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Bea Arthur, Tony and two-time Emmy Award-winning actor, and Mega Genius^®

Bea Arthur is a two-time Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning, American, actor-comedienne and singer.  She is best remembered for playing the title character, Maude Findlay, on the television sitcom Maude (1972 – 1978), and Dorothy Zbornak on the television sitcom The Golden Girls (1985 – 1992).

On stage, Bea won a Tony Award for her performance in Mame, and appeared in Threepenny Opera, The Floating Light Bulb, Fiddler on the Roof, and 65 other plays.

She also has 10 motion pictures to her credit.

Bea’s television credits include eight appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; Kraft Television Theater; Studio One; Caesar’s Hour; Omnibus; Hallmark Hall of Fame; The George Gobel Show; The Perry Como Show; The 45th Annual Academy Awards; The Mike Douglas Show; Dinah; Saturday Night Live; Laugh-In; The Mary Tyler Moore Hour; Soap; Circus of the Stars; The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts; This is Your Life; Late Night with David Letterman; The 50th Annual Tony Awards; and 87 other shows.

In 1972, after having appeared twice as the character “Maude,” Edith Bunker’s cousin, in the popular television series All in the Family, Bea Arthur starred in her own popular spinoff series, Maude, for six years.  The show ended only because Bea chose to leave at its peak.

In 1985, she was cast in the successful television series The Golden Girls, which ran for seven years.  Again, the show ended only because Bes chose to leave at its peak.

In 2002, Bea returned to Broadway starring in Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between friends, based on her career spanning six decades.  Her show was nominated for a Tony Award for “Best Special Theatrical Event.”

Bea said, “You know, I spend most of my life turning things down.  There’s a lot of crap out there.”  Apparently, though, she sorts through it all effectively.  She was nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, and was nominated for 10 Emmys, and won two.

Before her career in show business, Bea was trained as a medical technologist and served in the United Sates Marine Corps.  She has two sons and lives in the Los Angeles area.

Bea Arthur has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 2008, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted her into its hall of fame, for her extraordinary contributions to television.

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