Bea Arthur and Bill Macy on "Maude"

She always spoke highly of him, while not being as kind to Esther Rolle and Adrienne Barbeau.

R1 really ? I never knew about her and Esther Rolle or Barbeau. As a matter of fact, Barbeau has always spoken so highly of Arthur - as recently as last year in an interview I heard. She said Bea was like her 'second mother', and being on set with her was like taking a 'Master Class'. She also said Bea advised her over the years on her career, once 'Maude' ended.

Who didn’t like Esther Rolle?

Fun fact; her sister played Calpurnia in TKAM.

I think Bea revered everybody associated with Maude, but she couldn't seem to muster up the same level of love for those associated with the Golden Girls

Well r2, that could easily be a way for Barbeau, known primarily for having big tits and being John Carpenter’s ex, to glom onto Bea, who is something of a cultural icon.

William H Macy ?

I think Bea loved Adrienne Barbeau, but knew her acting limitations.

Barbeau had twin boys at age 51?! Wow! She actually gave birth

From what I've heard, Esther Rolle was not the most pleasant person to work with. She was standoffish and serious. She also resented Ja'Net DuBois when Ja'Net signed on to play Willona on Good Times.

Whenever she talked about Maude she would always refer to Conrad Bain as 'Connie,' and you could tell she had real respect and affection for him. Not sure about the others...Interesting that Bain is now mainly remembered for 'Different Strokes' which hardly called on him to stretch much as an actor.

Esther looked like a 🦍

I remember when "Good Times' was airing, the gossip magazines back then said Rolle didn't get along with Dubois or Jimmy Walker - she was angry that they got all the 'laugh lines' in every episode and she would stand around and play the straight man against them.

As for 'Maude', I've been watching the show every weekend on Antenna TV, when they first premiered it with Season 1 Episode 1 a few months ago. It is much funnier than what I remember when it first aired, and I was 8 years old. It really is an 'adult' comedy, and I understand why my parents and grandparents enjoyed it so much. I also appreciate the acting talents of Bain and Macy - they were terrific supporting actors. As far as Rue is concerned - her character on 'The Golden Girls' was much better, and you can tell she came a long way as an actress in that series - 10 years later.

The past two episodes didn't have Adrienne Barbeau or her son 'Phillip' - and they were so much better. They should have had her living away, and just visiting her mother on different eps when necessary.

I can understand why Esther was jealous of Ja'Net. Ja'Net was a scene stealer. She probably hated Teddy Wilson because "Sweet Daddy" was one of the best recurring characters ever. Interesting to see on IMDB that "Sweet Daddy" and "Alderman Fred Davis" were only on 7 times each. I call that the "Col. Flagg" effect. Edward Winter only appeared on "MASH" 7 times. They made such big impressions that you thought they were on dozens of episodes.

[quote] Bea advised her over the years on her career, once 'Maude' ended.

What on earth did she advise her? Was there anything of significance in terms of acting that Barbeau did after 'Maude'?

[quote]William H Macy ?

No, dear. BILL Macy, star of "Oh! Calcutta!"

R14 According to what I recall Barbeau saying in her interview last year, it was more of how to balance her private life with her career (as Bea Arthur did). Arthur had control over what the public knew about her - and AB seemed to have follow suit. Neither actress was ever in the tabloids or gossip magazine that much (if ever), as they kept their private lives relatively private. Otherwise, the private life overshadows the career and the talent.

Too bad the overexposed starlets of today don't heed to this advice.

In her Archive of American Television interview, Bea said "Me and John Rich used to have a joke. 'Esther Rolle: I don't do windows and I don't do comedy!"

Of Barbeau she said "Well, she tried- lovely girl but... They should cast the girl who played her in the pilot." She was talking about Marica Rodd.

*correction "They should HAVE cast the girl who played her in the pilot." (Marcia Rodd)

Bea sounds like a two faced asshole

R13, Edward Winter, who played Col. Flagg, was hot af.

Right up my alley.

I'm going to give Esther a pass. She was trying to do meaningful, uplifting work. Trying to set a positive example. I think at some point she figured out that meaningful and uplifting doesn't pay the bills.

R21 I agree. And she found that out the hard way on "Good Times". Audiences didn't care what 'message' they were addressing on the show each week, they only cared about when "Kid Dy-No-Mite" was making his entrance on the stage. She couldn't fight it - so she went along with it.

OP, you should watch Bea's 5-part interview she gave to the Television Academy Foundation in 2001. She talks about Bill Macy, Conrad Bain, Esther Rolle, Adrienne Barbeau, Rue, Estelle and even Betty. It's very good. You can tell she's uncomfortable when asked about Betty. She LOVED Rue. She also adored Hermione Baddely who played Mrs. Naugatuk. You can tell she had great respect for her because she came from theatre.

R23 Thank You for this !

R21 and R22 She didn't really "go along with it." She left the show, and only agreed to come back for the final season if major changes were made to the character of JJ.

It seems like Bea wasn't too impressed with Rue on Maude. "I don't think she had much of a character going." Which is true. Vivian could be scatterbrained, or matronly, as she is in the abortion episodes. However, Bea sings Rue's praises for Blanche on The Golden Girls.

R1, I think Bea loved Adrienne but didn't think she was quite right for the role of Carol on Maude because she was too sweet. But then again, that's what the creators of the show wanted. They didn't want Maude's daughter to compete with Maude for the spotlight. When Bea died, I remember Adrienne gave an interview to Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight and she started crying and then said "I loved her and I believe she loved me too." I think Bea saw Adrienne as a daughter. Bea sometimes liked to say nasty things about people she loved. Like she said Angela had a mouth like a longshoreman. Some people who worked on Golden Girls said that Bea actually liked Betty but had problems expressing warm feelings. Sometimes, very sensitive, introverted people act like assholes/bitches because they can't express their true feelings.

Al we wanted was for Bea to help us get our ding dong daughter into Harvard

R25 and those changes were never made to JJ. Walker knew he was the hit character on the show, knew people were tuning in to see his silly grin and to yell "Kid Dy-no-mite!" and not to push a 'social message' as JJ Evans. The producers told her whatever she wanted to hear, since the show wasn't really working without a maternal character. She went back but nothing changed. (Some have said she really left the show because she wanted more money - and after a year, they settled for more money with her but not what she originally was asking).

