Betty White & Rue McClanahan Remember Bea Arthur

Thank her for being a friend
Monday, April 27th, 2009

On Saturday we learned the incredibly sad news that famed actress of the stage and small screen Bea Arthur, prolly most remembered for her role as Dorothy Zbornak on the beloved TV series The Golden Girls but also for her ground-breaking role in the 1970’s as Maude on both All In The Family and her own series Maude, passed away at the age of 86 after losing her battle with cancer. Bea’s surviving co-stars Betty White and Rue McClanahan have since paid tribute to Bea in interviews and official statements. Betty issued a statement, which you can read in full here, and Rue spoke fondly of Bea in an interview with Entertainment Weekly and on The Today Show. Here are a couple photos of Bea, Betty and Rue all together at The TVLand Awards last year where the ladies accepted a pop culture award on behalf of The Golden Girls (Estelle Getty was still alive at this time last year but was too ill to attend the award show):


Here is the full text of Betty White’s statement on Bea’s passing:

“I knew it would hurt, I just didn’t know it would hurt this much.. I’m so happy that she received her Lifetime Achievement Award while she was still with us, so she could appreciate that. She was such a big part of my life.”

Here is a portion of Rue McClanahan’s interview about Bea with Entertainment Weekly:

What did you learn about acting from Bea Arthur?
What I got attached to, as an actress, was her impeccable timing. And I loved playing scenes with her. She taught me, by watching her, even back during Maude, to be outrageously courageous as a comedienne, to go out on a limb, to go farther than I’ve ever dreamed of going. [On The Golden Girls], Blanche had to say and do things that Rue found difficult. And it would always be Bea who said [deepens voice to perfectly imitate Arthur] “Oh say it! It’s funny!”

What was she like off-camera?
As a friend she was giving and loving to me. She was a very close, quiet, rather timid person, very gentle. I saw someone say something once that they didn’t mean to be a cutting remark, but it hit her wrong, and she immediately burst into tears. That was not seen very often, but those emotions were right under the surface.

It’s interesting to hear that, because I think a lot of fans just assumed she was as tough as Maude, as gruff as Dorothy.
Not just the public! When I first worked with her on Maude and came back to New York, actors descended upon me and said “Oooh! What was it like? Was it scary working with Bea Arthur?” I said “Good heavens! Anything but!” That height — she was 5′10” flat-footed — and that deep voice, and that manner she was able to summon up, made people think she would be difficult. But she wasn’t.

Any interesting quirks?
[On Golden Girls], Bea always sat in the same chair at rehearsals. Always. And she always had to have me on her right, and Betty [White] and Estelle [Getty] across the table from her. And we could not change seats from year to year, or even from week to week.

How did Bea feel about her status as a feminist icon?
Of course she was aware of it, but I tell you what meant something to Bea: Acting, performing, playing comedy and doing it well.

What did Bea mean to women of her generation? Maude and The Golden Girls both tackled a lot of issues older women face, and did so with a candor that we don’t always see in Hollywood.
I think, in both of those shows, we really did change the perception of a woman’s role. I don’t think anybody thought that it was okay to be a feminist back when she was doing Maude. And I’m sure that [show] released a lot of inhibitions. I know The Golden Girls certainly did because I’ve got fan mail saying “Thank you for allowing me to act and dress like I feel.” Because in those days, when you were over 50, you were supposed to be wearing certain types of clothes and behaving a certain way. And women were writing saying “Thank you, thank you, thank you for the freedom, for the release, for the permission.” And I’m sure Bea got that same kind of fan mail, too.

What was Bea’s lasting contribution to TV history?
What’s any great star’s lasting contribution? What’s Lucille Ball’s? I don’t know how to put answers like that into words. I suppose perhaps the thing she did the best and the most of was make people laugh.

