Front Row Dress Circle

The very sad news is through that stage and screen legend, Bea Arthur, has died at the age of 86. The husky voiced actress was battling cancer and died at her home in Los Angeles.

Bea was first and foremost an icon of the Broadway stage before coming to television fame relatively late in life – in her fifties. She first appeared as the nemesis of that other icon, Archie Bunker, in All in the Family, before going on to star in her own spin-off series Maude. This show was groundbreaking in that Bea’s character, Maude, had an abortion due to her age. The episode caused great controversy at the time.

Bea had a razor sharp delivery and brilliant comedic timing which was used to great effect when she achieved superstardom in The Golden Girls.

Born Beatrice Frankel in New York on May 13, 1922, Bea began performing in college and appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway roles, winning a Tony Award opposite Angela Lansbury in Mame.
In the early 1970s, she appeared on the groundbreaking television comedy ‘All in the Family’ as Edith Bunker’s fiercely liberal cousin Maude.

Arthur followed Maude with The Golden Girls, an unlikely hit from 1985 to 1992 that featured four female retirees living together. The series was a surprise hit seeing as it focused on four older female characters and highlighted their social lives as well as their sex lives. Central to the popularity of Golden Girls was the comic interplay between Arthur’s character and her mother, played by Estelle Getty - who in real life was a year younger and who also won an Emmy for the show.

Getty died last July at the age of 84.

She is survived by two sons and two grandchildren, and family members have asked that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to two of her favourite causes, the ArtAttack foundation and the animal rights group PETA.

We truly have lost one of the great dramatic and comedic actresses of our time.

Trivia:

* Bea Arthur was a passionate animal rights campaigner and once appeared in an episode of ‘Judge Judy’ where she brought action against a circus animal trainer.

* She was a qualified medical technician

* She was best friends with Angela Lansbury

* She appeared as a special guest presenter at the Australian Logie Awards ceremony in the nineties. She was hosting with Daryl Somers when he informed her that the winners were voted for by the public, not the industry itself. She announced “The fans do the voting…? so this is just a popularity contest!…”

Vale Bea.

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Jade Goody would have loved it. Thousands of people lining the streets of the funeral route from London to Essex, passing by all the places she knew and loved, throwing flowers, applauding, laughing and crying as she passes by on her last journey.

How many of us get to plan our last goodbyes as meticulously as Jade did, and in the face of such pain and heartache…? she is going out in style in the full glare of the media spotlight which both adored her and, at times, villified her.

Many of those people lining the route probably at some stage thought of her with disdain, just as many were proud that a normal girl, just like themselves grabbed at the star that is opportunity and ran with it until illness stopped her in her tracks. Many of those who had no time for Jade when she was alive have changed their opinion of her through seeing her courage when fighting her cancer; for holding above all else her fears and plans for her two young sons, Bobby and Freddy.

Jade was like few celebrities today; approachable, flawed and completely down to earth. She came from nothing, with no education other than that gleened from a tough early life and a burning desire to better herself and succeed. Where many celebrities will try to hide the truth of their less than ideal, less than glamourous roots, Jade embraced hers; she never apologised for who she was or where she came from even though that background influenced the way she spoke and behaved at times. In facing death full on she also drove a very strong message home to women everywhere – your future lies in looking after your health.

The scenes today are incredible; even though one might scoff at comparisons to Princess Diana – and they have been made recently and certainly scoffed at – the evidence is there to see. The masses of flowers on the funeral cars, the crowds, the tears. Where Diana was almost beatified in death, Jade has simply become loved.

Jade no doubt would be loving this send off today – a ‘Jade Goody Production’ as flamboyant, unorthodox and lively as the girl herself. You might say it is a shame she cannot be here to enjoy it…but I reckon she is

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As usual Jade Goody is as controversial in death as she was in life. Today, after her death early yesterday morning, celebrities and VIP’s are lining up to commiserate and pay tribute to her.

But it was all so different just two years ago.

Those same celebs back then could not distance themselves far enough away from her, the public could not pour enough scorn on her. This was after her well publicised spat with Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother in January 2007.

That incident will be debated for some time to come but it’s after effects never really left Jade. I saw it as nothing to do with racism, it was more to do with a volatile young woman having a personality and ego clash with another. I dont know what personal issues Jade had at the time she entered the house that year but she seemed at odds and angry from the time she appeared with her mother and Jack on the show.

Whatever the reasons behind Jades terrible temper outburst at Shetty, the consequences meant that Jade became persona non gratis in the industry. It is an unforgiving industry which embraces political correctness and superficiality and shuns, discourages – even penalises – honesty and genuiness.

Those who heaped vitriole on Jade in the days and weeks following Shettygate are now lining up to express their admiration and regret. Some were even wanting to visit her sickbed and, I am sure if there is enough publicity in it, will be front row at her funeral.

Yes , maybe I am being ultra-cynical here, but Jade seems to have ended her life as the prodigal daughter. Reclaimed and hailed by the very industry who once, in all it’s hypocritical and self-righteous wrath, tried to destroy her. But it did never did.

Make no mistake, Jade was no saint, she was too real and too flawed for such a title. But at least she had the guts to be those things – in public and in front of the camera. Just like all of us. But it was a shame she had to apologise for it.

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