I think Bea was fond of Adrianne, but I don't know how many people in her life she actually loved. I think Gene Sacks did a number on her.

R26, Well she said the same thing about Conrad Bain's character on Maude. But then later on said Bain was fantastic and one of the greatest actors we have. She just felt that Arthur and Vivian were secondary characters to bounce lines off of. But she did say Rue and Conrad were both great in their roles.

R28 all*

She ADORED "Connie" Bain.

Right, her issue was more with the way Vivian and Arthur were written.

R30 And that's evident in Bea's personality shift from the Maude era to the Golden Girls era. Bea had nothing but good things to say about the cast and crew on Maude, and there are no stories of her being difficult or anything like that. During Golden Girls, she wouldn't talk to guest stars, got pissed about losing the Emmy to Betty and then Rue, and by most accounts was not very happy during that period. Her divorce made Bea terribly unhappy, it would appear.

The Diff'rent Strokes child actors also adored Conrad Bain.

Adrienne Barbeau starred in Cannonball Run, driving a Lamborghini. Every time she got pulled over for speeding, she'd unzip the top of her jumpsuit to better-display her cleavage. The male cops would never issue her a speeding ticket. Then, one day she gets pulled over by a female cop whose uniform is unbuttoned enough to display her (cop's) cleavage. Female cop gives Adrienne a ticket.

[quote]They made such big impressions that you thought they were on dozens of episodes.

That’s the same case with Tom Bosley’s Sherriff Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He only did 19 total episodes over 4 seasons but it felt like he was a regular.

R35, I actually think Bea's problem with The Golden Girls was that she was outside of her comfort zone. Her good friend Norman Lear created Maude, all the actors came from theatre as did Bea. The Golden Girls was a fluffy 80s sitcom, a great one but it wasn't theatrical like Maude was. Bea wasn't with her tribe anymore. She wasn't in her safe space like she was on Maude. The writers on GG made fun of her appearance while Norman Lear worshipped Bea. It's also why Bea became obsessed with gum chewers because she wanted to make TV more like theatre. She admitted this in her archive interviews.

All of the cast of Maude, including Barbeau had a Broadway/Off-Broadway pedigree. All BUT one on The Golden Girls had a Broadway/Off-Broadway pedigree on The Golden Girls.

I think the bigger problem was that Bea was the undisputed star of Maude. I don't think she enjoyed sharing the spotlight with Rue, Estelle, and especially, Betty in an ensemble piece.

R40 And when that one non-Broadway star of Golden Girls won the first Emmy... it was like a twist of the knife in Bea's back.

R35 not to mention that Bea's beloved mother died one month after GG premiered in the fall of 1985.

That must have been a terrible blow and no doubt tainted that period for her.

Barbeau babies.

[quote][R13], Edward Winter, who played Col. Flagg, was hot af.

Yes, he was.

ZADDY!

Esther seems like a total stick-in-the-mud, but I agree with her being unhappy with Ja'Net. First off, that bullshit spelling of her name (not her birth name) and totally lying about her age by more than a decade. What a phony!

[quote]Of Barbeau she said "Well, she tried- lovely girl but... They should cast the girl who played her in the pilot." She was talking about Marica Rodd.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

Connie Bain was a pretty well-regarded Shakespearean actor, wasn't he?

Barbeau sons in 2019. Couldn’t find anything more recent

R41 has it right. I had lunch with her in 1999, and that was the impression I got. She's an actress. She had an ego. She didn't like sharing top billing.

R49 Umm…that was 2012 👀🫨

I seem to remember Adrienne saying that Bea wasn't thrilled about her casting at first. Nothing personal but I believe Bea wanted Marcia Rudd, or someone else, and Adrienne was a bit opposite her idea of who Carol was.

But Bea eventually warmed up to Adrienne and respected her work and/or work ethic.

Just read Chita Rivera's book and she shared memories of working with Bea as well - very businesslike and frosty off stage and a live wire on stage, perfecting that deadpan look and timing that made her so famous.

Whoops, I see that was mentioned upthread already.

I think they *didn't* ultimately go with Marcia Rodd because she was too similar to Bea.

R20 I used to get a tingly feeling when Col Flagg was on too. LOL

[quote] 'Fun fact; her sister played Calpurnia in TKAM."

What a lovely bit of a legacy. Esther in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner", and her sister in "To Kill A Mockingbird". Both landmark films.

Barbeau was married to my hometown superstar Billy Van Zant. He's little Steven's brother, and their mom taught at my junior high school.

At R49, Barbeau and her sons look Italian, IMO. Stevie Van Zandt is at least part Italian, so I'm assuming his brother is Italian.

Barbeau's sons clearly can smell the cookie factory on the other side of town in that photo.....

R23 You know, they tried to do a Mrs. Naugatuk spin-off. It was called Cockney Kook. It was the only known American sitcom in history with English subtitles.

One of her sons has had some struggles

R55 you owe everyone an apology. Ms. Rolle was NOT in GWCTD. Beah Richards played Sidney’s mom (and earned an Oscar nomination for it). Isabel Sanford played the maid, who rips Sidney a new asshole.

All middle-aged Black women aren’t alike. Capisce?!

Esther Rolle, also, DID NOT play Carrie’s maid in SATC

Interesting thought experiment. If Bea had won the first Emmy, and then Rue and Betty in the second and third years, would Bea still have been pissed?

R50 Did you get your cheeseburger?

R62 No, but she famously played Charlotte’s long lost mother. And her scenes pummeling Bunny MacDougal are legend

Esther Rolle is Idella, the maid/cook in the film of DRIVING MISS DAISY. She makes a strong impression.

About 25 years ago, Billy Van Zandt co-wrote and co-starred in a comedy about race relations which was filmed on location in my city. Some scenes were filmed on my street - and his wife Adrienne was also one of the stars of the movie.

Around the time of filming, a house across the street from me went up for sale and was vacant. It was chosen to be the home of Adrienne's character (though none of this information was related to the residents on my street). One day, I'm outside of my house and a car pulls up with the very recognizable AB and the realtor, who chats for a few minutes, opens the door for AB to go inside, and then removes the 'For Sale' sign. I couldn't believe my eyes - I thought AB has bought this house ! And then I wondered why she would buy a house on my street in my city ? About an hour or so later, the two of them leave. The next day, we find out about the movie they will be filming in another week or so.

