Bea Arthur's Real Name: Bernice Frankel

Quick answer: Bea Arthur's documented original name is Bernice Frankel. The Los Angeles Times says she was born Bernice Frankel on May 13, 1922, in New York City. Encyclopedia.com also gives that original name and New York birthplace, but dates the birth to May 13, 1923 (Los Angeles Times; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

She was billed as Bea Arthur and, in some theater and television credits, as Beatrice Arthur. The birth year is reported differently: the Times, like other news obituaries that gave her age as 86 in April 2009, uses 1922; Encyclopedia.com's biographical entry uses 1923. Both place the birth in New York and a later childhood in Cambridge, Maryland (the Times says her parents were department store owners; Encyclopedia.com names Philip and Rebecca Frankel). Encyclopedia.com says she attended Blackstone College and the Franklin Institute of Science and Arts and trained at the New School for Social Research with Erwin Piscator. The Times describes a shy child who grew tall and dreamed of being a petite June Allyson type.

Career highlights

Encyclopedia.com records nightclub work from 1948, a role in the off-Broadway The Threepenny Opera, Yente the matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof, and a Tony Award as Vera Charles in Mame (1966). The Times likewise dates the Tony to 1966, opposite Angela Lansbury's Mame Dennis. On television, both sources highlight Maude (1972–78), which grew out of a guest turn as Edith's cousin on All in the Family, and The Golden Girls (1985–92) as Dorothy Zbornak. Encyclopedia.com also lists Caesar's Hour in the 1950s, the short-lived series Amanda's (1983), a later guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle, and the 2002 theatrical event Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just between Friends, which shared a Tony Award. It records Emmys for Maude (1977) and The Golden Girls (1988). The same entry notes the billing Jane Ross among her names and lists film appearances including Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) and a reprise of Vera Charles in the 1974 film of Mame.

Death

The Times says she died of cancer on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at her Los Angeles home, at age 86.

Name notes for searchers

Bernice Frankel is the documented original name; professional billings include Bea Arthur and Beatrice Arthur. Searchers looking for Maude Findlay or Dorothy Zbornak are usually aiming at the same person.