Happy Birthday actor Bea Arthur

Born: Bernice Frankel
May 13, 1922 in New York City, New York, USA

Died: April 25, 2009 (age 86) in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to: Gene Saks (28 May 1950 – 27 June 1978) (divorced) (2 children)

Quote:

All this time I’ve just wanted to be blonde, beautiful and 5 feet 2 inches tall.

I really feel all my adult life has been spent in that little black box. If a wonderful part on TV came along I would do it. But I don’t want to do a recurring role. It would just be my luck that the thing would be successful. I’m old enough now and also secure enough financially that I really only want to do what I want to do.

At least I’m not playing other people for a change. It’s a very odd place to be… I feel I’m an actress who sings a bit.

After being in the business for such a long time, I’ve done everything but rodeo and porno.

And I hate autobiographies, I don’t know why.

[on playing “Vera Charles” in Mame (1974)] You know, the real name of this show is “Vera”. The only reason they changed the name was because Jerry [lyricist Jerry Herman] couldn’t think of a rhyme for it. Stephen Sondheim could have.

[on the death of Estelle Getty in 2008]: Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her.
Look — I’m 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line. What can I do about it? I can’t stay home waiting for something different. I think it’s a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting.
Let’s face it, nobody ever asked me to play Juliet.

[In 1973]: There comes a morning when you wake up and realize you’re not Barbra Streisand. If a woman my age is still fighting for roles, it can only mean there’s something missing from her personal life.