AB never comes back, but a few weeks later they close off my street and start filming right in front of my house. They kept having AB pull a car into the driveway, get out, and enter the house through the front door - they must've done about a dozen takes. They then filmed inside the house, as well (but those scenes were edited out of the final release). They were in and out over a weekend, she left and the For Sale sign went back up.

A few neighbors approached her on the last day for autographs, but she ignored them.

R44, read the article. She is strongly deterring women over 50 to give birth . Was this a surrogate situation and they wanted the publicity?

R67 TLDR: a movie crew filmed a single scene on my boring street; the scene was more boring. The movie was emtgst much more boring. The end.

that^ not “emtgst”

R3

Just watched TKAM the other day and didn’t know that!

Did you know Mary Badham’s brother directed Saturday Night Fever? Or that John Megna’s (Dill) sister was Connie Stevens?

Here's the final act of "Oh! Calcutta" from 1971. The fun starts about 3:30 in the clip. Substantial footage of Bill Macy (and the others).

Maude started in September, 1972, so it was well-known Bill Macy had been fully naked on stage. I remember it in the tabloids. It didn't hinder the show whatsoever.

R72 No

Watching that 2001 interview was sad to watch. Her voice sounded terrible, and she looked ill. She also seemed she'd rather be anywhere else than sitting in front of this girl reading questions off index cards. Good interviews are always 'great conversations' between the two parties - this was not a great conversation.

I don't think those Television Academy interviews are meant to be the types of interviews you're talking about. Johnny Carson wasn't conducting these interviews. They're more about getting specific information for reference and historical pieces and because they get most of the actors when they're older, they've forgotten a lot of stuff.

R76 I can understand that but still - the interviewer could've made it a bit more interesting. I mean, she was interviewing a TV and theater legend...she could've shown some enthusiasm and interest.

R75 I think Bea was a tough interview subject, especially if she wasn't at ease or if the interviewer seemed uniformed. On perhaps Bea's only interview with Terry Gross on "Fresh Air," Terry got her production dates of "The Threepenny Opera" mixed up and asked Bea about her recollections of working with Lotte Lenya in the original production. Bea said disparagingly to Terry, "What are you, crazy?" The original production was in 1928 in Germany; Arthur worked with Lenya in 1956 in the Off-Broadway production. I think Bea had no time for folks that hadn't done all their homework.

Bea was comfortable with Rosie O’Donnell and helped Rosie sing the Maude theme.

Esther and Bea were reunited on Rosie’s show and seemed to have a lot of love and affection for each other.

JJ did change the last season of Good Times. He because more responsible and worked to turn his artistic talent into a career. He grew up. Also his relationship with Thelma wasn’t as combative as it had been in prior years.

OP- I don't know if Macy commented when Beatrice Arthur died but I CAN assure that Susan Dey did NOT comment.

"In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me the outrageous; [method acting guru] Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and [Threepenny Opera star] Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught me economy."

[quote]I'm going to give Esther a pass. She was trying to do meaningful, uplifting work. Trying to set a positive example. I think at some point she figured out that meaningful and uplifting doesn't pay the bills.

I wonder if she considered her "rolle" shilling for Esther Rolle's Spiritual Psychic Helpline to be meaningful and uplifting.

R53- Marcia Rodd was on the very first defacto episode of Maude- which had the opening from All In The Family but was basically the first Maude Episode.

MR was very good in the role. I read that SHE turned down playing the part of Carol not the other way around.

This very first episode was probably THE funniest episode of Maude- I loved watching Archie and Maude sparring.

"Never fear.....Maude is here!"

Seeing someone going toe to toe with Archie - and prevailing - was such a shock!

Bea hated everyone. Read “Golden Girls Foevst.” Bea was just dreadful to everyone and was a nasty drunk.

R80 very true. I don’t remember JJ using dynomite the season Esther came back. This seemed the natural progression of things. He started maturing the season was Esther was gone, and took on more responsibility as the male head of the family after James died. Esther got her way, more or less, as far as her vision for the show, when she returned, at the expense of the producers firing John Amos, but viewers started jumping ship after James was killed off.

R78 that Television Academy interviewer had done her homework well enough to inquire about Bea's military service during WWII, which she immediately shot down as untrue.

That tidbit did not become common knowledge until after her death.

R43, Bea's mother had become almost completely blind and deaf. Bea had her euthanized by a doctor from The Netherlands. Betty's mother also died at around the same time.

R89 is that true or just hearsay?

R90 It's true. From an interview she gave in 1998:

"Soon after Tom's death, Bea's devotion to her sick, elderly mother was profoundly tested when she made the decision to assist in her mother's suicide. "She had all her marbles, she was in great shape, but she was almost totally deaf and almost totally blind, and really just wanted out." Fate put Bea in contact with a doctor from the Netherlands who gave Bea his support and advice. "It was really something," she says, her voice breaking as her eyes well up with tears. "Anyway, you do what you have to do. So." She looks out thoughtfully onto the lush canyon walls. "Why are all these people suffering from AIDS? You think—do it. Don't prolong it. I'm sure I don't feel any different from anybody else about that...I would rather they died than see the terrible ravages of this horrendous disease." I ask her how she feels about death. "I think of it as peace."

Did Bea & Bacall ever go to penalty kicks?

[quote]"She had all her marbles, she was in great shape, but she was almost totally deaf and almost totally blind, and really just wanted out." Fate put Bea in contact with a doctor from the Netherlands who gave Bea his support and advice. "It was really something," she says, her voice breaking as her eyes well up with tears. "Anyway, you do what you have to do. So." She looks out thoughtfully onto the lush canyon walls.

That makes me think that she didn't really want to do it. It was what her mother had wanted and she kind of grudgingly went along with it, but it probably ate at her for a while afterward. Over ten years later, she was still unable to talk about it without becoming teary-eyed.

So I stand by what I said at R43 that her mother's assisted suicide was a terrible blow for her around the time of the GGs and that is why she probably didn't have many good memories from that period.

I think Bacall would have put her cigarette out right on Bea’s forehead, and told her she looked better like that

[quote] Esther and Bea were reunited on Rosie’s show and seemed to have a lot of love and affection for each other.

That was on RuPaul’s short lived talk show.

R93 Yes, it was a terrible blow. She talked about her mother's death in her 2002 Intimate Portrait and how she started drinking a lot during that time. She doesn't mention the suicide part however.

