Bea Arthur, born Bernice Frankel, passed away after a battle with cancer Saturday in Los Angeles. A Tony Award winning theater actress, including a role as “Yente the Matchmaker” in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, Arthur began her TV career as Maude Bunker’s feminist cousin in All in the Family. She was the title character in the spinoff show Maude for which she won an Emmy in 1977 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Later she appeared in The Golden Girls where her role garnered another Emmy win in 1988. She left the show after 7 years but continued working and even appeared as Larry David’s Mother in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Arthur was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2008. She is survived by two sons, Matthew and Daniel and a sister in Montreal. Bea Arthur will be remembered for her unique style, her talent and her ground breaking performances on stage and screen.
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Jack
4/25/2009
All in the Family was a good show. Maude was ok.
Haim Watzman
4/26/2009
You didn’t mention her creation of the role of the bitchy actress Vera Charles, playing opposite Angela Landsbury in “Mame.” I was privileged to see the two of them in a revival many years later.
Shy Guy
4/26/2009
Now G-d will get her.
Yoni C.
4/26/2009
Ok, Golden Girls CK? I know it was kind of a gentile show, but still, she was SO hot in GG and that show was SO sweet!
J. D. Edelman
4/27/2009
Shy Guy – that may be simultaneously the most deft and respectful use of humor I’ve seen in quite some time. Well said.
ck
4/27/2009
Maybe I’m thick, but I don’t get it…
Shy Guy
4/27/2009
CK, you haven’t watched enough of “Maude”. Bea Arthur played a firebrand atheist feminist. But when her husband provoked her anger, she would crisply snap at him with what seemed to be religious ferver and exclaim “God will get you for that, Walter.”
I came up empty searching for a video with just that catchphrase scene in it. However, there are plenty of Maude episodes on YouTube.
ck
4/27/2009
Oh I remember! Genius!! We missed u shy guy! Ha ha ha…
Semper Chai
4/27/2009
You also forgot to mention she was a U.S. Marine, perhaps her most honorable title.
tv.com/beatric...
Semper Fi, Bea!
Leann
4/28/2009
She was a talented comedienne and seemed like someone I’d like – someone kind and genuine.
Larry
4/28/2009
she taught a generation how to be a feminist and why feminism was correct, but through Norman Lear´s use of humor
Ashlee Horowitz
11/6/2009
In regards to ShyGuy’s comment about Maude using the phrase “God will get you for that”…that was CLEARLY not religious fervor. Jews, like Maude, use God when He is convenient for them and throw Him aside when His teachings don’t work for them…which is most of the time…kinda like when they brutally crucified Jesus. Bea Arthur was an AWESOME actress, and her work on Maude and Golden Girls was Emmy-worthy and brilliant. But let’s not confuse the character of Maude with someone who loved or revered God in ANY way. Pick ANYTHING that God views as a sin or abomination, and Maude was right there championing it as a worthy cause for humanity. And Golden Girls, while cleverly disguised as a Catholic/Baptist/Lutheran show through the “beliefs” of its characters, was still pro-everything from homosexuality, to adultery, to excessive sex and fornication. Both Maude and Golden Girls were Jewish utopia programs!
froylein
11/6/2009
Giving yourself a Jewish-sounding lastname won’t save you from criticism, Ashlee. Your apparent lack of theological knowledge, Jewish and Christian alike, does not excuse the blatant and overgeneralising anti-Semitic catchphrases you’ve produced here.
Ashlee
11/26/2009
Hi. Please feel free to correct me on anything erroneous in my post. You cite my lack of knowledge. My only sources were Bible Scriptures, Maude, Golden Girls, and documented history. I apologize if I stated anything incorrect. I would love to hear your rebuttal.