Betty White won hearts as the sweet and naïve Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, a role that earned her a pretty penny. Yet the seven-season show was not the only time that the comedienne found success on the screen.
The actress and her co-stars, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty reportedly made $30,000 per episode during the show’s first season in 1985, with their salaries growing each year until the series ended in 1992.
Betty amassed a fortune of $75 million during her lifetime, thanks to a lengthy career in television and her successful production company.
The star started out in radio before finding her feet in television and hosting her own show in the ’50s.
See Betty White in The Lost Valentine below…
She starred on The Mary Tyler Moore show from 1973 to 1977, and after her turn in The Golden Girls, acted in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland from 2010 to 2015, which earned her $75,000 per episode. She also nabbed $3 million per year of extra income due to Golden Girls reruns.
As for her property portfolio, the actress owned a home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, which was sold for $10.7 million in 2022 following her death a year prior.
© Disney General Entertainment ConHer Carmel-by-the-Sea house was bought for just under $11 million in the same year.
Betty’s fortune was left to a trust benefitting animal welfare charities, while her three stepchildren were reportedly left little to no money in her will.
Bea Arthur
© Disney General Entertainment ConAs for Bea, who portrayed Dorothy Zbornak in the hit series, she already found success on the stage before joining the cast in 1985 and had won a Tony Award for her work in 1966. During her time on TV, Bea won two Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2008 following her run on The Golden Girls and Maude.
She lived in a Brentwood mansion for years, which she had purchased for $550,000 in 1980. The home was sold in 2015, six years after her death, for $16 million, a markup of $15.45 million. Bea left behind a $25 million fortune in 2009, which was inherited by her two sons, Matthew and Daniel Saks. She bequeathed $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center in her will.
Rue McClanahan
© Disney General Entertainment ConRue played the Southern belle Blanche Devereaux, and nabbed an Emmy Award for her role in the ’80s TV show. She amassed a $5 million fortune over the years, thanks to some savvy real estate purchases.
Rue bought an estate in Encino, California, for $1.35 million in 1988, which she sold for $1.6 million in 1995. She also owned a New York abode, which sold for $1.75 million after her death in 2010. Her son, Mark Bish, inherited her substantial fortune after her passing.
Estelle Getty
© Disney General Entertainment ConThe actress, who starred as Sophia Petrillo in the show and won an Emmy for her performance, worked as a secretary for years to make ends meet until she got her big break in the Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy in 1982.
Estelle had amassed over $8 million during her lifetime thanks to TV and film roles that she landed after The Golden Girls wrapped. She also sold her Los Angeles home for $1.5 million in 2001. The comedienne’s fortune was split between her two sons, Carl and Barry Gettleman, who later auctioned off her belongings after she died in 2008.
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