R96- Someone should have said to Beatrice Arthur-

God will get you for that Beatrice!

This never gets old.

She lives in a great neighborhood—Sullivan Canyon, north of Sunset.

*lived.

Unless she still haunts Old Ranch Road

R97, God will not get her for delivering her mother from a life of misery.

[quote]OP- I don't know if Macy commented when Beatrice Arthur died but I CAN assure that Susan Dey did NOT comment.

She hasn't done a Television Academy interview, either. I'm starting to wonder if there's something going on with her.

R102- Us datalounge queens don't care about her career after the Partridge Family we only care about Suzie Partridge.

Egads, did she like anyone?

*

She walked like John Wayne and talked like Bogey

I love Bea, but I'm going to admit to something. I watched Amanda's by the Sea on YouTube and looking at Maude, Amanda, and Dorothy - they're all the same character, just with different back stories. I'm not sure if she ever played against type the way Rue and Betty did. Golden Girls was an ensemble, but Bea was still #1 on the call sheet and it must have fried her toe nails when Betty won the first Emmy, but Betty was doing something different and it worked - Bea was just rehashing Maude and Amanda.

LOVED watching that TV Academy interview at r23. Thanks for the link!

Unlike some of you I found Bea very patient, gracious and giving in the interview, trying her best to remember specifics and come up with engaging responses. I wish the interviewer was louder, I could barely hear her and sometimes had trouble figuring out what Bea was responding to.

Betty and Rue were pretty, r107. They could do dumb pretty or sex-crazed pretty. Neither of those were in Bea's wheelhouse.

[quote][R102]- Us datalounge queens don't care about her career after the Partridge Family we only care about Suzie Partridge.

Not even "La Law"?

I'll admit it's been a while since I've watched Maude, but I believe Dorothy was a much softer, more insecure character than Maude. Dorothy could occasionally get loud, but she struck me as much more sensible, sensitive and less caustic than Maude.

B ———————-D ———————E

I found it funny how Bea seemed to think that the movie Mame she did with Lucille Ball was one of the worst movies of all time. She even apologizes for it in her Television Academy interviews. I watched Mame for the first time last month and liked it a lot. Of course, I would have loved to have seen Angela with Bea in that movie but I still think Lucille did a good job. The movie was fun. Bea was drama queen. Still love her.

The movie made me dizzy everytime the camera was on Lucy with all the Vaseline smeared over the lens. Especially the close-ups. I kept thinking the camera was out of focus.

It was! The DP was no dummy.

MAME was directed by Bea's then husband, Gene Saks, and Bea was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress.

She lost to Karen Black in THE GREAT GATSBY

The other nominees were Jennifer Jones in THE TOWERING INFERNO, Madeline Kahn in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and Diane Ladd in ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.

And none of those 5 actually won a real award that year, the Oscar.

Incidentally, the nominees for the 1974 Best Supporting Actress Oscar were:

- Ingrid Bergman in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS ** winner**

- Valentina Cortese in DAY FOR NIGHT

- Madeline Kahn in BLAZING SADDLES

- Diane Ladd in ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

- Talia Shire in THE GODFATHER PART II

Bea's experience and memory of the MAME movie was clearly colored by starring with Angela Lansbury onstage, which she clearly states in that interview. Of course, the film could only seem like a disappointment to her.

I would also imagine it was colored by her ex-husband, who IIRC, left her for another women, insisting she do the film version of Mame, despite her reservations about Lucy...

The big revelation from that TV Legends interview is that Bea had a sister named Kaye. Bea.......and Kaye..............

R107 I agree with you more or less. It's like the Lucy character made famous by Lucille Ball. Lucy Ricardo/Carmichael/Carter all have different backgrounds and life stories, but at the end of the day, all the Lucy shows are about a wacky redhead who gets herself into a lot of crazy situations that she needs to find her way out of. Similarly, Bea Arthur's characters are all outspoken and sarcastic with a penchant for withering glances. You can kind of imagine Betty and Rue playing each other's characters, as was originally intended. It's damn near impossible to imagine Bea playing Rose or Blanche. I guess when you look and sound like Bea Arthur, you tend to play the same type of characters.

[quote]I guess when you look and sound like Bea Arthur, you tend to play the same type of characters.

Like John Wayne, Judy Holliday and Thelma Ritter?

[quote]r14 Was there anything of significance in terms of acting that Barbeau did after 'Maude'?

She did the series CARNIVALE, which was respected. I never saw it.

R103 - you may have to turn in your DL Queen Card; or at least take a refresher course and another road test - Dey’s character was Laurie Partridge, not Suzy.

Suzanne Crough did “play” Tracy Partridge and the tambourine - so your confusion has a basis in the show.

(Poor Ms Crough literally dropped dead in 2015 at her dining room table - yikes!)

(waiting for Susan Dey to comment on being misidentified)

[quote](Poor Ms Crough literally dropped dead in 2015 at her dining room table - yikes!)

And guess who STILL hasn't commented?

[quote]The big revelation from that TV Legends interview is that Bea had a sister named Kaye. Bea.......and Kaye..............

Bea's birth name was Bernice (Frankel.)

I have the inside scoop on the Bea/Betty feud. Years ago, Betty wrote in her book that she and Bea shared a lesbian kiss while they were working on the Golden Girls. Bea says it never happened, and she was furious at Betty for telling the story. The two women would never speak again.

R129, Betty also wrote that there was a profound chill on the GG set the Monday morning after Betty won the first Emmy Award of the group.

Bea did not appear delighted with Betty’s win.

Couldn’t they give Bea an emergency 🚨 Honorary?

R130 Only Betty submitted a good episode to the Emmy panel for the first season. Bea submitted "The Triangle," when she should have submitted "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding." Even more puzzling, Rue submitted "The Way We Met," instead of a more Blanche-centered episode. BTW, Betty wisely submitted "In a Bed of Rose's."

R129, What?? You're kidding. In case you're not kidding, what's the title of Betty's book so I can immediately buy it on Amazon??

R113- There was no need for her to apologize for her appearance in Mame.

What she needed to apologize for was her appearance in the 1978 Star ⭐️ Wars Holiday Special.

I think R129 was being funny mixing up the Rue/Betty feud with the Jan/Marcia feud from the Brady Bunch.

