The date for Bea Arthur’s memorial has finally been set. The show will take place at the Majestic Theater in New York on Monday, September 14, 2009 at 1pm. The afternoon will be hosted by Bea’s Bosom Buddy, Angela Lansbury who will be joined by Bea’s close friends, both professional and personal, as well as family.
The program will be a celebration of Bea’s life and career. All are invited and admission is free. Further information on the event is expected to follow shortly.
Before she became an iconic Emmy®-Award winning television star, Bea Arthur received a Tony Award® for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1966 for her performance as Angela Lansbury's best friend Vera Charles in the original Broadway production of Jerry Herman's musical Mame, directed by Gene Saks, her husband at that time.
Ms. Arthur's Broadway career began in 1955 with the original musical Plain and Fancy and continued with roles in Seventh Heaven and Nature's Way. Among her Broadway credits, she played Yente the Matchmaker in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof and appeared in Woody Allen's The Floating Lightbulb in 1981.
In 2002, she returned to Broadway starring in Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends, a collection of stories and songs based on her life and career. The show was nominated for a Tony Award® for Best Special Theatrical Event.
In a career spanning seven decades, the celebrated actress, comedienne, singer and writer became a television star as the title character, Maude Findlay, on the 1970's sitcom Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980's sitcom The Golden Girls. She won Emmy® Awards for both roles.
She is survived by two sons and two granddaughters.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
