George Clooney went down memory lane on "The Drew Barrymore Show" Oct. 21, recalling what it was like behind the scenes of "The Golden Girls" and "The Facts of Life."
Clooney appeared in one episode of "Golden Girls" during Season Two, in which he played an undercover detective who stays at the ladies’ house while investigating their neighbors for dealing stolen gems. Clooney was in his early 20s at the time and told Barrymore that he remembers how crassly the older stars talked, without rebuff.
"They could get away with stuff, if those women were 30, they could’ve never said on network television," he said. "But they could do anything they wanted and they would get away with it. It was so much fun."
Clooney also shared who he thinks was the funniest Golden Girl.
"That was a fun show to work on," he reminisced. "Bea Arthur is the funniest person in the world. They were all hysterically funny, but Bea Arthur really made me laugh. She was filthy, filthy funny."
The leading ladies of "Golden Girls" are all deceased now. Estelle Getty died in 2008, Bea Arthur in 2009, Rue McClanahan in 2010 and most recently Betty White at the end of 2021. Clooney has fond memories of them all and said "Betty White was a godsend."
Later in the interview with Barrymore, Clooney discussed "Facts of Life," a hit nine-season show that he joined in the seventh season. Barrymore said that's when things really got fun for her as the viewer.
"That was the most formative show for me, growing up," Barrymore told Clooney. "'Facts of Life' was everything to me. I never missed an episode. I was obsessed. And when you came in, that was so much fun."
Clooney said "it was amazing" to be a part of the show.
"It really was fun. They're really wonderful young (at the time) ladies."
Clooney was there when Cloris Leachman joined the show and said she was particularly raunchy.
"She would lift up her dress and just (say), 'Look George,'" he said laughing. Clooney just responded with a detached "'OK,'" he said, still carrying on the joke.
Clooney said the whole cast was great and that "Nancy (McKeon) and I stayed pretty close over the years."
Clooney is currently starring in "Ticket to Paradise" alongside Julia Roberts and the movie premiered Oct. 21.
