86-year-old LEGEND Bea Arthur (here with Angela Lansbury) was inducted into the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences' Hall Of Fame last night in Beverly Hills. OK, for the record: when/if ANYONE here at Pop Culture Madness turns 86, I hope that we ALL look as good as this woman right here. God I love Bea. I want to be adopted by Bea. I want this woman to be declared a saint by the Vatican (who cares if her real name is Bernice Frankel?).
Although Rue McClanahan and Betty White weren't there, I have no doubt that Estelle Getty was raising a toast to Bea in Heaven.
FYI: Bea is ten years OLDER than Elizabeth Taylor. Go Google Madame Liz and see what booze and pills does to your body.
ANYWAY, in honor of My Make Believe Grandma, I'm sharing her finest moments on TV and beyond with all of you here today.
First and foremost, MAUDE:
Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with her fourth husband. Maude embraced the tenets of women's liberation, always voted for Democratic Party candidates, strongly supported legal abortion, and advocated for civil rights and racial and gender equality. However, her overbearing and sometimes domineering personality often got her into trouble when speaking out on these issues.
(You can see where I might like her...)
The program was a spin-off of All in the Family, on which Beatrice Arthur had portrayed the title role of Maude, Edith Bunker's cousin; like that show, Maude was a sitcom with topical story lines created by producer Norman Lear.
Next up...THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 (THE ROMAN EMPIRE):
(at about the 2:10 mark)
"Occupation?"
"Philosopher!"
"Oooooh...a BS artist!"
Beautiful.
Naturally, no Bea Arthur post would be complete without THE GOLDEN GIRLS:
Indeed.
And though she was a stage actress above all else, nothing can make you laugh quite as hard as Bea's Sex and the City parody starring Sally Struthers, Katherine Helmond, and Charlotte Rae:
CONGRATS BEA!! We love ya, girl.
