Line #7 Creator/BeaArthur


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bea_arthur_star_wars_holiday_special.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:275:Goodnight, but not goodbye.]]
3
4	->''"My dream was to become a very small blonde movie star like Creator/IdaLupino and those other women I saw up there on the screen during [[TheGreatDepression the Depression]]."''
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6	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. Born in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, 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.
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8	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.
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10	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.
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12	Given Arthur's hugely varied career it's no surprise that she didn't like to stand still for too long; both ''Maude'' and ''The Golden Girls'' ended production because she wanted to move on (in the latter case they convinced her to stay on for a seventh season, and attempted a ReTool to carry on without her after she left). After leaving ''The Golden Girls'' in 1992 she would not commit to a regular role in any production -- stage or screen, big or small -- for the rest of her life.
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14	Fun fact: She had a very similar face to Jane Ross, who played the character Tamoon in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion". Even after Ross died in 1985, several sources mistakenly credited Arthur for the role and mistakenly said Ross was a pseudonym Arthur used. In 2001, Arthur set the record straight that she and Ross were different people and she had never appeared in ''Franchise/StarTrek''.
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16	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.
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18	----
19	!!Bea Arthur on TV Tropes:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21	[[folder:Television roles]]
22	* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' (1971–72): Maude Findlay (2 episodes)
23	** ''Series/{{Maude}}'' (1972–78): Maude Findlay (141 episodes)[[note]]Primetime UsefulNotes/EmmyAward for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1977)[[/note]]
24	* ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' (1978): Ackmena
25	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (1979): [[AsHerself Herself]]/Host (1 episode)
26	* ''Series/{{Soap}}'' (1980): Angel (1 episode)
27	* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' (1985–92): Dorothy Zbornak (180 episodes)[[note]]Primetime UsefulNotes/EmmyAward for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1988)[[/note]]
28	** ''Series/EmptyNest'' (1989): Dorothy Zbornak (1 episode)
29	** ''Series/GoldenPalace'' (1992): Dorothy Hollingsworth (2 episodes)
30	* ''Series/{{Ellen}}'' (1998): [[AsHerself Herself]] (1 episode)
31	* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' (2000): Mrs. White (1 episode)
32	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' (2001): Femputer (voice, 1 episode)
33	* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (2005): Larry's Mother (1 episode)
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Film roles]]
37	* ''Film/{{Mame}}'' (1974): Vera Charles
38	* ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' (1981): Dole Office Clerk
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Theatre roles]]
42	* ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' (1948): Katherina
43	* ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'' (1954): Lucy Brown
44	* ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'' (1964): Yente the Matchmaker
45	* ''Theatre/{{Mame}}'' (1966): Vera Charles[[note]]Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (1966)[[/note]]
46	[[/folder]]

Context Creator / BeaArthur