Bea Arthur

Bea Arthur (born Bernice Frankel) was an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress best known for starring on Maude and The Golden Girls. Arthur was raised in Maryland and studied at the Franklin Institute of Science and Arts in Philadelphia. During World War II, she served in the United States Marine Corps before pursuing acting and enrolling at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York.

Arthur began her career on stage, performing in off-Broadway and Broadway productions throughout the 1950s and 1960s. She won a Tony Award in 1966 for her role as Vera Charles in Mame, which helped launch her television career. In 1971, she was cast as the lead in Norman Lear’s Maude, earning critical acclaim and winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Arthur’s most iconic role came in 1985 when she was cast as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls. The hit series ran for seven seasons, earning her another Emmy Award. She later reprised the role in The Golden Palace.

The actress married Robert Alan Aurthur in 1947 and the two divorced in 1950. In 1950, she married director Gene Saks, with whom she adopted sons Matthew and Daniel. They divorced in 1978.

Arthur died on April 25, 2009 at the age of 86.