Bea arthur was gay
If you were hanging out at a gay bar on a Saturday darkness in 1986, you’d want to be sure you had a good seat before the clock rolled over to 9 pm. That’s when the melody would stop, everyone would shut up, and all eyes would turn to the TV monitors so everyone could watch The Golden Girls.
Premiering in the mid-80s, The Golden Girls was an unlikely hit — and a fortunate accident. Though we know it now as a beloved TV classic, it wasn’t even supposed to be a real show at first. Proposed as a joke at NBC, it only came to experience thanks to an executive who realized the concept was so crazy it just might work; and also a groundbreaking, boundary-pushing producer.
On paper, the concept seems fancy it could never catch a mainstream audience: Four ladies of advanced age, sharing a residence in Miami and lusting after men? Forget it. And yet it was an instant smash, particularly with homosexual audiences. So how did a exhibit that was never supposed to be wind up becoming NBC’s #1 punch, and why does it remain a near-universal cultural touchstone even for fresh queer viewers who hadn’t yet been born when it originally aired?
The Golden Girls began its existence as a casual joke in the middle of an incre
Anyone who perused their status updates on Saturday afternoon probably noticed every gay man on their Facebook was grieving the decrease of Beatrice Arthur, an actress best known for her TV and Broadway work. Arthur, 86, died on April 25 of cancer at her home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family. The Tony Award winner was best known for her spot-on comedic timing in "Maude" and "Golden Girls," and for organism an actress who wasn't your typical Hollywood starlet. She carried that distinctive voice, was built like an amazon and didn't make her mark until she was in her 50s. She gravitated toward bold and brassy roles – one look from Dorothy, her character on "Golden Girls," would trigger the giggles – but off-screen close pals have said she was silent and sensitive. To us, she'll always be a friend and a confidante who we loved dearly. Read below to locate out why.
I can't ponder of a specific memory of Bea Arthur, but I execute think one of the biggest reasons she appealed so much to our community was that she was like us. She had to work hard to carve her niche because she was somewhat of an anomaly – very tall, deep-voiced and female. She attended an all-girl high school and played the role
Was Bea Arthur a lesbian?
From Dann Dulin's interview with Bea in 1998:
"With a node to Barbara Walters I seek Bea for a one word response to a not many of the people who've crossed her path.
Lucille Ball : "Gorgeous."
Gene Saks : "Talented. Talented." (Gene Saks was her husband)
Rue McClanahan : "Ah. Gifted."
Estelle Getty: "Ballsy."
Betty White: Bea leans forward, eyes me directly, smiles wide, which I think is going to break into a laugh, and so I open to laugh. Instead, her eyes moisten, she turns her body completely away from me, then puts her hand up and with a quiver in her voice says, "Next." She is stricken momentarily with emotion. I pause.
I continue this inquiry with the renowned characters she has portrayed.
Vera Charles : "Delicious," she says as if eating chocolate mousse.
Maude Findlay : "Omnipotent," she says boldly and assuredly.
Dorothy Zbornak: "Dorothy," she says as though the mention were new to her, then laughs. She grapples for a word. "I loved her. What's a word I can use? Fulfilling? I don't comprehend. Bizarre? Outrageous? I don't know." She really cannot arrive up with a word that fully satisfies her.
In the mid-fifties, Bea Arthur and Tal
Bea Arthur
Abramovitch, Seth. “How Bea Arthur Gave Back to the Gays Who Loved Her.” Hollywood Reporter (September 23, 2016), https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bea-arthur-lgbt-teen-homel….
“Bea Arthur: American Marine.” The National WWII Museum (April 12, 2018), https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/bea-arthur-us-marine.
Breslauer, Jan. “Arthur, Arthur.” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1995.
Current Biography (December 1973).
Flatley, Guy. “Gene, for Heaven’s Sake Help Me!!” TV Guide (November 18, 1972).
Harmetz, Aljean. “Maude Didn’t Depart ‘Em All Laughing.” NYTimes, December 10, 1972.
Harmetz, Aljean. “NBC’s Golden Girls Gambles on Grown-Ups.” NYTimes, September 22, 1985.
Hentoff, Nat. “New Candor in Old America.” Village Voice, September 28, 1972.
Hodenfield, Jan. “Maude Meets Mame.” New York Post, March 9, 1974.
Honeycutt, Kirk. “We Ran Out of Controversy.” NYTimes, April 16, 1978.
“Maude Fraud.” People (November 17, 1975): 35–38.
Oppenheimer, Dabby. “Maude Minces No Words.” Lady’s Circle (November 1974): 22+.
Ratliff, Shannon. “Golden Teen Bea Arthur Was One of the First Female Marines Ever, Because She’s Always