Actress-comedienne Bea Arthur was born on May 13, 1922 in New York City to a Jewish family. She grew up in Maryland, where her parents ran a dress shop. At 12 years old, she was the tallest girl in her school at 5'9". She earned the title "wittiest" girl in her school, and Bea's dream was to be in show business, but she didn't think her family would support it. She then worked as a laboratory technician, drove a truck and worked as a typist in the Marine Corps. She also had a brief first marriage, which ended in divorce. Afterwards, she told her parents she wanted to pursue a career in show business, and they supported her decision to join the New York's Dramatic Workshop for the New School for Social Research. She played classical and dramatic roles, but it would be years before she found her niche in comedy. Her breakthrough came on stage while appearing in the musical play "The Threepenny Opera," with 'Lotte Lenya' , when she was inducted to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. On April 25, 2009, at home with her family, Bea Arthur died of cancer. She was 86. She's survived by her two sons, Matthew and Daniel, and her grandchildren, Kyra and Violet. In her will, she left $300,000 to New York's Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youths.
Bea won an award of achievement from Emerson Colleges Musical Theater Society in Boston in the spring of 2000.
Survived by two adopted sons, Matthew Saks (born July 14, 1961) and Daniel Saks (born May 8, 1964).
She was best friends with Angela Lansbury since appearing together in "Mame". This was a friendship she spoke fondly of in her one-woman show.
She did not like to watch her own performances on television or film.
Biography in: "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 29-30. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
In 1966 she won a Tony Award as Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Vera Charles in "Mame", a part she recreated in the film version by the same name, Mame .
Her series "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" were both canceled because Bea left them.
Was a qualified medical technician.
Once appeared on "Judge Judy" as a witness for a defendant who was involved with the animal rights organization PETA. The defendant won.
In 2002 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for her one-woman show "Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends".
According to a television interview, Arthur claimed that her start in comedy came when she was only a lounge singer. Apparently, when she got up on stage to sing torch songs, the audience would laugh at her because of her deep voice and her height. The nightclub manager then approached her and told her she was in the wrong business. She should be doing comedy instead.
Considered "Amandas" and an episode of "Saturday Night Live" as her worst career experiences. She also regretted the film version of Mame , directed by her then-husband Gene Saks.
Her first real name, Bernice, is pronounced like Bur-ness.
Best known by the public for her starring roles as the title character in "Maude" and as Dorothy Zbornak in "The Golden Girls" .
Her mother, Rebecca Frankel, died in 1986.
Her former "Maude" co-star, Adrienne Barbeau , was reunited with her on "The View" , in 2007. They were there to promote the DVD release of the first season of Maude.
Before she was a successful actress and comedienne, Bea Arthur was one of the first women to become an active-duty United States Marine. She volunteered and served during World War II as a truck driver and a typist in the Marine Corps. She was stationed at Marine Corps and Navy air stations in Virginia and North Carolina. During her military career, Arthurs rank went from private to corporal to sergeant to staff sergeant, the title she held upon her honorable discharge in September 1945.
She is survived by two granddaughters, Kyra and Violet.
Was 59-1/2" by the time she was 12 years old.
Her idol when she was young was June Allyson.
Was very good friends with: Shirley Jones , Angela Lansbury , Florence Henderson , Charlotte Rae , Marla Gibbs , Della Reese , Angie Dickinson , Dick Van Dyke , Dick Van Patten , Katherine Helmond , Richard Mulligan , Bob Hope , Frank Sinatra , Sammy Davis Jr. , Dean Martin , Johnny Carson , Carroll OConnor , Jean Stapleton , Rob Reiner , Conrad Bain , Norman Lear , Bill Macy , Esther Rolle , Nanette Fabray , Estelle Getty , Lucille Ball , Danny Thomas , Carol Channing , Mike Douglas , Joan Collins , Shirley MacLaine , Doris Roberts , John Amos , Jason Alexander , Rue McClanahan , Susan Harris , Herb Edelman , Tony Curtis , Rod Steiger , George Gobel , Perry Como , Bill Dana , Harry Belafonte , Mickey Rooney , Beverly Garland and Dinah Shore.
Remained good friends with Adrienne Barbeau during and after "Maude" .
