrabigale67]

elaine really does have a resemblance to bea. she said the writer hated her when she saw her but susan harris had chronic fatigue syndrome. she probably just looked like she hated her. but im an actor and trust me, theres no bigger insult than changing someones script. but i still find this video funny/entertaining. and nbc did buy the gg's later on by offering more $

[maleficentdiva]

so glad she didn't get the part on Golden Girls, she isn't that funny if you ask me! Bea Arthur is a million time funnier than this lady !!!

[PeterFormaini]

@ehunter577 - Um - no, it wasn't. It was, from start to finish, an NBC idea and creation: "Ideas for a comedy series about elder women emerged during the filming of a television special at NBC's Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in August 1984.[8] ......NBC senior vice president Warren Littlefield was among the executive producers in the audience who were amused by their performance, and he envisioned a series based on the geriatric humor the two were portraying.

[scream261]

I LOVE her...but, I am sure this is embellished to somehow justify the fact that she wasn't on the show The Golden Girls. Regardless, she's still great. I just think her stories are tall tales told in wishful thinking/hopeful hindsight.

[Najim1999]

Just wasn't meant to be.

[woohooboy]

Rue McClanahan confirmed that Elaine Stritch was one of the finalists that was considered for the role of Dorothy on "The Golden Girls". However she also mentioned that Stritch sabotaged herself out of the part by swearing and changing the dialogue during the audition process.

Rule of thumb for actors: If you want the role, DON'T go changing things unless you're asked to. By throwing in your own words (and swearing as well), you're effectively altering the material on the page. Not a smart move

[Kid100JrHolmes]

Elaine great , but the golden girls cast were meant to be with each other. they were the greatest and i think Elaine wasnt meant to work with them at all

[PeterFormaini]

1. The Golden Girls was never a CBS project. It was always an NBC project.

2. Stritch was NEVER offered the role. That is a flat-put lie.

[picturefan2009]

@PeterFormaini She never really said that she was offered the part. She simply auditioned for it. There is a difference.

[PeterFormaini]

@picturefan2009 You are right - someone over on the IMDb Golden Girls board said she claimed to have been offered the part - and I replied before I played the video. My bad!! NEVER trust a true fan!!! :D :D

[ttiiyy]

@picturefan2009 But what about the part where she mentioned CBS? Wasn't that a lie?

[TIPTON340]

@PeterFormaini -- Not true, in a interview, Susan Harris said Stritch was up for Sophia.

[PeterFormaini]

@TIPTON340 Stritch was up for Dorothy, not Sophia. Stritch herself, in the show, discusses the auditions. She was never up for the role of an 80+ year old woman. No way - no how. " Estelle Getty, who was younger than both Bea Arthur and Betty White, was the last to be cast as the elderly mother of Arthur's character. Tony Thomas spotted her playing the mother role on Broadway in Torch Song Trilogy, and asked her to audition.[8]"

[kimmois1]

@PeterFormaini The first pilot was actually produced by CBS. And again she wasn't offered the role, she auditioned for it, and at the time Stricth was a bigger star than Bea Arthur. PS. You're a fucking retarded cunt. Peace out Formaini and drop dead you pig fucker. xxx

[PeterFormaini]

@kimmois1 The one and only pilot was done by and for NBC - since the idea for the series was Brandon Tartikoff's. Perhaps you should learn to read before embarking on more strenuous projects - such as research. Geeze - is stupidity hereditary in your family? Or are you merely its most recent victim?

[kimmois1]

@PeterFormaini No fuckface, the original show was up for CBS who then lost out to NBC when they were casting it was CBS. You fucking retarded braindead smug cunt, may you and all your loved ones die from cancer you pig fucking kiddy fiddling whore mongering cunt. Peace out xxx

[evans54]

@kimmoiswe could live without the profanity

[PatrickLHawkins]

@PeterFormaini I agree with you that it was never a CBS project. But who is to say Elaine just misspoke and meant NBC but said CBS.

[kkacbh]

@PeterFormaini and being an nbc show does not mean its filmed at nbc i work in the biz and we shoot where ever we have a studio no matter what network

[kimmois1]

@PeterFormaini YOu really must die very soon. Here's hoping.

[FCignelli]

@PeterFormaini The script called that the Dorothy character be a "Bea Arthur type" but the real Bea Arthur continued to turn down the role after repeated offers. They then auditioned several actresses, including Elaine for the role. Rue, who was already cast as Blanche, called Bea (whom she had worked with in Maude) and convinced her to at least read the script. She did, and the rest is history.

[PeterFormaini]

@FCignelli Quite probably - but she was never ;offered the role' as she claims. That never happened. : Not that she would not have been perfect in it. :D She would have been.

[picturefan2009]

@PeterFormaini When did she say she was offered the role? From what I understand she only said she auditioned for it which is a big difference.

[FCignelli]

@PeterFormaini She never said that she was offered the part. She simply spoke about the time she auditioned for the role. That's all. I repeat she is not claiming that she was offered the part.