R129- Perhaps the real problem was that they were BOTH

DYKES

R132 Bea can be mad at Betty all she wants for winning the first Emmy. But it's really Bea's fault that she submitted a lackluster episode to the judging panel.

The *Bea/Betty" feud. I goofed.

This all could have been settled differently

I suspect Bea originally saw herself as the defacto lead of Golden Girls. When she lost to Betty and Rue, it likley bothered her. She might not have acknowledged it, even to herself, but it bothered her.

I love Bea, but she really had the original resting bitchface

[quote]I think [R129] was being funny mixing up the Rue/Betty feud with the Jan/Marcia feud from the Brady Bunch.

I'm pretty sure she was describing the origin of the Wilma/Betty feud on the set of "The Flintstones."

Bea was immensely talented.

But she is, was and will forever be one of the world's original and biggest

C

U

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T

S

R140, I’ve always read and heard that Bea was the first one cast.

R144 I think Susan Harris et al wanted Bea early on, but she passed on the idea several times. It's why they looked at others, like Elaine Stritch, for the role.

If I remember correctly, they came back to Bea when they had Rue and Betty and she still resisted saying, "No one wants to see Maude with Vivian and Sue Ann Nivens." When Bea heard that Rue and Betty had "swapped" roles (Rue playing the hussy, Betty the flighty one) that apparently intrigued her and made her consider the show again.

(I assume other things, like her mom's illness, may have made her consider a steady job, too.)

R144 Bea was the last one cast.

From what's been reported over the past 35+ years, the producers originally chose Elaine Stritch for the role of 'Dorothy'. They wanted a 'Bea Arthur' type, but never offered Bea the role in the beginning. Stritch said she ruined her chances with her audition (she came across as unlikeable with the other characters played by Betty, Rue and Estelle) so she was dropped.

They then offered BA the role, but she wasn't interested in going back to 'series television' after the flop which was 'Amanda's By The Sea' a few seasons prior. As they continued to look for an actress to play 'Dorothy' (including Eileen Hackett once Arthur said 'no') , Rue called on her old friend Bea, and convinced her to come in for her audition because the series definitely had 'hit potential'. I recall reading the producers were ready to make EH an offer, when they got the call from BA that she was interested in the part - thanks to Rue. The rest is history.

TRIVIA: Hackett would later star on a short-lived CBS series from 1994-96 titled 'The 5 Mrs. Buchanans' where she played the sarcastic, caustic mother-in-law to four daughter-in-laws in this 'female ensemble comedy'. The show aired Saturday nights and was panned by critics and did poorly in the ratings. CBS was willing to take a gamble with a second season, and move it to Monday nights for the 'female audience comedy series line-up' and follow 'Murphy Brown' , but 'Cybill' got better ratings as summer replacement series - so they renewed 'Cybill' for that timeslot and canceled 'The 5 ...' .

R146, Eileen Heckart

R146 is dead to me. If you can't get the name of the great Eileen Heckart right......*shakes head*

[quote]she came across as unlikeable

No! Really?

"I kissed a girl and I liked it, but she told everyone so fuck it! It felt so wrong, it felt so right that blonde CUNT IS DEAD TO ME TONIGHT!! I kissed Betty and I liked it... I liked it."

[quote] She also resented Ja'Net DuBois when Ja'Net signed on to play Willona on Good Times.

She objected to that stupid apostrophe in the middle of Ja'Net's name. You can see her point.

It still astonishes me that Bill Macy's big break was in a nude role onstage in "Oh, Calcutta!"

He had a nice little body for a fortysomething man.

I knew Hackett couldn't have been right but I thought maybe r146 meant Eileen Brennan.....and then thought.....hmmm, she might have been a great Dorothy. Very different from Bea, but interesting casting opposite those other 3 women.

Maude was such a big hit when it premiered. It was a top ten network show for its first four years--that's pretty impressive.

That would be OSCAR WINNER Eileen Heckart.

But her friends call her Heckie!

R256, Mary Richards’ Aunt Flo.

^R156

You can also see why Esther would have issues with Willona's character. It was the same issue she had with the JJ character.

R145 here - I typed in Heckart (the right spelling) but didn't realize autocorrect changed it to Hackett. I didn't think autocorrect changed the spelling of names.

MARY!

R161 Mary won't save you this far along in the thread. Sorry !

I feel like Heckart would have been too old for the role, but she was actually only three years older than Bea and Betty and four years older than Estelle. Still, Bea and Betty had some good plastic surgery and looked a lot younger than Eileen. I like Heckart a lot, but don't think she would have had such a wonderful mother/daughter dynamic with Getty. Bea and Estelle really felt like mother and daughter, even when they made Sophia a monster in the last few years. Heckart never presented the same vulnerability that Arthur did, that she would need a mother...

Bea looked so much younger than she did on MAUDE which was filmed a decade earlier. She looked great.

Heckart would probably come off as a little to strident in the role, but then again, I think Stritch would have, too. And I would never believe either one of them was Italian (both too English / Irish looking). Arthur was believable as an Italian.

Heckart would have been better cast as Sophia than Dorothy.

I love Elaine but GG would not have been anywhere near the success it was had she gotten the role. At first glance, you see how she and Bea could be described as being the same "type" but upon closer inspection there really is very little overlap to what each woman does best. Elaine would've been great as a guest star in small doses, a hard-drinking friend who makes cutting remarks that the girls can get into trouble with and talk shit about as soon as the door slams behind her. Would love to have seen her go toe to toe with Bea, actually.

Here's Rue telling the story of how they were all cast.

Bea had an excellent facelift in the years between Maude and GG and also lost a lot of weight. I agree that she looked much better - and younger - as Dorothy than she did as Maude.

It always saddened me to see what a number Rue's deteriorating physical health did to her spirit at the end of her life. She was severely diminished for a long time.

Bea was originally offered the role of Blanche, and Rue was going to play Dorothy. But director Paul Bogart had them switch roles at the last minute.

Bless your heart, R169.

Bea really helped herself a lot when she changed her hairstyle in season 4. It really softened her.

Also noteworthy… after Bea turned them down, they seriously considered Lee Grant (who Susan Harris had known for years, and cast her daughter Dinah Manoff on both Soap and Empty Nest) as Dorothy.

Fun fact: Betty White was the only Golden Girl who didn't smoke. Bea, Rue and Estelle all smoked like chimneys.

