Bea Arthur

It is with great sadness that I heard today that American actress Bea Arthur died peacefully at home yesterday. Bea was one of my favourite actresses I first noticed in the brilliant 80's comedy Golden Girls. Subsequently I realised what a huge star she was Stateside, though we rarely got to see her work here in the UK. She was brilliant in one fo my favourite musicals Mame, working alongside Lucille Ball (for which Bea won a Tony Award in 1966). Because she and her costars played "old" women in the Golden Girls in the 1980's yet still survived until this decade (Estelle Getty sadly passing away too last year) I somehow imagined them to be unbreakable. Sadly this isn't the case and we should be thankful for all the humour and joy that Bea & Estelle (and Betty and Rue) gave us over the years and will keep on giving thanks to their recorded works.

Bea Arthur - May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009