I only just caught her fabulous turn as Vera Charles a couple of days ago in the movie Mame! and thought to myself “what a great hoyden”, and today I found out that she has died, aged 86.
I know I’m not the only one who’ll miss her. I just spent a while revisiting her in this video clip collection.
Some culture jamming found online:
I really hope she saw this fan-art below somehow (seems to be of her back in the Maude days). Of course Bea could take down a velociraptor. Before cocktails. With one raised eyebrow tied behind her back.
KILLING MACHINE by Brandon Bird
Who’s wrasslin’? Bea Arthur’s wrasslin’!
Addendum: Thanks to a Facebook friend, I now know the artist and proper title of this painting. Awesome.
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* Quicklink to recent open threads
bluemilk: 
mindyhoyden: 
vivsmythe: 
CastIronBalcony: 
puzzlement: 
ChallyWrites: 
ilauredhel: 
Of course Bea could take down a velociraptor. Before cocktails. With one raised eyebrow tied behind her back.
Listen.
That is basically true.
She will be missed.
Of course Bea could take down a velociraptor.
‘Could’?
I have it on good authority that that painting represents real, documentary footage. Nothing ‘could’ about it.
My aunty used to watch The Golden Girls before they went off television; (she later watched Buffy and The Charmed). One of the classic sitcoms.
Have updated the article to show the artist credit for the painting. It’s by Brandon Bird and is called Killing Machine.
The high-res version on his website clearly shows her eyebrows arched in amused disdain while she’s wrasslin’. Fantastic.
There is fondly remembered week of my childhood, well spent on a Golden Girls marathon.
I really do wish my non-existent girlfriend was hot like Bea.
She absolutely rocked. I first discovered her on All in the family and then followed through with Maude. Little known fact that Maude was the first woman to have an abortion on prime time television. She was groundbreaking and will be missed.
I last saw her do some stand-up at Pamela Anderson’s Comedy Central Roast from a few years ago. Probably worth a deconstruction in itself – some of the jokes were less than amusing – but Bea was classy and respectful.
She will be missed.
Right on Renee! I remember first falling in love with Bea on All in the Family and falling even deeper when Maude came on the screen. And I was a suburban housewife in those days. The Golden Girls was showing when I began my first lesbian relationship. Bea and I go back a long way. She was one of the greats and I think they broke the mould when she’d come out of it.