Bea Arthur leav $300K to gay youth

bea arthur was gay

As a shelter for New York's homels LGBT youth prepar to open her name, the son of the edy legend opens up about dner parti wh Rock Hudson, ictn wh Betty Whe and her lifelong passn for "nocents — eher kids or animals or gay teens.

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WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? WHAT WAS HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH?

Goln Girls star Bea Arthur, née Bernice Frankel, died at home Los Angel at the age of 86 today. She passed away surround by fay members. She will be loudly mourned by the gays. * bea arthur was gay *

Wh the show, M lent her voice to the social and polil issu of the time, tacklg everythg om the Vietnam War, alholism, fily, women’s liberatn, racism, abortn, addictn to gay rights.

Like M, the show also portrays hot-button issu like agg, gun ntrol, gay rights, and domtic vlence. Was Bea Arthur Gay? She had a lastg personal relatnship wh Adrienne Barbe, her M -star, which, along wh her fervent fense of gay rights, sparked mors that she was gay/homosexual.

BEA ARTHUR, BELOVED GAY IN, 1922-2009

* bea arthur was gay *

" Her rol as Yente Fiddler on the Roof, the outspoken M Fley of All the Fay and M, and most famoly, the tic Dorothy Zbornak of Goln Girls, gaed her an avid gay dience. Gays are postg this blasphemo Virg Dorothy mashup her holy memory:(Photo by AP/Wally Fong). She had a long-lastg romantic volvement wh Adrienne Barbe, who played her -star M, and this, together wh her passnate support for gay rights, led to allegatns that she was lbian or homosexual.

Throughout her work, people have wonred about her personal life, cludg whether or not she is gay.

WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH

Q: Did Bea Arthur ever talk about beg gay public? Wh the show, M lent her voice to the social and polil issu of the time, tacklg everythg om the Vietnam War, alholism, fily, women’s liberatn, racism, abortn, and addictn to gay show was an stant succs, wh s Thanksgivg Special rerdg a reported 65 ln viewers. Like M, the show also portrays hot-button issu like agg, gun ntrol, gay rights, and domtic Goln Girls earned Beatrice her send major actg award, wng an Emmy The Hollywood ReporterWhen me to feature films, however, Beatrice did not appear a lot of them spe her fame.

After Bea Arthur’s ath on April 25, 2009, her remag were cremated and Ash were given to her had a lastg personal relatnship wh Adrienne Barbe, her M -star, which, along wh her fervent fense of gay rights, sparked mors that she was gay/homosexual. The guts were by and large gay men — closeted, as most were back then — who were drawn to Arthur, like moths to a porch light.

“They were always exced to e to her hoe, ” says Matthew, now 55, of his mother’s many gay nfidant. Arthur, who died of ncer 2009 at age 86, occupi a sgular space amid the pantheon of gay ins: Neher preeng show diva nor pill-poppg wreck, she was stead a pillar of liberal-md fortu, always at the ready to do battle wh the Archie Bunkers of the world. All of this held nsirable sway over the emergg gay-rights movement.

WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? WHAT WAS HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH?

Fully aware of the appeal she held over her gay fans, Arthur cid to give somethg back, and left an endowment to the Ali Forney Center, an anizatn for homels LGBT youth New York Cy.

The mostly-gay crowd very nearly flew to a enzy, “phg toward her, grabbg at her, eager for face time wh the great legend. ) “It seemed like all her chari were mostly about nocents — eher kids or animals or gay or lbian teens, who have a bigger fight than anybody n image, ” Saks says.

Don’t let the gff fa fool you: Arthur was a softy through and through, as evinced by the Bea Arthur Rince for LGBT Youth — an honor, among gay ins, sure, but Saks puts thgs perspective.

WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? WHAT WAS HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH?

“The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr…this anizatn really is savg liv. Bea Arthur has never ma any public statement about this, so all mors about if Bea Arthur is gay rema pletely unfound and unproven. Yet, as often happens wh artists of this field, the mors that Bea Arthur is gay are persistent, which is surely annoyg.

The g out of Bea Arthur would greatly benef untls homosexuals around the world who are still the closet. Although Bea Arthur has refed on numero ocsns to beg homosexual, mors are nstantly found on-le. Although Bea Arthur has never stated beg homosexual, 's easier to e out the world of the celebri, as there have been many to precent this.

