#Fact1After her last guest-starring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000), she had retired from acting at age 83.2Has resided in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, California, for 37 years, from 1972-2009. She also sublet her apartment on Central Park West in New York City and her country home in Bedford, New York.3When she was starring in Maude (1972), she was doing an episode about abortion. Even though abortion was legal in New York State, it was illegal in many other regions of the country, and as such sparked controversy. As a result, dozens of affiliates refused to broadcast the episode when it was originally scheduled, substituting either a repeat from earlier in the season or a Thanksgiving TV special in its place. However, by the time of the summer rerun season six months later all the flak had died down, and the stations that refused to air the episode upon its first run reinstated it for the reruns the following summer. As a result, a reported 65 million viewers watched the two episode arc either in their first run that November or during the following summer as a rerun.4On Maude (1972), her character was liberal, in real-life, Arthur was a liberal Democrat.5Her show The Golden Girls (1985) was awarded the Pop Culture award at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards. Arthur accepted the award with Rue McClanahan and Betty White, it would also be Arthur's last public appearance. [8 June 2008].6She played Dorothy Zbornak from 1985 to 1993, though she didn't star on The Golden Palace (1992).7Upon her death, she was cremated, her ashes were given to her family.8Future actors Ron Howard, Tom Hanks and future comediennes/comedians Graham Elwood, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Leah Remini, all said Arthur was their childhood television heroine.9Lifelong friend of Angela Lansbury.10Of Jewish heritage.11Arthur and her ex-Maude (1972) co-star, Conrad Bain, were the only 2 not to guest-star on Murder, She Wrote (1984), which featured her best friend, Angela Lansbury.12Had legally changed her name from Bernice Frankel to Bea Arthur, because of her marriage to Robert Alan Aurthur, in 1947, at 25.13Just five years after her own death, her sister, Kay, died in 2014, who lived to be 88.14Her former Maude (1972) co-star, Bill Macy, guest-starred on 2 episodes of Murder, She Wrote (1984), which starred Arthur's best friend, Angela Lansbury.15She was a heavy smoker.16Enjoyed spending time with her family, singing, collecting antique furniture, traveling, gardening, taking care of pets and dancing.17When Arthur was 11, her family moved to Cambridge, Maryland, in 1933.18When she was a young girl, she used to do Mae West imitations.19Met Carroll O'Connor, in 1964, when he was doing a play called "Ullysees in Nighttown." Eight years later, Arthur had guest-starred on 2 episodes of All in the Family (1971), before she starred in the spin-off Maude (1972).20Her parents, Philip and Rebecca Frankel, were both managers at a woman's department store in Cambridge, Maryland.21Like fellow actresses Charlotte Rae and Marla Gibbs, Arthur eventually wound up being a comedienne.22Dorothy Zbornak, her character from The Golden Girls (1985) was based on creator Susan Harris.23Her sister, Kay, lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.24She wanted to be a big band leader.25Pulmonary carcinoma ran in her family.26Bea Arthur passed away on April 25, 2009. Her ex-The Golden Girls (1985) co-star, Estelle Getty, passed away 1 year before her in July 2008.27She was most widely known to be a very private and shy lady.28Performed in theater while in high school.29Graduated from Linden Hall School for Girls, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, in 1941.30Before she was a successful actress and a comedienne, she once worked at a nightclub in New York City.31Met second husband Gene Saks, while in acting school, in 1949.32Had escaped the alienation she felt in the Eastern shoretown, by going to the movies on Saturdays.33Was voted 'The Wittiest Girl in High School,' at Linden Hall School for Girls.34Arthur convinced her parents to send her to summer school in New York.35Before becoming a successful actress and comedienne, she was employed to sing on weekends, occasionally, for $2 a night, in Cambridge, Maryland.36Attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.37Began singing at age 12.38Had a fear of flying.39Former college classmate of: Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Harry Belafonte and Rod Steiger.40Makes her Australian debut in Melbourne and Sydney in "And Then There's Bea" from mid October to early November. [October 2002]41At the Savoy Theatre in London, England, UK; performs in her show "Bea Arthur at the Savoy" created by herself and Billy Goldenberg in collaboration with Charles Randolph-Wright with production consultants Mark Waldrep and Richard Maltby Jr.. [September 2003]42Played Dorothy Zbornak on three shows: The Golden Girls (1985), Empty Nest (1988) and The Golden Palace (1992).43Would frequently visit her ex-Maude (1972) co-star's, Adrienne Barbeau's twin sons at their house.44Began her show Maude (1972) at age 50.45In May 2013 a nude painting of her sold for $1.9 million in New York City.46Was the only regular cast member of The Golden Girls (1985) who didn't go on to star in the spin-off series The Golden Palace (1992). She guest starred for one episode.47Studied acting at Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop of the New School in New York City, New York.48Won an award of achievement from Emerson College's Musical Theater Society, in Boston, Massachusetts. [2006].49Her son, Daniel Saks, was the set designer for the sitcom Dharma & Greg (1997).50Longtime friends of Doris Roberts and Shirley MacLaine.51Classmate of Marlon Brando.52Appeared on the front cover of TV Guide six times.53Acting mentor and friend of Adrienne Barbeau.54She was a fan of the TV show South Park (1997).55Bea Arthur lost her life on April 25, 2009 and was cremated. Just a few days after her death, the Broadway community paid tribute to Arthur by dimming the marquees of New York City's Broadway theater district in her memory for one minute at 8:00 p.m.56The second Golden Girls star to die.57Though Estelle Getty played her mother in The Golden Girls (1985), Estelle was one year younger than Bea.58According to ex-The Golden Girls (1985) co-star, Betty White, after Arthur's death, she said in an interview, Arthur