R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.- Page 2
R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
#25re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 5:53pm
Such a treasure in the world of theater and television
Ange and Bea doing bosom buddies (priceless)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilV5K8tw_6o
RockabyeHamlet
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/05
#26re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:16pmWhat a sad loss. Thank you for being a friend Bea:)
"I wouldn't let Esparza's Bobby take my kids to the zoo...I'd be afraid he'd steal their ice cream and laugh."- YankeeFan
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee
#28re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:20pmVera forever! You will never be forgotten. RIP.
#29re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:26pmShe was an excellent performer and will surely be missed.
<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
theatre2
Featured Actor Joined: 2/11/08
#31re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:35pm
RIP, Bea Arthur. What a gifted comedianne - so unique and original.
We are losing our golden girls, indeed.
"Years from now, when you talk about this - And you will - Be kind. "
broadwayrob
Featured Actor Joined: 4/14/08
#32re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:45pmI credit all of my bitterness and cynicism to Bea Arthur. Dorothy will forever be one of my favorite characters on TV
anything you do let it come from you and it will be new.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#33re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:48pm
I remember her sparring with Carrol O Connor on All In The Family.I also remember the Tony clip of here singing "There Goes My Life" from "A Mothers Kisses"
She will be missed. R I P
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 4/25/09 at 06:48 PM
#34re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 6:58pmShe filled my heart with laughter and joy...Will miss her comic timing...Thank you for everything
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
Wildcard
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/21/06
#35re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 7:21pmShe is irreplaceable. I'm glad to have been of the generation that got to see her talent.
#36re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 7:41pm
R.I.P. Bea. Thank you for making our lives brighter and funnier with your incredible talent ! We will never forget you !
Updated On: 4/25/09 at 07:41 PM
#37re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 8:11pm
Let's hope the idiots who run the DVD companies will release all of MAUDE, not just the first season. Season 2 will comments from Bea and Adrienne was done more than a year ago and it sitting on the shelf.
MAUDE was 100 times better than the GOLDEN GIRLS and is the sort of bracing show sorely needed today.
I wonder if Angela has made a statement??
RIP.
I hope she, Lucy, and Estelle are laughing right now.
Do you know what happens when you let Veal Prince Orloff sit in an oven too long?
ElizabethAngela
Understudy Joined: 4/13/09
#38re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 9:14pm
Bea and Angela were the closest, if not the very best of friends. Bosom buddies, sisters, cronies.
Angela has already released a statement, as I knew she would. Here it is:
http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/04/73215/
And so sweetly said.
Updated On: 4/25/09 at 09:14 PM
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#39re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 10:04pm
Dorothy and Sophia together again.
"Shady Pines Ma- the WEST wing Ma!-"
Thanks for the memories.
#40re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 10:11pmBea, now you can shine in the heavens! You will be missed.
#41re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 10:33pmRest in Peace, Bea. You will be missed!
"Love the Art in Yourself. Not Yourself in the Art." -- Stanislavski
KirbyCat
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/23/08
#42re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:01pm
We'll miss you, Bea.
Keep heaven laughing up there.
All that there is left to say is thanks and rest in peace.
#43re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:13pmEternal rest grant unto her, and let perpetual light shine upon her.
#44re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:27pm
I did not think it would hurt this much. I am so shocked and saddened.
Bea, with "Maude" was truly the first to play a female on television who was assertive, smart, multifaceted and not a masculinized archetype, not to mention thoroughly funny. Her importance at the time when feminism was on the rise cannot be properly articulated.
One of my favorite scenes from the show...
"Walter, I'm not going to let my husband's best friend ogle my naked body!"
"But he's a doctor, Maude! He ogles my naked body all the time and it's no big deal."
"That's because your naked body is no big deal! With mine, it's different. You'd know that if you'd ever leave the lights on."
You also have to love her as Maude playing against Carroll O'Connor's Archie Bunker.
(Archie throws up hands in disgust)
"Just what do you call this?"
"It's my own invention - Cream of Wheat with cheese. It's light, but it binds."
2010
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
ShbrtAlley44
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/03
#45re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:44pmMay she rest in peace. She was so wonderfully funny and talented.