HOW BEA ARTHUR GAVE BACK TO THE GAYS WHO LOVED HER

While Arthur worked ont of screens, Robert opted for a backstage Arthur was alive, she was known to throw parti her home, vg her gay fans who were barely out of the uple was married om 1947 to 1950, wh which they built their Hollywood reers to a standard. | Photo: Getty ImagVOICE FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITYWhen Arthur was alive, she was known to throw parti her home, vg her gay fans who were barely out of the closet.

Matthew once relled that his mom's gay guts were always exced to go to their 2005, Arthur raised funds for the Ali Forney Center, an anizatn for homels LGBTQ youth. She lent crence to the notn that women (really, everyone — Bea was a pneerg champn of gay rights and a legendary gay in) served the right to be not only fortable but betiful their own sk, too.

IS BEA ARTHUR GAY?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSBea Arthur willed $300, 000 to support homels gay youthThe Ali Forney Center director, Carl Siciliano, was "overwhelmed" by her generosyThe funds will go toward buyg a rince, which will be named after ArthurArthur also raised more than $40, 000 a benef performance for the anizatn (CNN) -- "Goln Girls" star Bea Arthur's generosy liv on. The amazg thg, he add, is that Arthur "didn't realize at that pot what a ser issue was, that so many thoands of gay kids were on the streets of our untry.

"The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr -- this anizatn really is savg liv. Bea Arthur's Dorothy might have been nstantly annoyed by Rose (Betty Whe) for seven seasons on The Goln Girls, but seems that her tratn might have been backstage a new article The Hollywood Reporter about Bea Arthur's lifelong iendship wh gay men—and the new center for homels LGBT youth openg next year her name—the magaze also talks about Arthur's time on the classic NBC s and how she didn't always get along wh her -stars. In a 2006 terview wh the Paley Center, Whe admted that McClanahan had done much more wh the role of Blanche than she ever uld st of "The Goln Girls": (clockwise om left) Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Bea Arthur as Dorothy Petrillo Zbornak, Betty Whe as Rose Nylund, Rue McClanahan as Blanche DeverexPhoto: Theo Wtenberger/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Imag via Getty ImagSophia wasn’t supposed to be a regular on the showThe pilot episo featured a fourth character, a gay chef who worked for Blanche named Co Lev.

BEA ARTHUR LEAV $300K TO GAY YOUTH

” Getty also refed to perform any scen that ntaed what she nsired unnecsary show veloped a loyal followg wh the LGBTQ munyGay dienc embraced the show almost immediately, wh several gay bars across the untry holdg viewg parti for fans. A number of gay characters appeared on the show, and beme one of the first seri to tackle AIDS and HIV.

For a 1990 episo which Rose mt wa for the rults of an AIDS tt followg a blood transfn durg surgery, the show’s st and crew wanted to ensure they treated the subject wh sensivy durg a perd when fear of the disease still ran rampant, and the episo wrers nsulted several HIV experts for four of the actrs were early supporters of gay rights. Getty, whose nephew had HIV, reportedly set up gay crew members on dat and refed to read any l that she nsired harmful to the gay muny.

