Betty White was ‘mean’ to 'The Golden Girls' co-star Estelle Getty to distract people from her dementia

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'The Golden Girls’ writer Stan Zimmerman has written a book — ‘The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore’ — focusing on his Hollywood career.

Recently, Zimmerman sat down with Fox News Digital to share his thoughts on his friend Estelle Getty and her ‘The Golden Girls’ co-star Betty White.

Stan Zimmerman speaks about Estelle Getty’s Lewy body dementia

Zimmerman worked on the first season of the 1985 NBC sitcom and at the time, Getty could not remember her lines properly.

He told the publication, “The thought in the writer's room was that she was out going to Hollywood parties because here she was, a sudden celebrity. That she wasn't studying hard enough.”

However, as per Zimmerman, the actual problem was the late actress’ Lewy body dementia, which was diagnosed much later.

He disclosed, “That's why sometimes [in] scenes, you'll see Sophia [Getty’s character] eating raisins. She actually has the lines on her hands.”

“So, when we would break because of a mistake from Estelle, Betty would go walk over to the bleachers and start making jokes. And, at the time, because I was close with Estelle, I felt, ‘Why is she making fun of Estelle?’ I was very protective,” he mentioned.

Stan Zimmerman says Betty White helped Estelle Getty

However, Zimmerman revealed that he now understands why White used to do that.

“I think Betty was steering the attention away from Estelle, going up to the audience so that people would be looking at her over there and let Estelle have the moment to collect herself, look at the script,” the television producer stated.

Speaking further about the comedian, who died at 99 in 2021, Zimmerman reportedly said that she “knew Estelle had panic attacks every time we went to go film.”

“You have to understand, Estelle Getty came from the theater, where you rehearse the same script over and over and over and over. In television, you're always changing lines, sometimes in between takes,” he noted.

Stan Zimmerman praises Betty White

The director further explained, “Imagine you're having these feelings. You're used to being in a career in theater where you've memorized lots of lines, and then you're in front of a huge studio, cameras, multimillions of dollars being spent.

“You have the network in the studio all there and the lights are on you. So, I think, you know, that's what got Estelle … very panicked every week. And she started talking about how, you know, she had to go to therapy to help her work through her fear of those tape nights.”

Zimmerman then mentioned, “I think that was just a life lesson in really putting yourself in everybody's shoes. Like, put yourself in Betty's shoes. What is she supposed to do?” before adding, “She has a great sense of humor. She thinks on her feet. So, you know, she goes and takes care of it.”