#9
Rose Nylund
Age: 55-63
Source: The Golden Girls
Created by: Susan Harris
Portrayed by: Betty White
Points: 121, Votes: 5, Highest: Ixo
Who's the best Golden Girl? According to Talking Time, it's Rose. Raised in an orphanage in St. Olaf, Minnesota, she loves to tell stories of her childhood, often to the annoyance of her friends. Though she was adopted at age eight, she persisted for most of her life in believing that her biological father was secretly Bob Hope. She was married for many years and had at least five children before her husband died of a heart attack while they were making love, understandably giving her a bit of a complex. Though Rose is often naive and oblivious, she is perhaps the most kind-hearted of the group. She's also involved heavily in charity work, enjoys playing the piano, painting, and other artistic pursuits, and is an excellent baker and a friend to all animals.
Rose is of course portrayed by the First Lady of Television, Betty White, who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest career on TV of any person anywhere, and who sadly passed away on Dec 31 while this very list was in progress. As mentioned previously, Betty and Rue McClanahan swapped parts early in production of the show, partly because Blanche was similar in personality to Betty's earlier character Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Betty reportedly loved playing Rose, describing her as "so innocent, not the brightest nickel in the drawer, but funny."
JBear said:"Back in St. Olaf, my mother always used to say that people who are constantly rude to you aren't actually your friends." Rose is the comic relief, eternally naïve, and the butt of everyone's jokes, but she never lets that get her down.
R.I.P. Betty White, 1922-2021