WHAT BETTY WHE DID TO PISS OFF BEA ARTHURLET'S JT SAY THEIR ACTG STYL WERE A LTLE {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHSEPTEMBER 30, 2016/4:08 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:574PX;WIDTH:1020PX;}ALICE S. HALL/NBCU PHOTO BANKTHE GOLDEN GIRLS -- PICTURED: (L-R) BETTY WHE AS ROSE NYLUND, BEA ARTHUR AS DOROTHY PETRILLO ZBORNAK -- PHOTO BY: ALICE S. HALL/NBCU PHOTO BANKBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHSEPTEMBER 30, 2016 / 4:08 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"WHAT BETTY WHE DID TO PISS OFF BEA ARTHUR","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2016-09-30T20:08:28.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2016-09-30T20:08:28.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BEA ARTHUR'S DOROTHY MIGHT HAVE BEEN NSTANTLY ANNOYED BY ROSE (BETTY WHE) FOR SEVEN SEASONS ON THE GOLN GIRLS, BUT SEEMS THAT HER TRATN MIGHT HAVE BEEN BACKSTAGE TOO.ALICE S. HALL/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK VIA GETTY IMAGTHE GOLDEN GIRLS -- "LADI OF THE EVENG" EPISO 2 -- PICTURED: (L-R) BETTY WHE AS ROSE NYLUND, RUE MCCLANAHAN AS BLANCHE DEVEREX, BEA ARTHUR AS DOROTHY PETRILLO ZBORNAK (PHOTO BY ALICE S. HALL/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK VIA GETTY IMAG){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN A NEW ARTICLE THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER ABOUT BEA ARTHUR'S LIFELONG IENDSHIP WH GAY MEN—AND THE NEW CENTER FOR HOMELS LGBT YOUTH OPENG NEXT YEAR HER NAME—THE MAGAZE ALSO TALKS ABOUT ARTHUR'S TIME ON THE CLASSIC NBC S AND HOW SHE DIDN'T ALWAYS GET ALONG WH HER {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“MY MOM WAS THE REAL AL,” ARTHUR'S SON, MATTHEW SAKS EXPLAED TO THR. “I THK SHE FELT SHE WAS MORE OF AN ACTRS THAN BETTY. MOM ME OM BROADWAY. BETTY STARRED ON A GAME SHOW AT ONE POT.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HE NTU:{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“WHEN THEY SHOT THE S, SOMETIM THEY HAD TO STOP. MY MOM WOULD STAY NCENTRATED, MAYBE STAY BACKSTAGE, STAND HER PLACE THERE. AND SOMETIM BETTY WOULD GO OUT AND SE AND CHAT WH THE DIENCE AND LERALLY GO AND MAKE IENDS WH THE DIENCE. WHICH IS A NICE THG — A LOT OF THEM HAVE E OM ALL OVER THE UNTRY AND ARE FANS."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"I THK MY MOM DIDN’T DIG THAT. IT’S MORE ABOUT BEG FOCED OR NSERVG YOUR ENERGY. IT’S JT NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO TALK TO FANS BETWEEN TAK. BETTY WAS ABLE TO DO AND DIDN’T SEEM TO AFFECT HER. BUT BBED MY MOM THE WRONG WAY.” {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BUT DON'T WORRY, GOLN GIRLS FANS. THE TWO ACTRS NEVER REALLY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"THEY WERE IENDS," SAKS ADD. "AT ONE POT THEY LIVED CLOSE ENOUGH THAT THEY WOULD DRIVE EACH OTHER TO WORK.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}CAN'T WE ALL AGREE THAT ROSE DID GET ANNOYG OM TIME TO TIME?{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WATCH THE GOLN GIRLS ON {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}H/T: THE HOLLYWOOD {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

Arthur had a wi circle of gay iends thanks to her years the theater muny and performed benefs to raise funds for LGBTQ . If you were hangg out at a gay bar on a Saturday night 1986, you’d want to be sure you had a good seat before the clock rolled over to 9 pm. And yet was an stant h, particularly wh gay dienc.

Harris had a history of takg big bold swgs wh shows like Soap, which featured the first regular gay character on a succsful US s (played by Billy Crystal).

But she’d also jt had a strg of flops, wh unmemorable shows like I’m a Big Girl Now wh Mart Short, and Hail to the Chief (which also featured a recurrg gay character). The show was pecially received by gay dienc, who may have been particularly fortable wh the st bee they had all worked on queer-iendly projects the past. Bea Arthur, for example, had done two gay episos of the show M, cludg one which she fends a gay bar om homophobic prottors.

WHY DO GAYS LOVE THE GOLN GIRLS?

Rue McClanahan had appeared Some of My Bt Friends Are, a low-budget film set a gay bar. Betty Whe had appeared on Love, Sydney, an NBC s which Tony Randall starred as a gay man. In episo one — and only that episo — the girls have a gay hoeboy named Co, a sort of ntuatn of San Harris’ groundbreakg Jody character om Soap.

The show avoid gay storyl for a while after Co’s disappearance, but by season 2 that would change. There’s an episo which one of the girls giv advice to a gay man on proposg to his partner. And there’s one that had particular ronance wh gay dienc which Betty Whe’s character Rose learns that she may have been exposed to HIV.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* BEA ARTHUR WAS GAY

Was Bea Arthur Gay? Her Net Worth and Cse of Death .

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