Bea Arthur, who showed America in the TV sitcoms “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” that Granny could do way more than just bake cookies, died at her Los Angeles home Saturday at the age of 86.
Arthur, who was suffering from cancer, died with her family at her side, said personal assistant Dan Watt. She was making public appearances up until a few months ago.
A commanding presence with a deep voice, Arthur was born in New York and began her career as an Off-Broadway stage actress. She played Lucy Brown in a 1954 production of “Threepenny Opera.”
She later won a 1966 Tony for her portrayal of Vera Charles in the musical “Mame,” reprising the character in the movie version.
“There was no one else like Bea,” said “Mame” composer Jerry Herman. “She would make us laugh during ‘Mame’ rehearsals with a look or with a word. She didn’t need dialogue. I don’t know if I can say that about any other person I ever worked with.”
Her last major role was on stage, in an autobiographical 2002 musical called “Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends.” She sang, danced and was nominated for a Tony, losing to Elaine Stritch.
She acted in many television dramas during the 1950s, but had been away from the medium for a decade when she joined “All in the Family” in 1972 as Maude Findlay, the outspoken liberal cousin of Archie Bunker‘s wife, Edith.
Her role on TV’s No. 1 show, originally conceived as an occasional drop-in, changed both her career and her image.
Maude stood toe-to-toe with the reactionary Archie. Audiences loved her so much that by the end of the first season, one sitcom was no longer big enough to hold both of them.
Maude got her own self-titled spinoff in the fall of 1972. It became a top-five show in its first season and Arthur won an Emmy for best actress in 1977, on her fourth nomination.
She won another Best Actress Emmy in 1988 for “The Golden Girls,” her third nomination in the role of Dorothy Zbornak.
“Golden Girls,” with an ensemble cast that also included Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, who died last year, was widely hailed for showing that women over 50 could still have fun.
“Thirty-seven years ago she showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy,” McClanahan told TMZ in a statement. “I’ll miss that courage and I’ll miss that voice.”
She was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame last year.
Arthur was married twice, to screenwriter Robert Alan Arthur and to director Gene Saks, with whom she adopted two sons, Matthew and Daniel.