#46re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:48pm
From Angela's biography by Martin Gottfried. I was just reading this the other day, concerning the genesis of Bea becoming Vera.
______________________________________________________________
"If you're (Gene Saks) going to be the director (of Mame)," Jimmy Carr said to him, "you're going to have to be the one who chooses the star."
Saks understood. "They wanted me to take the responsibility for that decision."
When he got home, he talked through the situation with his wife, the actress Bea Arthur. She was herself a proven musical actress; at the time she was playing Yenta the matchmaker in "Fiddler On the Roof." It was not the leading role, but it was a juicy one with lots of funny dialogue, and she was getting a great deal of attention in it. She'd been getting even more attention when "Fiddler" was trying out in Detroit. Bea Arthur was an assertive performer would could easily take the stage away from anyone who wasn't looking. It was for that reason that the director, Jerome Robbins, cut back Yenta's part. "Look," he said to her, "it's not a play about this matchmaker."
And so when her husband pondered the decision that he had to make about "Mame," naturally she asked, "Why can't I do it?"
Why not, he thought. She did have a marvelously dry, comic style and a Rosalind Russell-like baritone, perfect for zinging off barbed remarks. When he suggested her to Carr, it was accepted as a possibility. As the associate producer, John Bowab, said, "If you were re-creating the acerbic image of Rosalind Russell, wouldn't Bea be a likely choice?"
But Saks still had not seen what Angela could do, and so he asked for another audition - her third. She had no choice but to come in yet one more time, and this time Saks wanted line readings as well as songs. When she was finished, Jerry Herman caught her eye and pleaded and begged for patience. She flashed Carr, Fryer, Bowab and Saks her best bull**** smile. She was furious.
The next morning, she telephoned Carr from her room at the Plaza Hotel.
"Look, she said, "this has been going on for a long time. Right. But this is it. I am going back to California and unless you tell me" - she paused, struggling to contain herself - "I mean, let's face it, I have" - her voice nearly broke - "prostrated myself. Now - yes or no - that's the end of it. I want an answer. I must know before I leave New York because I'm not coming back again!"
There was silence at the other end. Carr asked her to give him just a little time - a half hour. He called Saks and said it seemed to him that while nobody was all out for Angela "with banners flying," she came closer to general approval than anyone else. Gene gave his best pitch for Bea, pointing out that she was "a wonderful actress, a terrific comedienne, and a good singer."
It did seem that, if they were interested in re-creating the Auntie Mame of Rosalind Russell, Bea Arthur would be the likelier choice, but as John Bowab said, "Who wants to re-create the Rosalind Russell performance?" Saks agreed with that, too, and so when he hung up the telephone he turned to his wife and said, "You have got to play Vera."
There was a pause. Like Angela, Bea Arthur was frustrated by a career spent playing secondary roles. As she put it, "What can I say? I wanted to play Mame. And I was married to the director." She considered the part of Vera, and thought, "We're not worried about money. Why the hell should I play Vera? Why go into something if I'm not going to come out for the star's curtain call?"
Watching her go through all of this, Gene repeated, "You've just GOT to, honey," and she shot him her best glare. While she mulled it over, he pointed out that 'Half a Sixpence' was only his first musical. Were this show to prove a second hit for him, he would be established as a director of musicals. Rather than Bea fighting for the lead, if she took the featured role there would be two good actresses in the show, and that would be in their family interest - if more in his interest than hers. It was not easy for Bea, but she finally agreed.
Soon after her casting was announced, she started telling people, "You know, the real name of the show is 'Vera.' the only reason they changed the name was because Jerry couldn't think of a rhyme for it." After a pause she would add, "Steve Sondheim could have."
She was perfect for Vera.
________________________________________________
She will be sorely missed.
2010
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#47re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/25/09 at 11:51pmThis is tragic news...we've lost so many legends this year. Rest in Peace, Bea Arthur. Thank you for such fond memories.
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#48re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/26/09 at 12:23amthis is very sadning she always brightened my day on GOLDEN GIRLS!
#49re: R.I.P. Bea Arthur dead at 86.
Posted: 4/26/09 at 12:40am
Her work on Maude and The Golden Girls was one of the few things on television that truly made me laugh until I cried. I'll always remember her Turkey Lurkey.
R.I.P. Bea
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