Bea Arthur Dead at 86

Bea Arthur has died, aged 86.

Spokesman Dan Watt said Bea had cancer, but did not offer any further details. Arthur passed away at home early this morning.

Arthur achieved success as the title character, Maude Findlay, on the 1970s sitcom Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls. Arthur won an Emmy for each of those roles.

Arthur was married twice, first to Robert Alan Aurthur, a screenwriter, television, and film producer and director, whose surname she took and kept though with a modified spelling, and second to director Gene Saks from 1950 to 1979 with whom she adopted two sons, Matthew (born 14 July 1961), an actor, and Daniel (born 8 May 1964), a set designer.

I was sad to read that Bea Arthur had died today. The Golden Girls were a show that my roommates and I used to watch all the time. We joked about which one of us was which and how one day, we would all be married, divorce, lose husbands and end up together again just like the Golden Girls.

We quoted the show all the time too....

Here are some classics:

Dorothy: Oh c'mon, Blanche. Age is just a state of mind.
Blanche: Tell that to my thighs.

Rose: My mother always used to say: "The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana."

Dorothy: Blanche, are you sure you're pregnant?
Blanche: I just did a home pregnancy test - it's right here.
Rose: It looks like a perfume sample.
Dorothy: Put it behind your ears, Rose.

Blanche: You know what the worst part about getting older is?
Dorothy: Your face, Rose's hands?

Rose: Sophia, why are you in such a bad mood?
Sophia: Excuse me Rose, but I haven't had sex in fifteen years and its starting to get on my nerves.

Dorothy: Hi, ma. Where are you going?
Sophia: To the boardwalk. I like to watch the old guys rearrange themselves when they come out of the water.

Dorothy: Hi, ma. Where are you going?
Sophia: To the boardwalk. I like to watch the old guys rearrange themselves when they come out of the water.

Rose: Can I ask a dumb question?
Dorothy: Better than anyone I know.

Blanche: I treat my body like a temple.
Sophia: Yeah, open to everyone, day or night.

Blanche: Oh girls... I'm just in ecstasy. My body is tingling all over. You will never guess what just happened.
Sophia: We know what happened. Let us just guess what part of the Middle East he's from.

Rose: You don't understand. Everyone likes me-I'm the nice one! Dorothy is the smart one, Blanche is the sexy one, Sophia is the old one, and I'm the nice one! EVERYBODY likes me!
Sophia: The old one isn't so crazy about you.

And our personal favorite:

Sophia: Picture this Sicily, 1942 only we would change it to "picture this Jersey City 1982"

This show was classic and I think they were way ahead of their time. The jokes were funny. They were Sex In The City without the hot sex, beautiful clothes, and good looking chicks. Instead of cosmos at the bar they were drinking coffee with a pound cake around the Formica kitchen table. Loved it!

Rest in Peace Bea