Bea Arthur's voice in 'Mame' the movie

[Flight0017]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:09pm

I was watching the movie on DVD last night, and noticed something I hadn't heard before. In the scene leading up to "Bosom Buddies", a waiter approaches Arthur's character Vera and offers his condolences. But isn't he speaking with Bea Arthur's voice?

[PJC]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 4:40pm

It might be Jerry Herman - he has Bea Arthur's voice.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 7:56pm

Bea truly looked like a drag queen in that movie.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 8:33pm

I always thought she looked like a Kabuki Linebacker in that film. Her padding and make-up are bizarre.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 8:54pm

And speaking of Kabuki, I've always felt that the actor who played the Shogun's Mother in the original castof Pacific Overtures sounds exactly like Bea Arthur. Listen to the song "Crysanthemum Tea".

[alterego]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 9:08pm

I read somewhere years ago that the wig she wore had elastic around the edge so that when she wore it it pulled her face "up".

[sally1112]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 9:16pm

Was the waiter offering his condolences for the passing of Estelle Getty?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:12pm

No, he was offering her condolences for being part of that dreadful film.

[Patash]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 11:09pm

His voice was really much higher, but filtered through all the gauze on the set for filming Lucille Ball through, it deepened his voice.

[Albin]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:39pm

"No, he was offering her condolences for being part of that dreadful film."

And you would know this how, you bed-hopping relic? (props to Estelle Getty) Aren't you the one who for years has insisted he'd never seen a movie?

[philcrosby]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:48pm

They way she was made to look in that movie is probably why Bea Arthur divorced Gene Saks.

[D2]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:49pm

The waiter's voice was dubbed by Rosalind Russell.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 6:26pm

Best thread in a long time.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 9:22pm

[Flight0017]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 12:39am

Worst thread in a long time. I still haven't got an answer. I'll just have to assume I'm correct, and post it on IMDB as a fact, then.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 1:02am

Yes, that's always safe...posting an assumption as fact.

[Flight0017]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:05am

FOAnatic: Too bad you couldn't see that my tongue was placed firmly in my cheek.

Anyway, that's what databases like IMDB and Wikipedia are based on. Assumptions.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:36pm

Love that picture of Bea Arthur. I've been a fan of the Rosalind Russel version of the Mame and don't really remember much from Lucille Ball's turn in the role? I'll have to see if I can find it when I get out to rent another movie.

Though no rush if they made Bea and Lucille look like they might already be embalmed? Sounds frightening. I have enjoyed both of these women's work over the years.