Beatrice Arthur

Bernice "Bea" Arthur (born May 13 1922) is a two-time Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award winning American comedian, actress and singer. In an ongoing career spanning six decades, Arthur is perhaps best remembered for her trademark role as the title character, Maude Findlay, on the 1970s sitcom Maude, and for playing Dorothy Zbornak, the divorced substitute teacher on The Golden Girls. Born Bernice Frankel in New York City on May 13, 1922, she has a sister whose name is Kay and lives in Montreal. She soon moved to Maryland where her father, Philip, operated a women's clothing shop. After attending the now-defunct Blackstone College in Blackstone, Virginia, Arthur became a medical technologist before World War II. She also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Arthur began her acting career as a member of an off Broadway theater group at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in the late 1940s. On stage, her roles included "Lucy Brown" in the 1954 off-broadway premiere of Kurt Weill's... full article at wikipedia