After her death The Ali Forney Center, a New York not-for-profit agency devoted to providing emergency shelter, medical services, and help getting off the streets to young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender homeless people, learned that she had left them $300,000.00 in her will. The center plans to use the bequest to buy a building that will become permanent housing for some of these youths. The center plans to name the building The Bea Arthur Residence for LGBT Homeless Youth.
As a girl Bea attended Linden Hall School for Girls, an all girls school in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Later she attended Blackstone College for Girls in Blackstone, Virginia, where she was active in drama productions.
Though her ex- "Maude" co-star, Adrienne Barbeau had missed the majority of the episodes for the final two seasons of the series, due to her busy scheduling, they were still the best of friends until Beas death.
The comic book character Deadpool is infatuated with Bea and considers to her as the sexiest woman on earth.
Words of remembrance for "Time" magazines milestones tribute by TV critic Jim Poniewozik (Issue: May 11, 2009).
Got a phone call from Norman Lear , about guest-starring on a few episodes of "All in the Family" , only because Lear strongly insisted her on doing it, despite Arthur, who hated flying. She agreed at the very last minute to take the role for a few episodes, hence, this led her into her starring role on "Maude" .
Claimed that co-star Esther Rolle didnt display any comedic talent on "Maude" , until she was given her own show "Good Times" . She would quote Maude writer Arthur Julian statement about Rolle: "My name is Esther Rolle. I dont do windows, and I dont do comedy.".
Like Bea, her first husband Robert Alan Aurthur also died of lung cancer in 1978.
She was a lifelong liberal Democrat and over the years was in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt , John F. Kennedy , Robert F. Kennedy , Adlai Stevenson , Jimmy Carter , Bill Clinton , and Barack Obama. She also was a donor to the Democratic National Committee and like her trademark characters of Maude Findlay and Dorothy Zbornak her Democratic concepts constantly coincided with her views on education, womens rights, gay liberation, and economics.
She was frequently referenced in dialogue as being the favorite actress and an icon to the Marvel Comics character Deadpool.
Was the popular national spokesperson for Canadian drug store chain Shoppers Drug Mart in television and radio commercials throughout the 1980s.
She was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2009. Her Golden Girls co-stars Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty (also posthumously) were inducted the same year.
Met first husband Robert Alan Aurthur while she was in the Marines, the year after her enlistment.
According to ex- "The Golden Girls" co-star, Betty White , after Arthurs death, she said in an interview, Arthur wasnt too fond of White. Arthur had found her a pain in the neck sometimes and White would set her off.
Though Estelle Getty played her mother in "The Golden Girls" , Estelle was one year younger than Bea.
The second Golden Girls star to die.
Bea Arthur lost her life on April 25, 2009 and was cremated. Just a few days after her death, the Broadway community paid tribute to Arthur by dimming the marquees of New York Citys Broadway theater district in her memory for one minute at 8:00 p.m.
She was a fan of the TV show "South Park" .
Acting mentor and friend of Adrienne Barbeau.
Appeared on the front cover of TV Guide six times.
Classmate of Marlon Brando.
Longtime friends of Doris Roberts and Shirley MacLaine.
Her son, Daniel Saks , was the set designer for the sitcom "Dharma & Greg" .
Won an award of achievement from Emerson Colleges Musical Theater Society, in Boston, Massachusetts. [2006].
Studied acting at Erwin Piscators Dramatic Workshop of the New School in New York City, New York.
Was the only regular cast member of "The Golden Girls" who didnt go on to star in the spin-off series "The Golden Palace" . She guest starred for one episode.
In May 2013 a nude painting of her sold for $1.9 million in New York City.
Began her show "Maude" at age 50.
Would frequently visit her ex- "Maude" co-stars, Adrienne Barbeau s twin sons at their house.
Played Dorothy Zbornak on three shows: "The Golden Girls" , "Empty Nest" and "The Golden Palace" .
(September 2003) At the Savoy Theatre in London, England, UK; performs in her show "Bea Arthur at the Savoy" created by herself and Billy Goldenberg in collaboration with Charles Randolph-Wright with production consultants Mark Waldrep and Richard Maltby Jr..
(October 2002) Makes her Australian debut in Melbourne and Sydney in "And Then Theres Bea" from mid October to early November.
Former college classmate of: Tony Curtis , Walter Matthau , Harry Belafonte and Rod Steiger.
Had a fear of flying.
Began singing at age 12.
Attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Before becoming a successful actress and comedienne, she was employed to sing on weekends, occasionally, for $2 a night, in Cambridge, Maryland.
Arthur convinced her parents to send her to summer school in New York.
Was voted The Wittiest Girl in High School, at Linden Hall School for Girls.
Had escaped the alienation she felt in the Eastern shoretown, by going to the movies on Saturdays.
Met second husband Gene Saks , while in acting school, in 1949.
Before she was a successful actress and a comedienne, she once worked at a nightclub in New York City.
Graduated from Linden Hall School for Girls, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, in 1941.
Performed in theater while in high school.
She was most widely known to be a very private and shy lady.
Bea Arthur passed away on April 25, 2009. Her ex- "The Golden Girls" co-star, Estelle Getty , passed away 1 year before her in July 2008.
Pulmonary carcinoma ran in her family.
She wanted to be a big band leader.
Her sister, Kay, lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Dorothy Zbornak, her character from "The Golden Girls" was based on creator Susan Harris.
Like fellow actresses Charlotte Rae and Marla Gibbs , Arthur eventually wound up being a comedienne.
Her parents, Philip and Rebecca (ne Pressner) Frankel, were both managers at a womans department store in Cambridge, Maryland.
Met Carroll OConnor , in 1964, when he was doing a play called "Ullysees in Nighttown." Eight years later, Arthur had guest-starred on 2 episodes of "All in the Family" , before she starred in the spin-off "Maude" .
When she was a young girl, she used to do Mae West imitations.
When Arthur was 11, her family moved to Cambridge, Maryland, in 1933.
Enjoyed spending time with her family, singing, collecting antique furniture, traveling, gardening, taking care of pets and dancing.
She was a heavy smoker.
Her former "Maude" co-star, Bill Macy , guest-starred on 2 episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" , which starred Arthurs best friend, Angela Lansbury.
Just five years after her own death, her sister, Kay, died in 2014, who lived to be 88.
Had legally changed her name from Bernice Frankel to Bea Arthur, because of her marriage to Robert Alan Aurthur , in 1947, at 25.
Arthur and her ex- "Maude" co-star, Conrad Bain , were the only 2 not to guest-star on "Murder, She Wrote" , which featured her best friend, Angela Lansbury.
Of Jewish heritage.
Lifelong friend of Angela Lansbury.
Future actors Ron Howard , Tom Hanks and future comediennes/comedians Graham Elwood , Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Leah Remini , all said Arthur was their childhood television heroine.
Upon her death, she was cremated, her ashes were given to her family.
She played Dorothy Zbornak from 1985 to 1993, though she didnt star on "The Golden Palace" .
Her show "The Golden Girls" was awarded the Pop Culture award at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards. Arthur accepted the award with Rue McClanahan and Betty White , it would also be Arthurs last public appearance. [8 June 2008].
On "Maude" , her character was liberal, in real-life, Arthur was a liberal Democrat.
When she was starring in "Maude" , she was doing an episode about abortion. Even though abortion was legal in New York State, it was illegal in many other regions of the country, and as such sparked controversy. As a result, dozens of affiliates refused to broadcast the episode when it was originally scheduled, substituting either a repeat from earlier in the season or a Thanksgiving TV special in its place. However, by the time of the summer rerun season six months later all the flak had died down, and the stations that refused to air the episode upon its first run reinstated it for the reruns the following summer. As a result, a reported 65 million viewers watched the two episode arc either in their first run that November or during the following summer as a rerun.
Has resided in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, California, for 37 years, from 1972-2009. She also sublet her apartment on Central Park West in New York City and her country home in Bedford, New York.
After her last guest-starring role on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" , she had retired from acting at age 83.
She remained a big fan of "The Golden Girls" long after the show ended and watch old reruns of the show proudly. She said, ""Some times Ill wake up in the middle of the night & think of a line & start to laugh. The writing was brilliant".
After she passed away, she did not want to have a funeral.
I really feel all my adult life has been spent in that little black box.
In sitcoms, the women are so beautiful, understanding and well-bred.
[When she won the 1966 Broadway Tony Award for her portrayal of Vera,Charles in Mame]: I just learned that expression.
[In 1975]: If I could only repeal the law of gravity.
As an artist. As an important artist.
[on her reclusive final days]: I like to be myself and rest.
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