Historical Figure
Bea Arthur
1922–2009
American actress and comedian (1922–2009)
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Biography
Beatrice Arthur was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving worldwide recognition for her work on television beginning in the 1970s as Maude Findlay in the popular sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1972) and Maude (1972–1978) and later in the 1980s and 1990s as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls (1985–1992).
In Their Own Words (5)
I... was not too happy to suddenly take on this public role thrust upon me. They just assumed I was the Joan of Arc of the women's movement. And I wasn't at all. It put a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.
Interview, Sun Sentinel (1982) , 1982
You know, the way I'm accepted, I almost feel like Judy Garland, truly. It makes no sense to me because I don't think that I've been any more outspoken... Or maybe I have, I don't know. But everyone I know supports anything that has to do with raising money or with AIDS.
Interview, TV Legends (August 6, 2005) , 2005
There were subjects we tackled that had never been even discussed, like I had an abortion. Nobody ever talked about that.
Interview, TV Legends (August 6, 2005) , 2005
I can't imagine working without an audience.
Interview, The New York Times (December 6, 2000) , 2000
It was like the Beatles had arrived, you know. These four elderly ladies, and they were screaming for us-screaming for us. It was wonderful.
Interview, TV Legends (August 6, 2005) , 2005
Timeline
The story of Bea Arthur, told in moments.
Born Bernice Frankel in New York City. Her family moved to Baltimore. She joined the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in 1943, working as a typist and truck driver before her honorable discharge in 1945.
Won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Vera Charles in Mame on Broadway. She was 44 and had been grinding through off-Broadway and stock theater for nearly two decades.
Maude debuted on CBS as a spinoff of All in the Family. She played a loud, liberal feminist in the New York suburbs. A two-part episode about abortion aired a year before Roe v. Wade and drew 65 million viewers.
Cast as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls. Four older women sharing a house in Miami became one of NBC's top-rated shows. It ran seven seasons.
Died of lung cancer at 86. She left $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth in New York.
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