Bea Arthur was truly an amazing woman. It will forever be one of my great regrets to have never met her in person. I remember when she did her one-woman Broadway show back in 2001 … I was not yet able to travel to NYC whenever I liked so I was not able to see her show live. It just pains me know to think that I missed out on a golden opportunity to see this genius comedic actress live on stage. Thankfully, we have reruns of The Golden Girls to remind us for all time what a truly special woman she was. After the jump, check out video of Rue McClanahan being interviewed on The Today Show …

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The 2009 TV Land Awards Are Handed Out

Oldies but Goodies
Monday, April 20th, 2009

TV Land, the home of classic television, held its annual TV Land Awards show at University City here in Hollywood, CA yesterday and managed to bring out stars of the small screen from the days of yore. Neil Patrick Harris, who currently stars on the CBS hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother, played host to the awards show and looked pretty fab on the red carpet. Here are a few photos of some of the other folks who came out for the awards show yesterday evening:


Ah, TV Land … you do have a penchant for intermingling the new and old stars of TV in an oddly entertaining way. Here are a few pics from the show itself, which will air on TV Land next Sunday April 26th:


Fans of Married … With Children will want to tune in to see the show be honored with the Innovator Award (which is “presented to a series whose influence is still felt and evident in television today”) and fans of Magnum P.I. (and Tom Selleck’s ’stache) will want to tune in to watch the show be honored with the Hero Award (which “salutes a lead character whose crime-solving feats were astounding, yet remained thoroughly authentic, offering equal parts of street smarts, wit and charisma”). Also the amazing yet totally mindeffing 70’s show H.R. Pufnstuf is paid tribute by a musical number performed by Cyndi Lauper — I hear it is NOT to be missed. In a sea of Award Shows the TV Land Awards is but another one … but at least the nostalgia factor means that this one might be worth tuning in for ;)

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

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TV Royalty Gets Its Day In The Sun

TV Land hands out some awards
Monday, June 9th, 2008

The 6th Annual TV Land Awards took place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA yesterday and a cavalcade of classic TV stars took to the red carpet for the event. It must be said, tho, that whoever the genius was who decided to make the celebs walk the carpet (and be photographed) in the blinding mid-day SoCal sun should be fired … you could almost see the make-up melting off the faces of some of our most beloved and revered classic TV celebs. Too cruel … too cruel, indeed. Anyways … here are a few photos from the TV Land Awards red carpet and a few golden moments as noted by USA Today:


Photo credit: Wireimage

As usual, the TV Land Awards brought together an unusual collection of Hollywood stars. On the red carpet and during the show, taped Sunday, they joked around or, more seriously, shared details of their lives. USA TODAY was at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., to catch the action:

•Lionel Richie, who was presented the Icon Award for his 40 years in show business. He said on stage as he accepted his award, “Just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie. … I stand here as survivor.”

•Justin Timberlake, who presented Mike Myers with his award. He was greeted by shouts of love from a male audience member. “That’s OK. Nothing wrong with a little bromance,” Timberlake joked.

•Dawn Wells of Gilligan’s Island. She talked about the October arrest in Idaho that made headlines in February; she was placed on probation after being caught with marijuana in her car. “None of it was true,” Wells said. “I was weaving on the road and trying to find the (car) heater. (Police) never gave me a breathalyzer test, but they asked to search my car and found three (marijuana) roaches. My friend had been driving my car earlier in the day. He admitted to it all.” She continued, “The story mushroomed, and I lost out on a Girl Scout speaking engagement.”

•Gary Coleman of Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman walked the carpet solo but says that despite reports, he and wife Shannon Price are still together. Their one-year anniversary is Aug. 28, and she is expecting him “to come up with something spectacular,” he says. He wouldn’t comment on reports that he’s still a virgin, but he had plenty to say about Price otherwise: She likes to sell items on eBay, including Coleman autographs. And she wasn’t with him because she was at home, where “she has three dachshunds. She is very much a caregiver to them.”

Um, hello! Clearly the most Golden moment of the whole affair was the arrival of 3 of the Golden Girls on the TV Land red carpet — Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Betty White. Altho all 4 of the Golden Girls are still alive, Estelle Getty suffers from Lewy Body Dementia and is no longer well enough to able to make public appearances (Rue McClanahan revealed in an interview a few years ago that Estelle has deteriorated to the point where she no longer recognizes any of her GG co-stars and, very sadly, has no recollection at all of the show). I know Estelle was there in spirit tho, she is always present in spirit whenever the Golden Girls get together. Despite the fact that we are inundated with a plethora of (oftentimes useless) award shows, I really love the TV Land Awards for the mere fact that all of our favorite classic TV stars have a chance to be featured all together at least once a year. I mean, how else would Barry Williams be able to occupy his days? The TV Land Awards will air on TV Land on June 15th. [Source]

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