Fun fact: Betty White was the oldest of the four and the last one to die.

In the TV Legends interview, Bea described her younger self as a "tall lady with long dark hair and enormous breasts." Enough to make you shudder. When I first heard that she had a breast reduction between Maude and GG I thought it was just a rumor-- she was styled differently, lost some weight. But Maude was a busty woman and Dorothy certainly was not. Do think that really helped transform her look, but interesting that she was so self-conscious about her height and her deep voice, and then have a procedure to negate such an obvious sign of femininity.

Women with natural / real large breasts don't always like them. One of my relatives has large real breasts and she especially hated them after getting pregnant and breast-feeding.

Huge breasts can cause back and shoulder pain.

I think men, even gay men, don't realize the harassment and cat-calls that large breasts can cause women that have them. I know of 2 young women that had breast reductions when they were in their early 20s.

Bea playing Blanche? Bwahahahaha

Wasn't it Lucille Ball that said, in a drunken state, "Who the fuck is Eileen Heckart"?

I worked on a project with Rue not long after she finished up the last season of Golden Girls and went to her NY apartment one evening to meet with her. I couldn't quite tell how big the apartment was but, from what I could see, it consisted of dark, tiny, rather shabby rooms, over-stuffed with tchotchkes and memorabilia. It was in an old tenement building on a lonely unfashionable street just a 1/2 block from the East River Tunnel and I imagine it was rent-controlled apartment and something she'd had since she first began working in NY. I guess she had been spending most of the past 20 years working in LA and didn't need anything fancier in NY. Her latest husband remained in the bedroom after quick introductions.

She was an absolute doll, very gracious and easy to work with, very much as she appears in that TV Academy clip.

R169 I always heard it was Betty who was offered the role of Blanche and Rue was offered the role of Rose. But the two actresses decided to switch when Betty realized 'Blanche' was somewhat similar ('man hungry') to her previous character, "Sue Anne" on TMTMS. I never heard Bea was offered anything else but Dorothy.

Rue explains it all in the above clip. Betty was originally offered Blanch and Rue was originally offered Rose. Neither one of them was very thrilled about it because Betty had already played a cum dumpster (Sue Ann Nivens on the MTM Show) and Rue had already played a dumb cunt (Vivian on Maude), so when they auditioned together they asked if they could switch roles and the rest was history.

R183 Thank you for repeating what I said in my answer above yours.

The role of Blanche was originally offered to Betty, because of the similarity to the character she played in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the role of Rose was originally offered to Rue, because of the similarity to the character she played on Maude, but the actresses quickly switched parts. The writers really wanted Bea for the role of Dorothy, but she turned them down multiple times and they went on to audition several other actresses whose names are lost to history. At the end of their rope, they finally asked Rue to speak to Bea about taking the role of Dorothy. Bea and Rue knew each other from when they worked on Maude together. Bea said, "Rue, I'm not interested in Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann Nivens!" When Rue explained that she was playing the vamp and Betty was playing the nitwit, there was a pause at the other end of the line. Finally, Bea said, "Now, that's interesting." And the rest is history!

I heard Betty White was initially offered the role of Dorothy.

I heard that the original plan was for MTM to play Rhoda, and for Valerie Harper to play Mary Richards. For some reason, they decided to switch roles while filming the pilot.

Estelle Getty was offered the part of Rose.

Elaine Stritch was considered for the role of Dorothy, but she blew the audition.

Esther Rolle was originally considered for the role of Maude and Bea Arthur for the role of Florida, but they switched parts at the last minute.

Rue offered to play Sophia as a “ true Southern” bella italiana.

Esther Rolle was the original choice for the role of Blanche.

No, it was Diahann Carroll who got first offer for Florida. And Maggie Smith almost took on Mrs. Naugatuck.

Does anyone know if Blanche was originally written as Southern when the role was first offered to Betty White? I love Betty but can't quite imagine her carrying off the accent. I know Rue (in her upthread interview) makes it sound like Blanche was always written as a Southern belle, but I still question whether that was true for Betty as Blanche.

Thank goodness they switched roles!

Adrienne Barbeau was the first choice to play Florida Evans

There are worse things she could do, r195.

Rue actually had a killer Minnesota accent, from her days studying with Lee Strasberg in NYC.

FUN FACT:

Vivian Vance was first offered the role of Lucy Ricardo.

I heard it was Joan Davis, r198.

When Maude started Bea and Bill Macy were 50, Conrad Bain was 49, and Rue was 38. They all looked SO much older than their actual ages.

It's crazy how much older people looked back then.

An oft-cited example is 47 year-old Carroll O'Connor and 48 year-old Jean Stapleton when All In the Family began. By today's standards they both looked like they were in their sixties.

They had hoped to transpose the couples and make the show “I Fuck Fred.”

Susan Harris had originally planned to cast the Golden Girls with all black actresses. Isabel Sanford and Esther Rolle were in discussions for leading roles when the plan was scrapped.

Bea Arthur was originally hired to play Sophia, and Estelle Getty was supposed to play Dorothy. For some reason, they switched roles during the filming of the pilot.

The original pilot for the Golden Girls told the story of four retired working-class lesbians in St. Louis.

Doris Roberts was to play Maude but was then considered for Dorothy when Nan Martin turned it down

Who the CUNT is Eileen HACKETT!!???

IF YOU CAN'T GET IT RIGHT- DON'T EVEN TRY, BITCH!

Bea was originally hired to play Coco for the pilot while Eileen Hackett (Buddy's wife) was Dorothy.

As it turned out, Eileen and Buddy were at a party and chatting with Lucy Ball and her husband, Gary Morton.

Gary, being Gary, felt the need to give Eileen some career advice. Next thing you know, Eileen Hackett was resigning from the show just hours before they were to shoot the pilot.

What were they to do without Eileen there to play Dorothy? Producers realized they didn't need a Coco but did need a Dorothy and convinced Bea to play Dorothy instead of Coco.

With no time to rewrite the pilot script before shooting, they went to a Home Depot and recruited a Mexican day worker to film the pilot. Next day, they told him sayonara and Coco was never mentioned again.

Don’t give up your day job, R207.

I loved the MAD Magazine TV satires of Bea Arthur - "Bawd" and "The Olden Girls".

Bea was actually the producer’s first choice for Coco in “Fame.”

