R.I.P.: Farewell to a Favored Face and to My Favorite Golden Girl
"Bea Arthur (1922-2009)
The Bea was buzzing after news broke that the irrepressible Bea Arthur had passed away; the actress was one of the top searched-for people on the entire Yahoo! network on both Saturday and Sunday. Arthur won Emmys as the title character in "Maude" and later as Dorothy Zbornak in "The Golden Girls." Both shows are considered groundbreaking, "Maude" for dealing with issues related to the feminist movement (including, most famously, abortion), and "The Golden Girls" for focusing on the lives of female seniors. Among the copious material on Arthur in Buzz: Salon's "Remembering Bea Arthur," Entertainment Weekly's "Golden Girls" oral history, and a New York Times video retrospective, which includes a pretty outrageous "Sex and the City" parody."
Bea, you were a happy memory, a comfort and a pioneer to many, laughter when life got too serious, and a fine example of a woman. I shed a tear for one whom I have loved and admired from an early age. The world has lost a wonderful actress, one who was not afraid to blaze a trail of progress into the 20th and 21st centuries, but your memory.... Your memory will live always in the roles you played and the causes you fought for.
The Bea was buzzing after news broke that the irrepressible Bea Arthur had passed away; the actress was one of the top searched-for people on the entire Yahoo! network on both Saturday and Sunday. Arthur won Emmys as the title character in "Maude" and later as Dorothy Zbornak in "The Golden Girls." Both shows are considered groundbreaking, "Maude" for dealing with issues related to the feminist movement (including, most famously, abortion), and "The Golden Girls" for focusing on the lives of female seniors. Among the copious material on Arthur in Buzz: Salon's "Remembering Bea Arthur," Entertainment Weekly's "Golden Girls" oral history, and a New York Times video retrospective, which includes a pretty outrageous "Sex and the City" parody."
Bea, you were a happy memory, a comfort and a pioneer to many, laughter when life got too serious, and a fine example of a woman. I shed a tear for one whom I have loved and admired from an early age. The world has lost a wonderful actress, one who was not afraid to blaze a trail of progress into the 20th and 21st centuries, but your memory.... Your memory will live always in the roles you played and the causes you fought for.