I’m sad to hear this. She was a tough old broad and I figured she’d go on forever.
Oh no, we’ve lost another Golden Girl!
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.
A part of me just died I think. Bea was a wonderful actress and will be greatly missed.
Heh heh. I still think of the line from the Jerry Stiller roast whenever I think of Bea Arthur:
Then they cut to Bea, and the look on her face was priceless.
I love Bea Arthur. She was NEVER apologetic about her looks/stature. She just did her thing and did it beautifully.
(Phone rings, Maude picks it up)
“Hello” (Long pause)
“This is Mrs Lastname.”
I fondly remember her in Malcolm in the Middle where she played a babysitter who was more than a match for Dewey.
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. :(:(
Rip.
o/ Can you hear the drums, Fernando? o/
Apparently she had cancer (she was also 86).
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.
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.
i also thought of the star wars holiday special. i doubt we will hear mention of it anywhere else.
I’m Sad.
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.
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.
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.