Actors - Beatrice Arthur

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	Actors - Beatrice Arthur

Bernice Frankel (born May 13, 1923), better known as Beatrice 'Bea' Arthur, is an Emmy Award-winning American actress and comedienne. She has a distinctive deep voice, acid wit, and height, standing almost 5 ft 10 in (1.77 m).

Biography

Early life

Arthur was born in New York City to Jewish American parents Philip and Rebecca Frankel and was raised in Maryland. She became a medical technologist before World War II, when she volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps, becoming one of its first female recruits.

Career

Her notable television roles included the title role on the popular sitcom Maude in the 1970s, and a starring role on The Golden Girls in the 1980s and 1990s. In the former she played Maude Findlay, an outspoken "limousine liberal" and "New Deal fanatic", living in the wealthy community of Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York, with her husband, Walter (Bill Macy). On one episode Maude had an abortion. It is still the only prime-time network television show that has had the lead character get an abortion. The show was a spinoff from All in the Family, on which Arthur had appeared in the same role, playing Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton)'s cousin, whom Archie (Carroll O'Connor) couldn't stand.

In The Golden Girls she played the character Dorothy Zbornak, a past middle-age substitute teacher who lived in a Florida house owned by man-hungry Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). Her other roommates included dim-but-sweet Rose Nylund (Betty White) and Dorothy's short-tempered, yet "hip" elderly mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty). Getty was actually two months younger than Arthur in real life, and was heavily made-up to look significantly older.

On stage, her roles included "Lucy Brown" in the 1954 Off-Broadway premiere of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, "Yente the Matchmaker" in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof
on Broadway, and a 1966 Tony Award-winning portrayal of "Vera Charles" in Mame
(she recreated the role on film in 1974). In 1981, she appeared in Woody Allen's The Floating Lightbulb; two decades later she toured the U.S. in a one-woman show which opened in Broadway in 2002 as Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends.

Arthur recently took part in the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson.

Private life

She was married for many years to her second husband, director Gene Saks, with whom she adopted two sons, but the marriage ended in divorce.

Arthur has also been a committed animal rights activist, taking part in numerous campaigns for PETA. In the late 90's, a Bea Arthur fan attracted considerable attention for his bumper sticker campaign, "Bea Arthur - Be Naked," as well as for a CK1 ad spoof, "Just Bea."

TV work

Caesar's Hour (regular performer from 1954-1956)
Maude (1972-1978)
The Star Wars Holiday Special
(1978)
Amanda's (1983) (canceled after 4 months)
The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
My First Love (1988)
Dave's World (cast member from 1996-1997)
Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David's mother on the Season 5 Finale 2005

Emmy Awards

1977 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Maude"
1988 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls"

Stage appearances

Threepenny Opera (1954)
Plain and Fancy (1955)
Seventh Heaven
(1955)
Threepenny Opera (1955) (revival)
Nature's Way (1957)
Fiddler on the Roof
(1964)
Mame
(1966)
The Floating Light Bulb (1981)
Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends (2002)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Beatrice Arthur ]

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