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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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Bea's original name was Bernice Frankel; she is AKA Dorothy and Maude. She will be remembered for her portraying Yente, the matchmaker in "Fiddler on the Roof" (1964). She won her greatest B'way acclaim in the musical "Mame" (1966), as Vera Charles, Aunt Mame's savegely "vitsik" (witty), cynical, and hilarious "fraynd" (friend).
In "de televisye" (the TV) show, "All in the Family," Bea played Maude, cousin of Archie's wife. The Dec. 11, 1971 episode was titled, "Cousin Maude's Visit." The synopsis: One by one, the Bunkers and Stivics succumb to "di influentsie" (the flu), with Archie and Mike competing to have the highest temperature. Edith's cousin, Maude, arrives to nurse them back to health. Extremely pushy, she fusses over everyone but Archie, whose "shtul" (chair) she sits in and refuses to relinquish. The two proceed to debate the relative merits of Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.
And in her own TV comedy series, Maude tackled such controversial subjects as abortion, hysterectomies, race relations, and pornography
F-a-s-t forward to the 1980s. Bea starred in the sitcom, "The Golden Girls," with Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. Much to Ms. Arthur's "khidesh" (surprise), the show was a hit. She wrote, "I cannot believe what has happened with this show. They're telling us it's a hit! And for the first time we're seeing three older women who look good, dress well, live well and are bright. They're not pushing wheelchairs. And they're not playing crazed matriarchs of horrible families."
Bea Arthur had many "modne" (strange) occupations before her acting career took off. She was a lab technician and a blues singer/drink spitter. She had a job sitting in this Greenwich Village place called the 19th Hole. She was paid to sit and make guys buy drinks.
Arthur started in television by getting "under five" parts (under five lines), working with Sid Caesar. She idolized Sid Caesar, and said that Lee Strasberg strongly influenced her career.
Bea campaigned for animal rights. She said, "I think fur coats should have a label on them, saying how they became fur coats. People don't know the indignity, the horror, that animals go through."
Her most famous role: Dorothy in "The Golden Girls" Along with her octogenarian mother and two middle-aged women, Dorothy is the long-suffering anchor of the household. When her mother, Sophie Petrillo (Estelle Getty) decides to spend the night with an 85-year-old man, Dorothy says, "Ma, you're not spending the night at Rocco's. Listen, you live under our roof...You live by our rules!" And when a man-crazy young female visitor is leaving their "heym," Dorothy politely says, "We enjoyed having you," to which Sophia adds, "And so did half of Miami."
The above episode reminds me of the Yiddish expression, "der vus hot alemen lib, iz gelibt fun keynem." (He who loves everyone is loved by no one.)
Red Buttons said, "So come on down [to Florida]." Ralph Schoenstein ("Every Day is Sunday") discusses "gerontophilia." Sounds like something you should water. It's wanting to be with your own age group. Gray pride--and the hell with the young: We don't need 'em."
Anyone who has resided in Florida and/or has taught a "tsenerlingn" (teenager), would find this episode of "The Golden Girls" particularly funny...even today.
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Dorothy enters, crossing "dos voyntsimer" (the living room).
Dorothy
I taught a class today--the finest in Dade
County--two girls had shaved heads and
three boys had green hair.
COCO
They were expressing themselves.
Dorothy
And I expressed myself. I told them to leave:
They were too ugly to look at. Now the
parents are mad. A father came in in a three piece suit and defended Tiffany,
a bald girl with a nose ring.
Rose
What a day. I had the saddest clients.
Dorothy Rose, you work at grief counseling. What do you expect, comedians?
Rose
thinks a minute
Rose
Well, they have grief. You think Bob Hope's
happy when they don't laugh.
Blanche enters
Can I borrow your mink stole?
COCO
It's Miami in June. Only cars are wearing
fur. Are you going out?
Dorothy
No, she's going to sit here where it's a
hundred and twelve degrees and eat enchilades.
Blanche
I need some cucumbers to put on my eyes.
Dorothy
You'll have trouble seeing, Blanche.
Blanche
It's very good and reduces puffiness.
Rose
Does it work on thighs?
Blanche
I don't know. I don't need it on my thighs.
Rose
Who is she going out with?
COCO
Harry, again.
Dorothy
Who is this Harry?
Rose
All Blanche said was he still has his teeth
and his hair.
Dorothy
It's wonderful dating in Miami. All the
single men under eighty are cocaine
smugglers.
Rose
I'd kill to be twenty again.
Dorothy
I'd kill to be forty again. You know. I got the shock of my life today. I
was in the
teacher's lounge talking to some girls in
the twenties. They were so pretty. At that
age you don't even have to be pretty and
you're pretty Anyway, we were all talking
and laughing together and I completely forgot I was older. I just became
one of the
girls. And I had such a good time, too.
Then I got into my car and caught a glimpse
of myself in the rearview mirror and almost
had a heart attack. This old woman in the
mirror; I didn't recognize her.
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Bea Arthur, we'll miss you. "Lakhn iz gezunt." (Laughter is healthy.)
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