Bea Arthur

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress, comedian, singer, and animal rights activist. Her career spanned seven decades. Arthur achieved fame as the character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family (1971–72) and Maude (1972–78), and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92), winning Emmy Awards for both roles. A stage actress both before and after her television success, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Vera Charles in the original cast of Mame (1966). 2Early life Beatrice Arthur was born Bernice Frankel on May 13, 1922, to Rebecca (née Pressner; April 1, 1895 – October 16, 1985) and Philip Frankel (March 10, 1885 – May 1973) in Brooklyn, New York. Arthur was raised in a Jewish home with sisters Gertrude and Marian Kay. In 1933, the Frankel family relocated to Cambridge, Maryland, where her parents subsequently operated a women's clothing shop. She attended Linden Hall School for Girls, an all-girls' boarding school in Lititz, Pennsylvania, before enrolling at Blackstone College for Girls in Blackstone, Virginia, where she was active in the school's drama program. During World War II, she worked as a truck driver and typist in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve, receiving an Honorable Discharge in September 1945. 2Career 3Theater From 1947, Arthur studied at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with German director Erwin Piscato