Rest In Peace, Maude

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn't care if the whole world looked.
Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked.*
...
And then there's MAUDE

It is with heavy heart that I write this blog post today. Yet another Golden Girl has kicked it. Born in 1922 as Bernice Frankel (and you thought Beatrice Arthur was an albatross of a name) in New York City, Bea Arthur was the much-beloved star of such old-person (or, iconically gay-take your pick) shows as Maude, The Golden Girls, and the Lucille Ball version of Mame.

Bea follows Golden Girls co-star, Estelle Getty, and is survived by Rue McClanahan and Betty White.

I think in the end, I would like to remember Bea and Estelle this way...

"Which one's Cheech, and which one's Chong?"

*Update (04/28/2009): It just occurs to me that this song lyric is totally twisted. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by the English in 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. She, in fact, "really cooked." You should be ashamed of yourselves Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin.