Tony Winner Bea Arthur, Beloved Star of Stage and TV, Dies at 86

Bea Arthur, the beloved star of sitcoms who got her start on the Broadway stage, died April 25, according to the Associated Press. She was 86 and had cancer, family spokesman Dan Watt said.

Arthur, who was born in New York City on May 13, 1922, found her first success on the stage as Lucy Brown in the staging of Threepenny Opera that opened at Theatre de Lys in 1954 briefly and again in 1955. She counted among her co-stars in this legendary production Lotte Lenya, Charlotte Rae and Jo Sullivan.

The deep-voiced comedienne quickly became a regular on the theater scene, appearing on Broadway in Plain and Fancy, Seventh Heaven and Nature’s Way before getting cast as Yente in the original production of Fiddler on the Roof, which opened at the Imperial Theatre in fall of 1964.

Her most iconic stage role came next, that of tart-tongued Vera Charles, best friend and sidekick of Angela Lansbury’s Mame Dennis in Jerry Herman’s Mame. The show, directed by Arthur’s then-husband Gene Saks, was an instant sensation when it opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 24, 1966. Arthur, who delivered the legendary comic duet "Bosom Buddies" with Lansbury in the show, won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical a few weeks later. Less successful was the 1974 film version of the show, in which Arthur reprised her role opposite Lucille Ball as Mame.

Buoyed by her newfound fame, Arthur found herself juicy roles in a variety of iconic sitcoms in Hollywood. First up was All in the Family, in which Arthur created the role of Edith Bunker’s liberal cousin Maude Finley. The character, who clashed hilariously with bigot Archie Bunker, was so loved by audiences that producer Norman Lear created a spin-off series for Arthur, simply titled Maude.

Maude ran on CBS from 1972 to 1978 when Arthur announced she was quitting the show, and broke boundaries with a feminist voice and groundbreaking discussions of then-taboo topics like abortion and alcoholism. Arthur was nominated for five Emmy Awards for Maude, winning once in 1977.

Arthur returned briefly to the stage in 1981, starring in the Woody Allen comedy The Floating Light Bulb at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center, playing wife to Danny Aiello.

In 1985, Arthur returned to prime time with the NBC series The Golden Girls, about a tight-knit group of retirees—Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty—living in Miami. The show was a surprise smash for the network and for Arthur, who won a second Emmy Award in 1988 and ran through 1992, when Arthur announced she wanted to leave the show.

The TV icon remained a hot commodity on the small screen in the last decade, appearing in guest spots on popular series like Futurama, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Malcolm in the Middle, which earned Arthur an Emmy nomination in 2000.

Arthur returned to Broadway for a night of comedy and song entitled Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends which had toured the country as …And Then There’s Bea. The show, which featured pianist Billy Goldenberg, ran at the Booth Theatre for 65 performances in 2002 and earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Experience.

Arthur was briefly married to Robert Alan Aurthur in her twenties and then to Saks for 28 years, from 1950 through 1978. She is survived by her two sons with Saks, Matthew Saks and Daniel Saks and grandchildren.