wasn't too fond of White. Arthur had found her a pain in the neck sometimes and White would set her off.59Met first husband Robert Alan Aurthur while she was in the Marines, the year after her enlistment.60She was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2009. Her Golden Girls co-stars Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty (also posthumously) were inducted the same year.61Was the popular national spokesperson for Canadian drug store chain Shoppers Drug Mart in television and radio commercials throughout the 1980s.62She was frequently referenced in dialogue as being the favorite actress and an icon to the Marvel Comics' character Deadpool.63She was a lifelong liberal Democrat and over the years was in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. She also was a donor to the Democratic National Committee and like her trademark characters of Maude Findlay and Dorothy Zbornak her Democratic concepts constantly coincided with her views on education, womens rights, gay liberation, and economics.64Like Bea, her first husband Robert Alan Aurthur also died of lung cancer in 1978.65Claimed that co-star Esther Rolle didn't display any comedic talent on Maude (1972), until she was given her own show Good Times (1974). She would quote Maude writer Arthur Julian statement about Rolle: "My name is Esther Rolle. I don't do windows, and I don't do comedy.".66Got a phone call from Norman Lear, about guest-starring on a few episodes of All in the Family (1971), only because Lear strongly insisted her on doing it, despite Arthur, who hated flying. She agreed at the very last minute to take the role for a few episodes, hence, this led her into her starring role on Maude (1972).67Words of remembrance for "Time" magazine's milestones tribute by TV critic Jim Poniewozik (Issue: May 11, 2009).68The comic book character Deadpool is infatuated with Bea and considers to her as the sexiest woman on earth.69Though her ex-Maude (1972) co-star, Adrienne Barbeau had missed the majority of the episodes for the final two seasons of the series, due to her busy scheduling, they were still the best of friends until Bea's death.70As a girl Bea attended Linden Hall School for Girls, an all girls school in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Later she attended Blackstone College for Girls in Blackstone, Virginia, where she was active in drama productions.71After her death The Ali Forney Center, a New York not-for-profit agency devoted to providing emergency shelter, medical services, and help getting off the streets to young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender homeless people, learned that she had left them $300,000.00 in her will. The center plans to use the bequest to buy a building that will become permanent housing for some of these youths. The center plans to name the building The Bea Arthur Residence for LGBT Homeless Youth.72Remained good friends with Adrienne Barbeau during and after Maude (1972).73Was very good friends with: Shirley Jones, Angela Lansbury, Florence Henderson, Charlotte Rae, Marla Gibbs, Della Reese, Angie Dickinson, Dick Van Dyke, Dick Van Patten, Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Johnny Carson, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Conrad Bain, Norman Lear, Bill Macy, Esther Rolle, Nanette Fabray, Estelle Getty, Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas, Carol Channing, Mike Douglas, Joan Collins, Shirley MacLaine, Doris Roberts, John Amos, Jason Alexander, Rue McClanahan, Susan Harris, Herb Edelman, Tony Curtis, Rod Steiger, George Gobel, Perry Como, Bill Dana, Harry Belafonte, Mickey Rooney, Beverly Garland and Dinah Shore.74Her idol when she was young was June Allyson.75Was 5'9-1/2" by the time she was 12 years old.76She is survived by two granddaughters, Kyra and Violet.77Before she was a successful actress and comedienne, Bea Arthur was one of the first women to become an active-duty United States Marine. She volunteered and served during World War II as a truck driver and a typist in the Marine Corps. She was stationed at Marine Corps and Navy air stations in Virginia and North Carolina. During her military career, Arthur's rank went from private to corporal to sergeant to staff sergeant, the title she held upon her honorable discharge in September 1945.78Her former Maude (1972) co-star, Adrienne Barbeau, was reunited with her on The View (1997), in 2007. They were there to promote the DVD release of the first season of Maude.79Her mother, Rebecca Frankel, died in 1986.80Best known by the public for her starring roles as the title character in Maude (1972) and as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls (1985).81Her first real name, Bernice, is pronounced like Bur-ness.82Considered Amanda's (1983) and an episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) as her worst career experiences. She also regretted the film version of Mame (1974), directed by her then-husband Gene Saks.83According to a television interview, Arthur claimed that her start in comedy came when she was only a lounge singer. Apparently, when she got up on stage to sing torch songs, the audience would laugh at her because of her deep voice and her height. The nightclub manager then approached her and told her she was in the wrong business. She should be doing comedy instead.84In 2002 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for her one-woman show "Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends".85Once appeared on Judge Judy (1996) as a witness for a defendant who was involved with the animal rights organization PETA. The defendant won.86Was a qualified medical technician.87Her series Maude (1972) and The Golden Girls (1985) were both canceled because Bea left them.88In 1966 she won a Tony Award as Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Vera Charles in "Mame", a part she recreated in the film version by the same name, Mame (1974).89Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 29-30. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 081602338790She did not like to watch her own performances on television or film.91She was best friends with Angela Lansbury since appearing together in "Mame". This was a friendship she spoke fondly of in her one-woman show.92Survived by two adopted sons, Matthew Saks (born July 14, 1961) and Daniel Saks (born May 8, 1964).93Bea won an award of achievement from Emerson College's Musical Theater Society in Boston in the spring of 2000.