long before women and gay men around the world started asking each other "which sex and the city character are you?" - they were asking "which golden girl are you?"the answers were always clear for me: miranda and dorothy.
and today we lost dorothy.
yes, the great bea arthur passed away from cancer today at the age of 86.
she will be best known for her stints as maude and dorothy but long before her days on television she was a diva on broadway. she originated the role of vera charles in the musical mame. she was the original yente the matchmaker in fiddler on the roof.
a few years ago i was fortunate enough to see ms. arthur on broadway in her one woman show: just between friends.
i had already seen elaine stritch's one woman show on that trip and thought we might be better served seeing another show... but my friend james was insistent and since i dragged him to stritchie's show (of which he followed little, i think), i owed him.
he found us tickets on the third row.... center.
it was an amazing show. hilarious. sardonic. classic bea.
she started the show with a simple phrase: "i'd like to talk to you about lamb..." then she quickly rambled into a story/recipe before stopping suddenly and asking: "you are interested, aren't you?"
and of course we were.
we hung on her every word. laughed at every joke. loved every song. it was one of the highlights of the trip... listening to bea sing "the man in the moon is a lady" from mame. or "what can you get a nudist for her birthday?" asking "tell me on the level...can i send her a muff?"
or explaining that angela lansbury has "a mouth like a longshoreman."
i adored bea arthur. she was the type of quick-witted, strong, independent woman i love.
i'm sitting here listening to my cd of her one woman show (yes, i'm the type of fag that collects cast recordings and the like) and i'm a bit melancholy knowing this talented actress has left us.
she will be missed....
but i thought she deserved one last chance to take a bow at curtain.
farewell, bea.
e.
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