I heard they were rebooting the Golden Girls. Apparently, Linda Lavin, Beverly Archer, Brenda Dickson, and Faye Dunaway have all signed on to play the leads.

R210 You tried

[quote]Golden Girls was an ensemble, but Bea was still #1 on the call sheet and it must have fried her toe nails when Betty won the first Emmy, but Betty was doing something different and it worked - Bea was just rehashing Maude and Amanda.

Bea Arthur was in the same boat as Elaine Stritch. She was a type and that was her strength as a performer and her value to a cast. But her type didn't really inspire affection across a wide range of people. Her characters were a kind of glue, or the centre of gravity. They allowed other characters to be silly and sweet and likeable. She did great work on Maude because the whole show was written to her strengths. I am amazed she even won an Emmy for Golden Girls, because Dorothy was basically a cunt (though a 1 out of 10 on the scale) and she was essentially the straight man in spirit, if not in every script.

Couldn't disagree with you more, r213. Dorothy consistently had some of the best lines ever written on GG. The tone was obviously different from her costars, but then that could be said about each of them.

R164- Like our dl fave Bonnie Franklin who played an Italian but looked Irish ☘️ and was actually Jewish.

^ I thoght she was an untalented whore

Herb Edelman was supposed to play Sophia and Bea was supposed to play Stan but they switched them at the last minute.

The original title for the show was "Cock Loving Grannies Of Miami" but Nancy Harris thought it might offend some people so she suggested "The Golden Girls" instead.

R214, I didn't say anything like that. Of course she had many great lines. I said the character served a purpose that fit with Arthur's stern schtick.

Bea Arthur, Eileen Heckart, Elaine Stitch. That is three quarters of the resting bitchface Mount Rushmore.

I remember reading (way back when, after Arthur's death) that one role she was considered for was the mother in the film, 'Butterflies Are Free' . At first, Heckart wasn't available for the role she created onstage so they started talking to Arthur (who was interested, but was also talking with Norman Lear at the time about his 'Maude' project). Heckart then became available, and she was able to take the role in the movie - which earned her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. (Heckart was great in the movie and deserved the Oscar). I think Arthur would have put her own spin on the role, and would have been great in it.

One of my favorite roles of her on TV was that of Christine Baranski's mother on "Cybill". One of the funniest episodes of a sitcom, ever.

Norman Lear asked Lucy to okay the part of Maude Findlay but Gary talked her out of it.

Lucy had a public dislike for all Norman Lear comedies - she said she never found them funny but rather disgusting, and was upset with CBS in 1971 for allowing 'All In The Family' on the network (she was doing 'Here's Lucy' at the time, very different from AITF). She openly spoke out on all the Lear comedies - especially AITF and MAUDE. (Of course, by the time 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons' were part of the CBS family, 'Here's Lucy' and her TV career were dead and buried.)

I wonder what she thought of 'The Golden Girls' ?

[quote]Norman Lear asked Lucy to okay the part of Maude Findlay but Gary talked her out of it.

Gary Morton altered the course of history for the worse, time and time and time again.

"....she was essentially the straight man in spirit, if not in every script."

That sure sounds to me like you're saying Dorothy rarely delivered the funny lines, r219.

Where was Gary Morton when we really needed him?

Well, R225, I can't fix stupid. Enjoy your bone.

CBS wanted Lucy to update "Here's Lucy" to be more topical like "Maude" and "All in the Family"...

And Gary wanted her character to get pregnant, so Gale Gordon would have to take Lucy to Mexico for an abortion

I heard Bea was the original choice for Potsie on Happy Days.

[quote]And Gary wanted her character to get pregnant, so Gale Gordon would have to take Lucy to Mexico for an abortion

"Lucy and the Abortion"

On their way to Tijuana for an abortion, Lucy, Kim, and Mr. Mooney give a ride to Alejandro Rey, whose car has broken down at a diner. Lucy mistakes him for a famous matador, and after the abortion they sneak in backstage at a corrida, where Alejandro confesses he's not a matador at all. Lucy is forced to don a fake mustache and red cape and go in the ring with the bull, which escapes and gores Mr. Mooney in the behind.

R230 Lucy already did the matador bit in the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Leave it to Lucy to still so her old 1950s shtick even in an updated 1970s version of her show. Seriously though, if you listen to Lucy’s 1960s radio show, she was extremely conservative, not just about her own TV shows, but about everything in life. Well, except for the fact that she and Desi spent more time with Desilu than raising their children.

R231- She wasn’t very conservative when she was on the casting couch 🛋.

She wasn’t conservative when she joined the CPUSA

Lucy was a WHORE during her New York days!

R234- Exactly

Conservative women can still enjoy sex!

Theoretically.

I liked the episode where Walter wanted to get pegged...

and Maude obliged him

I've always remembered Walter's poem to Phillip about peeing during the night:

"Water against water makes a sound that all can hear."

"Water against porcelain makes a sound that is silent to the ear."

I wish Bea hadn't been such a bitch during Golden Girls.

[quote] I liked the episode where Walter wanted to get pegged...and Maude obliged him

R237 Sorry, you’ll have to be more specific. Walter got pegged symbolically in so many episodes.

^ God'll get you for that, R240

I loved the toilet poem !

Can you imagine the mayhem The Golden Girls set would have been with boozy Elaine STRITCH onboard??

God.

I don't know R243. Apparently, they had Boozy Bea onboard.

Stritch didn't have Bea's comedic talent...

The original working title was “Chode”

i liked how he said Mawd.

[quote]R243 Can you imagine the mayhem The Golden Girls set would have been with boozy Elaine STRITCH onboard?? God.

[quote]R244 I don't know. Apparently, they had Boozy Bea onboard.

My understanding is Bea Arthur was for the most part contained and almost shy. Stritch was messily antagonistic.

I love all the contradictions about Bea: She was shy, she was intimidating, she was nervous and introverted, she was domineering, she was a formidable woman, she took Betty's hand and went to lunch with her every day, she hated Betty! lol.

Funny how everyone says the same thing about Betty, Rue and Estelle but Bea, it's like she had a twin or multiple personality disorder.

I heard Bea and Betty were lesbian lovers the first couple years of Golden Girls. But when Betty decided the relationship had to end, Bea never forgave Betty.

Where did you hear this R250?

R251 I read it on DL.

