bea-arthur-dinos

On Saturday, legendary comic actress Bea Arthur succumbed to cancer.  She was 86.

Arthur was most famous for the caustic wit and baritone voice she brought to Dorothy Zbornak in “Golden Girls” and the scene-stealing Maude Findlay in “All in the Family” — a role that was spun into the hugely popular “Maude” a year later.  She won Emmys for both roles, and the New York Times called those characters “two of the most endearing battle-axes in television history.”  Prior to that, Arthur had enjoyed a lengthy Broadway career that began in the ’50s, and she served as one of the first female Marines during World War II.

What I find most interesting about Arthur is the traction she maintained in the acerbic world of Internet culture, as the banner picture and nude paintings of her attest.  The woman who once said, “Nobody ever asked me to play Juliet” always maintained a sense of humor about herself, volunteering to participate in Comedy Central roasts and starring in a memorable Sex and the City parody.

She will be missed.  Especially by people who liked to say they wouldn’t F people with her dick.