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Golden Girl Bea Arthur dies of cancer, aged 86
Source: Agencies |
April 27, 2009, Monday
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EMMY Award-winning actress Bea Arthur, best known as star of the hit TV comedies "Maude" and "The Golden Girls," has died at age 86, Websites reported on Saturday.
Arthur, a longtime stage actress whose comic timing and deadpan delivery were a perfect fit for her sharp-tongued roles on the two series, died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles in the United States, celebrity Website TMZ reported.
Arthur won best-actress Emmys - America's top television award - for "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."
"Thirty-seven years ago she showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy," one of her co-stars, Rue McClanahan, told TMZ. "I'll miss that courage and I'll miss that voice."
Born Beatrice Frankel in New York on May 13, 1922, Arthur began performing in college and appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway roles, winning a Tony Award opposite Angela Lansbury in "Mame."
In the early 70s, Arthur appeared in the innovative television comedy "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's fiercely liberal cousin, Maude. Producers who saw gold in the role quickly devised a spin-off for her.
"Maude" debuted on CBS in 1972 and became one of the top-rated sitcoms on American television during its six-year run.
In a two-part episode that aired in November 1972 the show stirred protest when Maude decided to have an abortion because of her age. The procedure was legal in New York state but not nationwide.
Arthur followed with "The Golden Girls," an unlikely hit from 1985 to 1992 that featured four female retirees living together.
Central to the popularity of "The Golden Girls" was the comic interplay between Arthur's character and her mother, played by Estelle Getty - who in real life was a year younger and who also won an Emmy for the show. Getty died last July aged 84.
Arthur is survived by two sons and two grandchildren and family members have asked, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to two of her favorite causes, the ArtAttack foundation and animal rights group PETA.
Arthur, a longtime stage actress whose comic timing and deadpan delivery were a perfect fit for her sharp-tongued roles on the two series, died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles in the United States, celebrity Website TMZ reported.
Arthur won best-actress Emmys - America's top television award - for "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."
"Thirty-seven years ago she showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy," one of her co-stars, Rue McClanahan, told TMZ. "I'll miss that courage and I'll miss that voice."
Born Beatrice Frankel in New York on May 13, 1922, Arthur began performing in college and appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway roles, winning a Tony Award opposite Angela Lansbury in "Mame."
In the early 70s, Arthur appeared in the innovative television comedy "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's fiercely liberal cousin, Maude. Producers who saw gold in the role quickly devised a spin-off for her.
"Maude" debuted on CBS in 1972 and became one of the top-rated sitcoms on American television during its six-year run.
In a two-part episode that aired in November 1972 the show stirred protest when Maude decided to have an abortion because of her age. The procedure was legal in New York state but not nationwide.
Arthur followed with "The Golden Girls," an unlikely hit from 1985 to 1992 that featured four female retirees living together.
Central to the popularity of "The Golden Girls" was the comic interplay between Arthur's character and her mother, played by Estelle Getty - who in real life was a year younger and who also won an Emmy for the show. Getty died last July aged 84.
Arthur is survived by two sons and two grandchildren and family members have asked, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to two of her favorite causes, the ArtAttack foundation and animal rights group PETA.
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