She was a character...

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider -- she didn't care if the whole world looked. Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her -- she was a sister who really cooked. Isadora was the first bra burner; ain't you glad she showed up? Ohhhh yeah! And when the country was falling apart, Betsy Ross got it all sewed up.

And then there's Maude. (And then there's Maude.) And then there's Maude. (And then there's Maude.) And then there's Maude.

(And then there's Maude.) And then there's...

That old compromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquilizin'.... Right on, Maude!

And who can forget her performance in the Star Wars Christmas Special? Classic!

Oops, I think the last line of the song is supposed to be "That uncompromising..."

Right on, Maude.

I used to date an attractive woman who looked like a young version of Maude. I used to think Bea Arthur was kind of mean-looking. After that, I had a whole different point of view.

"Excuse me--I'm on my WHINE break."

Arthur was a great comic who could detonate a punchline, but who also, for all her force, could project a quality that was tender and fragile. She won the Tony, the Emmy, she makes the movie of Mame worth watching (nothing else does), and she's about as famous as any performer can be.

But somehow it still feels as if she's underappreciated. She projected great charm and elegance, qualities that were't acknowledged as much as they should have been. A Junoesque beauty, she was certainlly a goddess in my book: smart, savy, down-to-earth, and wonderfully hilarious. She belongs to the category of actor-comediennes like Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore who weren't stand-up comics, didn't write their own material, but whose innate comedic gifts lifted them into a class of their own. Lifted them to the realm of comic genious.

She will be missed.

Bea's parody of it, done for TV Land, with with Sally Struthers, Katherine Helmond, Charlotte Rae and Abe Vigoda is HILARIOUS. You always got the sense she never took herself too seriously. A mark of the truly talented.

I had no idea she was even ill, so the shock of her passing hits like that of a family member. I mean, you just always expected her to keep showing up in various projects now and then. She's an institution and I can't yet comprehend that she is gone.

>And who can forget her performance in the Star Wars Christmas Special? Classic!

God'll get you for that, nhf.

I'm a 22-year-old male and I've pretty much seen every episode of the Golden Girls.

Bea Arthur will be missed, just like Estelle Getty.

There is not now, nor has there ever been a Star Wars Christmas Special. They're in a galaxy far, far away, see, and it happened a long time ago, i.e. more than 2000 years.

Now there has been--aired once--a Star Wars Holiday Special. The first appearance of Boba Fett. And, yeah, that show was gawdoffal.

Happy Life Day everybody!

You can Google it - I think YouTube may have it as well.

Along with friends, I'd noted the parallels to Sex And The City years and years ago. The Golden Girls really was sort of a prototype, and by being women - older women in particular - Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty got away with saying things that would have resulted in the series being banned from prime time TV if they'd been said by younger men. My college roommate made fun of me for watching The Golden Girls 'till he sat down with me one night and laughed his ass off. "I can't believe they just said that!"

I caught flack for comparing last year's Sex And The City movie to The Golden Girls, until I pointed out that Kim Cattrall was a year older than Rue McClanahan was when The Golden Girls started. In the next movie they should all retire and move to the same house in Miami!

Bea Arthur had a way of delivering a line like a depth charge. As someone noted above, she's the only good thing about the atrocious Lucille Ball film Mame, and she's very, very good indeed. I don't believe Maude was originally conceived as a series either, until Arthur stole the show from the series regulars during her guest appearances as Edith's cousin on All In The Family.

She was truly one of the most gifted comedic actresses of our times, and one of the few who had the opportunity to create not one but two iconic television characters. Goodbye Bea, and thanks for many, many great laughs.

I was too young to appreciate it. But I looved Golden Girls so much I could never pick a favorite. I'm so grateful to have been a girl during that show's first run. I remember being like ten and laughing my little ass off, although about 70% of the jokes went over my head. Now I never watch network TV. It's a shame that they don't make shows like that or Designing Women anymore. I can still see Bea Arthur standing with folded arms looking down at wig-wearing Estelle Getty saying, "Picture this: Sicily 1942..."

Dorothy was my absolute favorite of the bunch, hands down. I wish I could have watched more than a handful of "Maude" episodes -- TV Land ran it briefly, but then shelved it for endless "Bonanza" reruns...

That little sitcom had it all over Sex and the City. I'm sad to read Bea Arthur has passed away. She was a wonderful, funny, and original character.

Here's a link to one of Bea's greatest moments reading from Pamela's book. Her tone and delivery are just perfect.

Rest in peace one of the funniest American women ever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHd3MrMbnzY

I loved her.

Another great one lost that probably never got "all" her just due in the critical acclaim dept.

If you waited patiently, she always delivered a great line.

I was a teen age boy during the Golden Girls first run and I remember thinking how smart (and vauguely raunchy) the show (and Bea Arthur) was. I saw a rerun the other day. Still smart (and vaguely raunchy). One of my ten favorite sitcoms.

Bea was the anchor of the show; centered, understated, the perfect foil to the show's more eccentric characters. She really was a talented and classy woman. And very sexy in her own way.

As for the comparing the Golden Girls with Sex and the City. Pshaw. I'll take a good scotch over an appletini any day of the week.