'Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies at 86

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LOS ANGELES - Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.

Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.

"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."

For rest of the story: 'Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies at 86 - Celebrities- msnbc.com
 
That's too bad. I remember seeing the Golden Girls.
 
Awww, I'm sorry to hear that. She was a very talented woman. Classically trained on Broadway before she ever appeared on T.V. RIP Bea!
 
I heard about it today in the news, and sadly we gonna miss her. She a wonderful actress and Bea Arthur will be missed. The golden girls still do lot of reruns for almost 15 years here on TV. It always wonderful to watch them.
 
I heard about the news when I checked my yahoo email had no idea she was ill.
 
It didn't say she was ill. It says that she died peacefully in her sleep. So I beileve it was old age. :)
 
Really liked the "Golden Girls"!...My older sister was addicted to the show....Bea Arthur was one savvy lady!..Will miss her too...Just loved her wise-cracking, dry sense of humor!
 
AWW RIP bea. She was awesome. I love Golden Girls to death. I think in late 1980's the shows send a lot of positive vibes to older ladies who are singles with limited budgets. thats what i love that show so much!
 
I m sad about her death on Yahoo news. I had remembered to watch "Golden Girls" on TV series.
 
i always watch Golden Girls reruns and they are always funny show i like to watch the show and Bea did wonderful job playing Dorothy

RIP Bea Arthur as she will be greatly missed.
 
Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear the news. :( I used to watch the show with my mom back when I was younger. I still love the old reruns.

Stay Golden, Bea.
 
i love that show! let Bea RIP

im really wanted collection dvds of golden girls and makes me laugh but im huge fans of this show.
 
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Awww I love watching Golden Girls, those four so hilarious on the Golden Girls. She's a great actress, I love her, she'll be missed dearly. ;)
 
dang.. i was hoping that they would revisited the show into Broadway, it would be something new and cute, maybe funnier to do the play for them.

you shall be missed dearly. rest in the peace, Bea. :(
 
Indeed - I had heard about this 'news' over the weekend. It is saddening to hear about her death but, yeah - Bea Arthur was a talented actress.

She is downright hilarious and did her job beautifully on 'Golden Girls'.

Rest In Peace, Bea.
 
Golden Girls Star Beatrice Arthur Dies
Golden Girls Star Beatrice Arthur Dies - Tributes, Bea Arthur : People.com

Beatrice Arthur, the larger-than-life actress who scored on Broadway as the original matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof and the hard-drinking actress in Mame before she went on to star in the groundbreaking '70s TV series Maude and, in the '80s, the beloved sitcom The Golden Girls, died early Saturday morning. She was 86.

Dan Watt, a spokesman for Arthur's family, told the Associated Press that the star had been suffering with cancer, though he did not specify what kind. She died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family by her side, said Watt, who remembered Arthur as "a brilliant and witty woman."

Maude, which debuted on CBS in 1972 (and ran until 1978) was a spin-off of the hit All in the Family. As the liberal cousin of archconservative Archie Bunker's wife Edith, the much-married Maude wasn't afraid to broach such controversial (especially for TV at the time) topics as abortion and civil rights.

Golden Girls, a popular NBC Saturday-night staple from 1985 to 1992, featured Arthur as the outspoken Dorothy Zbornak, who shared a Florida home with three other women, including her mother, played by Estelle Getty – who died last July, at 84. The other stars were Rue McClanahan and Betty White.

"Bea was such an important part of a very happy time in my life and I have dearly loved her for a very long time," White said in a statement Saturday. "How lucky I was to know her."


New York Origins
Born Bernice Frankel in New York City but raised in Maryland, where her parents ran a women's clothing store, Arthur debuted on the Off Broadway stage in New York in the 1940s, with her Broadway musical triumphs – though her singing voice was deep and scratchy – in the mid-'60s.

Married and divorced twice, Arthur took her stage name (in part) from her first husband, the screenwriter, director and producer Robert Alan Aurthur, whose credits include the Bob Fosse film All That Jazz. With second husband, Mame director Gene Saks, she adopted two sons, Matthew, 47, and Daniel, 44. They survive her.

Of her powerful stage and TV persona, which often found her cast in the same sort of role, Arthur once said, "Look – I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line. What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting."
 
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