Stritchy would have yowled in indignant outrage the first time Betty pawed her pussy in fun. She would have brow beaten Estelle into quick submission. And a special venom would have been reserved for Rue, who had the gall to be actually pretty.

Betty used to invite Bea over to skinny dip in her backyard pool.

R252, link please.

You also read this on DL R254 or do you have pictures?

According to Rue, Bea was terrified of giving interviews during the first couple of seasons of Golden Girls. She talks about it at 3:50 in the video below. But here's my question: How did she give interviews when she was on Maude? I once saw an interview Bea gave in 1983 when she was on Amanda's and she seemed very comfortable. Not nervous at all. Why did she all of sudden become shy and anxious on Golden Girls?

R257 I've wondered about that as well. It really seems the Bea Arthur of Maude and the Bea Arthur of Golden Girls were two different people. No one ever said anything negative about Bea during the Maude years, but by Golden Girls, she was ignoring guest stars, got pissed about losing the Emmy to Betty, drank a lot, and was pretty miserable.

I think Bea's drinking problem was far worse than anyone connected to the show ever let on, or possibly even knew about.

Yeah, and we thought we dodged a bullet by passing on Stritch.

The fury from Bea over Betty winning the first Emmy was ridiculous. Winning an Emmy for a show's first season is no more or less significant than winning one for its second, third, or fifteenth season.

If Bea had submitted a good episode like "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding," she may very well have won the first Emmy.

Every year the three leading ladies were nominated, two of them submitted terrible episodes almost handing the Emmy to their co-star who submitted well. It almost seemed coordinated, but given Bea's anger when Betty and Rue won, I guess it was not.

I read somewhere that Bea thought that the season 5 double episode about her having ME was her favourite ever episode and best acting. I can’t even watch those episodes they are so awful.

In season 4 Bea looked great, how did she look so awful in season 5? It’s like she aged several years in several months.

R264, what's ME? In season 5, she was supposed to be suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so they made her look tired.

Mustache excision.

R265 ME is just another word for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Well kudos to the make up people on GG, they didn’t just make Dorothy look tired for those two episodes, she looked rough as fuck for the entire series.

Strange we never heard anything about her illness ever again.

I thought Bea looked great and, dare I say, fresh, the last two or three seasons of GG. It was shocking how quickly she aged after the series ended. Rue, as well. Betty, on the other hand, aged the most throughout the series, looking and sounding incredibly tired by s7.

R258, I believe Bea had a twin sister named Pea. Bea was on Maude and Pea was on Golden Girls. That's why their personalities were different!!

R269 try harder. Or better yet, don't try at all.

I don’t what the diagnosis was, but I know in Season 7, at least two episodes were taped without Bea, except for bumpers at the beginning and the end, which were taped along with other episodes. I saw about six or seven episodes taped in that season, and slightly knew Marc Cherry at the time, who told me Bea had to have series of surgeries. The episode where Dorothy goes on a cruise and Sophia goes back to Sicily to make amends with Guido Spirelli, and the one where Dorothy goes out on a date and the other three recount their bad dates (Pat Harrington, Jr. is one of Rose’s bad dates.) They would show the bumpers so the studio audience would know what the storyline was. But it was still a bummer to not have Bea there live. By Season 7, Bea and Estelle were completely reading off of cue cards. Betty and Rue never used them, and the writers would sometimes do rewrites during the taping. The script person would show the rewrite to Betty or Rue, they’d close their eyes for a moment to let the new dialogue sink in, they’d jump in and immediately retape the scene, and ALWAYS get a bigger laugh on the new lines. Total pros. And I can attest to the fact that between scenes, Betty and Rue would kibitz with audience. Estelle would sit there and go over her lines, and Bea would go to her dressing room. But if she wasn’t in the best of health, I can understand.

Interesting R271. I wonder why Bea never got mad at Rue for interacting with the audience like she did with Betty.

In the season 5 episodes Bea was looking older, tired and uninterested. Basically she often looked hungover. Bea was a functioning alcoholic and I would bet that her drinking increased around this time. As mentioned she was clearly using cue cards and she seemed to be making little effort with her acting, she was on auto pilot.

The writing in the last season was atrocious. There are so many cringeworthy moments (Sophia pretending to be Charlie, Dorothy dating a Beatle impersonator, Dorothy and Miles kissing) that made me long for the glory years.

The Dorothy from the early years wouldn't have given that Beatles impersonator the time of day.

The last season was truly awful. The series lost the warmth and charm that had made it so endearing in the earlier seasons.

There are some great episodes in Season 7 - The Case of the Libertine Belle and The Monkey Show (Part 1 and Part 2)

Not all of the episodes were good, but they rarely are in a weekly sit-com.

Still some of my favorite episodes are in Season 3 and Season 7.

I think GG peaked in Seasons 2 and 3. The 4th season was still really good. The noticeable decline began in Season 5 with the change in writers. Season 6 was meh but still watchable. Season 7 was awful.

I cannot watch GG after Season 4, even though I love it. Seasons 1-4 are terrific.

Bea liked her cocktails.

Journey to the Center of Attention was in Season 7.

R281 Journey to the Center of Attention was not good. For crap's sake, that awful Marc Cherry wrote it. His writing was HORRIBLE.

I loved the last seasons. Bea looked attractive in the later seasons.

R283 Really, even with that hideous season 7 hairstyle?

They obviously tried to glam Bea up in the later seasons, but given her height, voice and masculinity, she often came across as a drag queen.

The show's decline can be seen with Dorothy's hairdos. As the size of her hair goes up, the quality of the show goes down.

It's funny that how even though jokes were repeatedly made about Dorothy's looks, Bea usually got the best looking men on the show, save Donnolly Rhodes and that basketball guy who made Blanche 'feel like a lady'.

R285, At the 1981 Tony Awards . . .

R286 And the one time the writers teamed her up with an ugly/comedy blind date guy, Bea threw the mother of all fits. She was certainly an odd person.

R284 I loved her season 7 hairstyle. It was my favorite.

I don't understand why there aren't any Maude bloopers anywhere. There are plenty for Golden Girls. When I watched Maude, I could tell that sometimes they kept a blooper in and the actors were trying not to crack up so I'm sure they could release some bloopers for the public.

Why did Bea have such a deep voice? Was it a thyroid problem?

[quote]Bea's mother had become almost completely blind and deaf. Bea had her euthanized by a doctor from The Netherlands.

She probably tried than on Betty too.