History Creator / BeaArthur

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel;[[note]]According to Arthur she went by "Bea" her entire life, presumably switching her stage name from Bernice to Beatrice because "Bea" was a typical nickname for the latter but not the former; "Arthur" is a modified spelling of "Aurthur", the surname of her first husband.[[/note]] May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, and singer whose career spanned seven decades. She was well-known for her amazingly droll, dry, [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] delivery, and a strong case could be made for her as the all-time Deadpan Queen. She's best remembered for her roles as the title character on ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (a SpinOff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', where she originated the role) and Dorothy on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', both of which earned her UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s. She even headlined her own [[https://youtu.be/Q63ZNcAyHHg hour-long variety special]] in 1980, and had numerous other roles during her career, from television to film to theater.

Arthur was also the reigning champ of the ReactionShot and DeathGlare, with TV legend Creator/NormanLear reportedly saying that she [[FacialDialogue could get more laughs]] out of an audience by [[FascinatingEyebrow raising an eyebrow]] than most actors could with three pages of dialogue. It was well known that she DoesNotLikeShoes.

She even made an appearance (as herself) on an episode of ''Series/JudgeJudy''. Oh, and she was also a truck-driving Marine during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} Is it any wonder that she is my angel and the sexiest woman ever?]]

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel[[note]]According to Arthur she went by "Bea" her entire life, presumably switching her stage name from Bernice to Beatrice because "Bea" was a typical nickname for the latter but not the former; "Arthur" is a modified spelling of "Aurthur", the surname of her first husband.[[/note]]; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, and singer whose career spanned seven decades. She was well-known for her amazingly droll, dry, [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] delivery, and a strong case could be made for her as the all-time Deadpan Queen. She's best remembered for her roles as the title character on ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (a SpinOff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', where she originated the role) and Dorothy on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', both of which earned her UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s. She even headlined her own [[https://youtu.be/Q63ZNcAyHHg hour-long variety special]] in 1980, and had numerous other roles during her career, from television to film to theater.

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, and singer whose career spanned seven decades. She was well-known for her amazingly droll, dry, [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] delivery, and a strong case could be made for her as the all-time Deadpan Queen. She's best remembered for her roles as the title character on ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (a SpinOff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', where she originated the role) and Dorothy on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', both of which earned her UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s. She even headlined her own [[https://youtu.be/Q63ZNcAyHHg hour-long variety special]] in 1980, and had numerous other roles during her career, from television to film to theater.

Oh, and she was also a truck-driving Marine during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} Is it any wonder that she is my angel and the sexiest woman ever?]]

** ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (1972–78): Maude Findlay (141 episodes)

* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' (1985–92): Dorothy Zbornak (180 episodes)

* ''Theatre/{{Mame}}'' (1966): Vera Charles

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, and singer whose career spanned seven decades. She was well-known for her amazingly droll, dry, [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] delivery, and a strong case could be made for her as the all-time Deadpan Queen. She's best remembered for her roles as the title character on ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (a SpinOff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', where she originated the role) and Dorothy on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', both of which earned her UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s. She even headlined her own [[https://youtu.be/Q63ZNcAyHHg hour-long variety special]] in 1980, and had numerous other roles during her career, from film to television to theater.

[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bea_arthur_star_wars_holiday_special.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:270:Goodnight, but not goodbye.]]

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, and singer whose career spanned seven decades. She was well-known for her amazingly droll, dry, [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] delivery, and a strong case could be made for her as the all-time Deadpan Queen. She's best remembered for her roles as the title character on ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (a SpinOff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', where she originated the role) and Dorothy on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''. She even headlined her own [[https://youtu.be/Q63ZNcAyHHg hour-long variety special]] in 1980, and had numerous other roles during her career, from film to television to theater.

She also appeared as Ackmena in ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'', and was the only member of the cast who didn't [[OldShame regret her part in it]], though this may be due to the fact that she was not informed of the special's (loose) relation to the Franchise/StarWars franchise at the time of filming; she was quite used to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofsLWjeBXN4 doing all sorts of variety shows]] in TheSeventies and [[TheEighties Early Eighties]]. To this day, her [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously performance]] is considered the high point of an otherwise disappointingly terrible special.