LOS ANGELES — Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” and who won a Tony Award for the musical “Mame,” died Saturday. She was 86.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, said family spokesman Dan Watt. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give details.
“She was a brilliant and witty woman,” said Watt, who was Arthur’s personal assistant for six years.
Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series “All in the Family” as Edith Bunker’s outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley.
She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur’s own series.
In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBS executives asking about the new “girl.”
“I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, ‘Who is that girl? Let’s give her her own series,’ ” Arthur said.
“Maude” scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.
“Golden Girls” (1985-92) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a TV market skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience.
The series concerned three retirees — Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan — and the mother of Arthur’s character, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami home.
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