Impact On Betty White
Sue Ann Nivens exhibited a new dimension to White's talent. Often typecast as a sometimes cloying, gentle, innocent or seemingly demure woman who would occasionally say shockingly risque things the meaning of which she was unaware, White was able to distinguish herself as an actress from her body of work. Reflecting on the role, White has said, "Of course, I loved Sue Ann. She was so rotten. You can’t get much more rotten than the neighborhood nymphomaniac." The role earned White two Emmy Awards as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1975 and 1976), with a further nomination following in the show's final season, 1977. Asked about her favorites among her many awards to date, she cites these won for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. White gives a great deal of credit for the role's success to the scripts, speaking of being "blessed with the kind of writing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls," claiming as well, "If it isn't on the page, we can't do anything about it."
On The Golden Girls, debuting eight years later, White was originally cast as man-hungry Blanche; and Rue McClanahan, the befuddled Vivian on Maude, was cast as naive Rose. The two actresses realized how similar their new roles were to their previous ones and, at the suggestion of veteran comedy director Jay Sandrich, approached the producers about switching roles. (White quotes Sandrich as saying, "If Betty plays another man-hungry neighborhood, they're going to equate it with Sue Ann and think it's just a continuation of that.") The producers agreed, and the show went on to great success.
Allowing White and McClanahan to swap roles was what made Bea Arthur decide to take part in The Golden Girls. McClanahan recalled in an interview, "Bea told me, 'Rue, I don't want to do a show where Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann Nivens', to which I said, 'No, Bea. I'm going to play Nivens and Betty White is going to play Vivian.'" Bea Arthur was then said to reply, "Interesting!"
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