Comments (0)Bea Arthur
Right On, Bea
May 1, 2009
And then there was Bea Arthur.
Best-known as the outspokenly liberal Maude Findlay (bouncy Adrienne Barbeau’s TV mom) and then as a “Golden Girl,” the one-and-only Ms. Arthur—born Bernice Frankel in New York City and raised in Cambridge, Md. – died of cancer last Saturday. She was 86.
Before hitting TV screens in the early ‘70s in “All In The Family” and the “Maude” spin-off, the Emmy Award-winning Ms. Arthur was the original matchmaker in “Fiddler On The Roof” and starred in “Mame.” She had a second career on TV with the hit sitcom “The Golden Girls,” which ran from 1985 to 1992.
“Bea was such an important part of a very happy time in my life, and I have dearly loved her for a very long time,” “Golden Girl” co-star Betty White said in a statement. “How lucky I was to know her.”
An imposing woman with strong views, Ms. Arthur once said of herself, “Look – I’m 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line. What can I do about it? I can’t stay home waiting for something different. I think it’s a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting.”
We’re all gonna miss Bea, that “old compromisin’, enterprisin’, anything but tranquilizing,” right on Bea.