# RIP Bea Arthur **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343 "2009-04-25T20:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/21 "2009-04-26T00:07:08Z")
I’m sad to hear this. She was a tough old broad and I figured she’d go on forever. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/22 "2009-04-26T01:08:33Z")
Oh no, we’ve lost another Golden Girl! ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/23 "2009-04-26T01:25:53Z")
Oh no! I’m gutted. I just finished a Golden Girls marathon a few days ago - all seven seasons. Those were some funny old broads, and the funniest and broadest of them is now gone. ☹ Thank you for being a friend, Bea. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/24 "2009-04-26T01:27:30Z")
A part of me just died I think. Bea was a wonderful actress and will be greatly missed. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/25 "2009-04-26T01:55:09Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > He’ll be missed. Heh heh. I still think of the line from the Jerry Stiller roast whenever I think of Bea Arthur: > [@Jeffrey Ross](#): > > I wouldn’t fuck her with Bea Arthur’s dick! Then they cut to Bea, and the look on her face was priceless. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/26 "2009-04-26T02:17:54Z")
I love Bea Arthur. She was NEVER apologetic about her looks/stature. She just did her thing and did it beautifully. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/27 "2009-04-26T02:20:15Z")
(Phone rings, Maude picks it up) “Hello” (Long pause) “This is _Mrs_ Lastname.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/28 "2009-04-26T02:29:02Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Since everyone will be talking about Maude and Dorothy, I’m gonna give a shout out to her hilarious line readings as a guest star in an entirely different show – _Futurama_, where she played a robot disguising herself as a computer: > > She was awesome. I fondly remember her in _Malcolm in the Middle_ where she played a babysitter who was more than a match for Dewey. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/29 "2009-04-26T02:30:31Z")
Wow, that’s so sad (and unexpected! was she known to be sick??). She was just fantastic as Dorothy Zbornak. Really my favorite of the Golden Girls. :(:(☹ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/30 "2009-04-26T02:31:40Z")
Rip. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/31 "2009-04-26T02:33:24Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I fondly remember her in _Malcolm in the Middle_ where she played a babysitter who was more than a match for Dewey. o/` Can you hear the drums, Fernando? o/` ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/32 "2009-04-26T02:52:29Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Wow, that’s so sad (and unexpected! was she known to be sick??). She was just fantastic as Dorothy Zbornak. Really my favorite of the Golden Girls. :(:(☹ Apparently she had cancer (she was also 86). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/33 "2009-04-26T03:05:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I was privileged to see her on Broadway in the '60s . . . in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof” and especially in “Mame.” So, she was actually only 41 when she played the “elderly” Yenta the matchmaker, eh? That’s probably the last role I could stomach her in, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/34 "2009-04-26T08:07:14Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > The only good thing to come out of the Star Wars Holiday Special is no more I just _knew_ when I opened this thread that somebody else would be thinking of that 😛 I love you people, you know that? She was the only person in that whole insane show who wasn’t 1) clearly embarrassed to be there (Harrison Ford: Wookie Hugger); 2) seriously chewing the scenery (pretty much everyone else); or 3) stoned to the gills (Carrie Fischer). She even managed to put herself into _that_ horrible role and do her best at it. I believe that is the very definition of Professional Acting. I’m too young to remember much of Maude but I’ve loved her in everything I’ve seen her in, particularly the Golden Girls. Sad to hear she’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/35 "2009-04-26T11:42:05Z")
i also thought of the star wars holiday special. i doubt we will hear mention of it anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/36 "2009-04-26T12:23:56Z")
I’m Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/37 "2009-04-26T13:45:32Z")
[Whoa!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYc4i_FTxo4) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/38 "2009-04-26T16:46:02Z")
This is really sad news. My SO and I both worked with her on several theater productions. She was a truly wonderful woman, very funny in real life and quite kind and generous to her fans. Bea had a thing about shoes - she absolutely hated wearing them! She would be barefoot during all rehearsals, and more than once almost forgot to put them on for a performance. One little tidbit - Bea got along great with Rue and Estelle from Golden Girls and they would always come to see her shows, but Bea and Betty White were, to say the least, not good friends. Once, during a performance, Bea found out Betty White was in the audience and it was the only time I ever saw Bea visibly pissed off. Bea Arthur was a great lady - perfect sense of comic timing, a great singing voice and an amazing talent. Very sad news. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/39 "2009-04-26T17:49:27Z")
RIP, **Pussycat**! I loved Bea as Maude but think she’s probably best remembered as Dorothy Z. She had a good life and achieved success that stayed with her; she was 50 when she was cast as Maude! Sad to think that she may have suffered; she will indeed be missed. And I just know that Sofia was waiting for her pussycat. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343/40 "2009-04-26T18:19:06Z")
I was just reading Adrienne Barbeau’s autobiography (There Are Worse Things I Could Do - a delightful book and a delightful person!) when I heard about Bea’s passing. They were both in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, though at different times. RIP! I don’t know if there will ever be another actress like her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bea-arthur/494343.md?page=3)