Multi-awarded actress Beatrice “Bea” Arthur was born on May 13, 1922 in New York City. A lauded comedienne and singer who won both Emmy and Tony Awards, she has worked in numerous theater, film and television projects. She was a U.S. Marine Corps medical technologist during World War II, before going on to her performing career. She was active in school productions, later continuing her success onstage. She became a member of an off-Broadway theater group at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York. Her stage credentials include roles in the 1954 premiere of Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera and Lucy Brown. She has been seen on Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof in 1964, and the Tony Award-winning Mame by Angela Lansbury. In 1974, she reprised her role as Vera Charles in the film version. Another noted appearance was in Woody Allen’s The Floating Lightbulb, which premiered in 1981.
Bea Arthur rose to fame when she was cast as the title character in the television series, Maude. Her portrayal garnered her several Emmy nominations, and she successfully took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1977. She later earned guest spots in The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Soap, Amanda’s, and Empty Nest. In 1985, Arthur was cast in the hit NBC sitcom, The Golden Girls, as Dorothy Zbornak. Again, she received numerous Emmy nominations and won the award in 1988. After seven years, she decided to leave the show. It was moved later on to the CBS network and retooled as The Golden Palace, with Bea Arthur making a few guest appearances on it. The series was cancelled after a season, and the actress continued her extensive television career.
Her return was marked with a role in the cartoon Futurama, voicing the character Femputer in the Emmy-nominated episode, “Amazon Women in the Mood.” Her next notable appearance was in Malcolm in the Middle, which garnered her a guest-star Emmy nomination. After taking on a role in Curb Your Enthusiasm, she returned to Broadway starring in Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends. In 2008, Bea Arthur was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
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Emmy win in 1977 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Maude
Emmy win in 1988 for The Golden Girls
Arthur was inducted into Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2008.
On June 8, 2008, The Golden Girls was awarded the 'Pop Culture' award at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards.
-After being in the business for such a long time, I've done everything but rodeo and porn.
(about "The Golden Girls")
-Four elderly women living together in a house? It could never be. It could never happen. It was the first time that elderly people were seen as well-groomed and coiffed. They didn't smell bad. They had active sex lives. To this day, I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll think of a line [from the show], and I'll be laughing so hard, I can't stop. It was wonderful.