George Clooney Reveals Which Golden Girls Star Was The Funniest On Set

Back in the 1980s, before he was an Oscar-winning megastar, George Clooney played a lot of one-and-done supporting parts on TV — including a role in a Season 2 episode of "The Golden Girls." He left that job in possession of some crucial information (no, not the recipe for the ladies' favorite cheesecake). According to the "ER" alum, one of the titular roommates of the classic sitcom was funnier than the others behind the scenes. Although, the way he tells it, the rest of the main cast don't sound like they were slouches, either.

"God they were funny. They were all funny," he said in "The Golden Girls: 40 Years of Laughter and Friendship – Special Edition of 20/20," now streaming on Hulu (along with the series itself). "I had this wonderful scene with Rue McClanahan, who I just adored. Betty White was as welcoming and as sweet and as funny as anyone I've ever met. Bea? She made me laugh harder than anybody."  

On George Clooney's episode of "The Golden Girls," from 1987,he played an undercover detective who hides out at the Girls' home along with his partner to try and catch their neighbors whom they suspect of being jewel thieves. It's a fun episode that gives each of the girls plenty to do. The young Clooney is a standout as he flirts with Blanche (Rue McClanahan), jokes along with the ladies, and eventually catches the criminals. Unfortunately, he also gets shot in the process.

Clooney has been outspoken about his love for Bea Arthur before, previously saying on "The Drew Barrymore Show" that she was "the funniest person in the world." He also described Betty White as a "godsend" and pointed to the show's groundbreaking naughtiness. 

"They could get away with stuff that if those women were 30, they could never have said on network television," he told Barrymore. "But they could do anything they wanted. ... That was a fun show to work on."