Bea Arthur, RIP

[Helene]

Bea Arthur died of cancer at age 86.

Associated Press Obituary

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 CBS executives 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 that girl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said.

[miliosr]

And then there's MAUDE!!!

[cubanmiamiboy]

When I first came to the States I discovered the late nights re-runs of "The Golden Girls", and became addicted to the show. She was great as Dorothy...the soul of the series.

RIP, Miss Arthur.

[bart]

When I first came to the States I discovered the late nights re-runs of "The Golden Girls", and became addicted to the show.

Cristian, I never saw the original show but, like you, became hooked by the reruns.

Each time I visit to Miami Beach to attend a program at the MCB studio, I find myself thinking about the opening shot -- a bird's eye view of the neighborhood where the Golden Girls supposedly reside. I've actually looked for it. Watching the remaining elderly ladies stolling or heading for the beach, I often think of the GGs: a fine ensemble of actresses who convinced me that they were deeply, intimately connected as friends.

Despite her own inclinations -- and the tone of several obituaries, which seemed to prize her stong characters, Maude and Vera Charles, most of all -- Arthur was a generous ensemble actress. In Golden Girls, she's the lynchpin of an acting team that was often sentimental but was also wickedly funny.

[4mrdncr]

I didn't watch much commercial television, but I loved "Maude". Edith, and MTM, and most women's roles on tv then were all dominated by men (husbands, fathers, news editors etc.etc.); the women would speak (squeek) up when pushed to it, but not like Maude. She was never afraid to speak up or speak her mind. And she was brutally honest with herself and others. I give thanks to all the writers who created my first feminist role model (sorry Marlo and MTM); and a great actress, who may have been typecast, but knew how to deliver a look or a line that went straight to our hearts. RIP dear lady.

Just a thought: I wonder if the Golden Girls sequel series didn't work because Bea Arthur was no longer part of that ensemble, and the others had no one as strong (either as a character or person) to play against?

[cubanmiamiboy]

I wonder if the Golden Girls sequel series didn't work because Bea Arthur was no longer part of that ensemble, and the others had no one as strong (either as a character or person) to play against?

Maybe...even if each one of them were charming in their own way, and I couldn't think of the show without the whole ensemble, it was Dorothy who made me laugh the most...her dark humor, her lack of patience at some of Rose's long stories...oh, her faces were hilarious...

bart...I suppose that at some point Miami Beach was sort of a place with plenty of these characters...which are almost extinguished by now. The old ladies no longer can afford the 2009 prices, and now where the old Art Deco little hotels/retirement places were, hip outrageously expensive "boutique/lounge-hotels" stand.

[dirac]

I didn't watch much commercial television, but I loved "Maude". Edith, and MTM, and most women's roles on tv then were all dominated by men (husbands, fathers, news editors etc.etc.); the women would speak (squeek) up when pushed to it, but not like Maude. She was never afraid to speak up or speak her mind. And she was brutally honest with herself and others. I give thanks to all the writers who created my first feminist role model (sorry Marlo and MTM); and a great actress, who may have been typecast, but knew how to deliver a look or a line that went straight to our hearts. RIP dear lady.

Just a thought: I wonder if the Golden Girls sequel series didn't work because Bea Arthur was no longer part of that ensemble, and the others had no one as strong (either as a character or person) to play against?

Agree with all of the above. I didn't see much of the sequel, but my impression from what I did see was that a) Arthur was missing and in a good ensemble who's who is always important and b) the series was out of gas, which happens.

Thank you for posting this sad news, Helene. You couldn't make a series quite like Maude today. In some ways I fear we're going backward.....

Edited to thank Helene for posting. I was really asleep at the switch as far as this thread is concerned.

Edited April 29, 2009 by dirac

[miliosr]

I don't think you would want to create a show like Maude today. As great as Bea Arthur was in the title role, the series itself has dated horribly (as have many of the Norman Lear "issues" sitcoms.) Back then, Maude was very now but now it's very then.

[dirac]

I don't think you would want to create a show like Maude today. As great as Bea Arthur was in the title role, the series itself has dated horribly (as have many of the Norman Lear "issues" sitcoms.) Back then, Maude was very now but now it's very then.

Being ‘very now’ can have its usefulness and value, even if it doesn’t last forever. I quite agree that shows with a topical bent tend to date quickly, but that doesn’t deprive the show of success or importance it had in its time, even if not many people are interested in poring over the DVDs these days.

[dirac]

NYT obituary.

But while she was successful on stage, on television she made history. “Maude,” which was created by Norman Lear as a spinoff from “All in the Family,” was broadcast on CBS during the most turbulent years of the women’s movement, from 1972-78, and in the person of its central character, it offered feminism less as a cause than as an entertainment.

Maude Findlay was a woman in her 40s living in the suburbs with her fourth husband, Walter (played by Bill Macy), her divorced daughter, Carol (Adrienne Barbeau), and a grandson. An unabashed liberal, a bit of a loudmouth and a tough broad with a soft heart, she was, in the parlance of the time, a liberated woman, who sometimes got herself into trouble with boilerplate biases just the way her cultural opposite number, Archie Bunker, did. She was given a formidable physicality by Ms. Arthur, who was 5 feet 9 ½ inches and spoke in a distinctively brassy contralto.

[papeetepatrick]

I never watched a whole episode of one of these shows, but she is marvelous in the generally-thought-to-be bomb movie of 'Mame', with Lucille Ball of the many-splendoured filtered face, or whatever they did. Mainly a mediocre Jerry Herman product to begin with, and Lucille's total inability to do the simplest dance movements decently, but Ms. Arthur had quite a hilarious presence in that--although not sure I'd put it up there with Coral Browne, always stupendous, in the Rosalind Russell movie (which also starts charmingly, and then becomes endless).

[dirac]

You might try "The Golden Girls" one of these days. They've been repeating the shows on cable recently in Arthur's memory and they hold up well. Some really excellent writing and ensemble acting.