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RIP Bea Arthur
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LOS ANGELES - Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude"and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said.She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.
"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for sixyears. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."
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Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker'sloudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blisteringexchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.
The new 'girl'
In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBSexecutives asking about the new "girl."
"I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, `Who is thatgirl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said.
"Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthurwon an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.
The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but theseries often had a serious base. Her husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests.Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America.
The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in theFamily," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show.
"It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "Butit's been six years, and I think it's time to leave."
Groundbreaking comedy
"Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger,product-buying audience.
The series concerned three retirees - Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan - and the mother of Arthur'scharacter, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami apartment. In contrast to the violent "Miami Vice," the comedy was nicknamed "MiamiNice."
As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about thesimilarity of the two roles. "Look - I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line," she told an interviewer. "What can Ido about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting."
The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fueled the comedy, and the show amassed a bigaudience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars.
In 1992, Arthur announced she was leaving "Golden Girls." The three other stars returned in"The Golden Palace," but it lasted only one season.
Arthur was born Bernice Frankel in New York City in 1922. When she was 11, her family moved to Cambridge,Md., where her father opened a clothing store. At 12 she had grown to full height, and she dreamed of being a petite blond movie star like June Allyson. Therewas one advantage of being tall and deep-voiced: She was chosen for the male roles in school plays.
Bernice gets her name
Bernice - she hated the name and adopted her mother's nickname of Bea - overcame shyness about her size by winning over her classmates with wisecracks. Shewas elected the wittiest girl in her class. After two years at a junior college in Virginia, she earned a degree as a medical lab technician, but she"loathed" doing lab work at a hospital.
Acting held more appeal, and she enrolled in a drama course at the New School of Social Research in New YorkCity. To support herself, she sang in a night spot that required her to push drinks on customers.
During this time she had a brief marriage that provided her stage name of Beatrice Arthur. In 1950, shemarried again, to Broadway actor and future Tony-winning director Gene Saks.
After a few years in off-Broadway and stock company plays and television dramas, Arthur's career gatheredmomentum with her role as Lucy Brown in the 1955 production of "The Threepenny Opera."
In 2008, when Arthur was inducted in the TV Academy Hall of Fame, Arthur pointed to the role as the highlightof her long career.
"A lot of that had to do with the fact that I felt, `Ah, yes, I belong here,'" Arthur said.
Nightclubs and small roles
More plays and musicals followed, and she also sang in nightclubs and played small roles in TV comedy shows.
Then, in 1964, Harold Prince cast her as Yente the Matchmaker in the original company of "Fiddler on theRoof."
Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend inthe musical "Mame," directed by Saks. Richard Watts of the New York Post called her performance "a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynicaland serpent-tongued woman."
Story continues below ↓
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She won the Tony as best supporting actress and repeated the role in the unsuccessful film version that alsowas directed by Saks, starring Lucille Ball as Mame. Arthur would play a variation of Vera Charles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."
In 1983, Arthur attempted another series, "Amanda's," an Americanized version of JohnCleese's hilarious "Fawlty Towers." She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere nineepisodes.
Between series, Arthur remained active in films and theater. Among the movies: "That Kind of Woman"(1959), "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), Mel Brooks' "The History of the World: Part I" (1981), "For Better or Worse"(1995).
The plays included Woody Allen's "The Floating Light Bulb" and "The Bermuda AvenueTriangle," written by and costarring Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the country in a one-woman show of songs andstories, "... And Then There's Bea."
Mother divorces
Arthur and Saks divorced in 1978 after 28 years. They had two sons, Matthew and Daniel. In his long career, Saks won Tonys for "ILove My Wife," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." One of his Tony nominations was for "Mame."
In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me theoutrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ('Threepenny Opera' star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught meeconomy."
In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and"Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization.
Arthur is survived by her sons and two granddaughters. No funeral services are planned.
Thank you for being a friend!
LOS ANGELES - Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude"and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said.She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.
"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for sixyears. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26613008/
http://
Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker'sloudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blisteringexchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.
The new 'girl'
In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBSexecutives asking about the new "girl."
"I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, `Who is thatgirl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said.
"Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthurwon an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.
The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but theseries often had a serious base. Her husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests.Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America.
The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in theFamily," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show.
"It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "Butit's been six years, and I think it's time to leave."
Groundbreaking comedy
"Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger,product-buying audience.
The series concerned three retirees - Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan - and the mother of Arthur'scharacter, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami apartment. In contrast to the violent "Miami Vice," the comedy was nicknamed "MiamiNice."
As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about thesimilarity of the two roles. "Look - I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line," she told an interviewer. "What can Ido about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting."
The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fueled the comedy, and the show amassed a bigaudience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars.
In 1992, Arthur announced she was leaving "Golden Girls." The three other stars returned in"The Golden Palace," but it lasted only one season.
Arthur was born Bernice Frankel in New York City in 1922. When she was 11, her family moved to Cambridge,Md., where her father opened a clothing store. At 12 she had grown to full height, and she dreamed of being a petite blond movie star like June Allyson. Therewas one advantage of being tall and deep-voiced: She was chosen for the male roles in school plays.
Bernice gets her name
Bernice - she hated the name and adopted her mother's nickname of Bea - overcame shyness about her size by winning over her classmates with wisecracks. Shewas elected the wittiest girl in her class. After two years at a junior college in Virginia, she earned a degree as a medical lab technician, but she"loathed" doing lab work at a hospital.
Acting held more appeal, and she enrolled in a drama course at the New School of Social Research in New YorkCity. To support herself, she sang in a night spot that required her to push drinks on customers.
During this time she had a brief marriage that provided her stage name of Beatrice Arthur. In 1950, shemarried again, to Broadway actor and future Tony-winning director Gene Saks.
After a few years in off-Broadway and stock company plays and television dramas, Arthur's career gatheredmomentum with her role as Lucy Brown in the 1955 production of "The Threepenny Opera."
In 2008, when Arthur was inducted in the TV Academy Hall of Fame, Arthur pointed to the role as the highlightof her long career.
"A lot of that had to do with the fact that I felt, `Ah, yes, I belong here,'" Arthur said.
Nightclubs and small roles
More plays and musicals followed, and she also sang in nightclubs and played small roles in TV comedy shows.
Then, in 1964, Harold Prince cast her as Yente the Matchmaker in the original company of "Fiddler on theRoof."
Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend inthe musical "Mame," directed by Saks. Richard Watts of the New York Post called her performance "a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynicaland serpent-tongued woman."
Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here
http://
She won the Tony as best supporting actress and repeated the role in the unsuccessful film version that alsowas directed by Saks, starring Lucille Ball as Mame. Arthur would play a variation of Vera Charles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."
In 1983, Arthur attempted another series, "Amanda's," an Americanized version of JohnCleese's hilarious "Fawlty Towers." She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere nineepisodes.
Between series, Arthur remained active in films and theater. Among the movies: "That Kind of Woman"(1959), "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), Mel Brooks' "The History of the World: Part I" (1981), "For Better or Worse"(1995).
The plays included Woody Allen's "The Floating Light Bulb" and "The Bermuda AvenueTriangle," written by and costarring Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the country in a one-woman show of songs andstories, "... And Then There's Bea."
Mother divorces
Arthur and Saks divorced in 1978 after 28 years. They had two sons, Matthew and Daniel. In his long career, Saks won Tonys for "ILove My Wife," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." One of his Tony nominations was for "Mame."
In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me theoutrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ('Threepenny Opera' star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught meeconomy."
In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and"Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization.
Arthur is survived by her sons and two granddaughters. No funeral services are planned.
