RIP Bea Arthur

(Part 1 of 5, from Lifetime's Intimate Portrait. This video from Youtube runs just over 7 minutes. It will give you a brief idea of Bea Arthur's career. For the remaining parts to this show, you can search Youtube.)

My heart is broken once again with the passing of Bea Arthur. She has brought so many years of laughter into my life. For me it started in 1971 with her guest appearance as Edith's liberal cousin, Maude, in All in the Family. This role, soon after, led to the casting of Bea as the lead of the 1970s hit sitcom, Maude. As a young child I used to stay up with my parents to watch this show, even though it dealt with very mature subject matter most of the time. I believe it was the first prime-time show to deal with the topic of abortion.

Later in life Bea Arthur struck gold again with another hit comedy show, The Golden Girls (1985-1992). Starring with an ensemble cast, Bea played the role of Dorothy, an outspoken, domineering woman, always the butt of the "homely woman" joke. Her character Dorothy, often played opposite of her on-screen mother, Sofia, played by the late, great Estelle Getty. I will continue to watch her in re-runs of The Golden Girls if Lifetime (or another network) brings it back. I have literally seen each episode hundreds of times and I still laugh out loud. It never gets old to me. As a side-note, Marc Cherry, the creator and writer of Desperate Housewives, used to produce and write for The Golden Girls.

I was lucky enough to see Bea Arthur live, in her one-woman show, at a small theater in Miami only a few years ago. She was one funny woman.