She was an actress, comedienne and singer. She began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving worldwide recognition for her work on television beginning in the 1970s as Maude Findlay in the popular sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1972) and Maude (1972–1978) and later in the 1980s and 1990s as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls (1985–1992). Bernice Frankel was born on May 13, 1922, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, In 1933, the Frankel family relocated to Cambridge, Maryland, where her parents subsequently operated a women's clothing shop. At age 16, Beatrice developed a serious condition, coagulopathy, in which her blood would not clot. During World War II, Frankel enlisted as one of the first members of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve in 1943. After serving in the Marines, Frankel studied for a year at the Franklin School of Science and Arts in Philadelphia, where she became a licensed medical technician. After interning at a local hospital for the summer, she decided against working as a lab technician, departing for New York City in 1947 to enroll in the School of Drama at The New School. Arthur began her acting career as a member of an off-Broadway theater group at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in the late 1940s. In 1981, she appeared on stage in Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb Arthur accepted a 1971 invitation from Norman Lear to guest-star on his sitcom All in the Family, as Maude Findlay, the cousin of Edith Bunker. Arthur decided to exit the series during its sixth season. Later in 1978, she appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, In 1985, Arthur was cast in The Golden Girls, in which she played Dorothy Zbornak, a divorced mother and substitute teacher living in a Miami, Florida, Arthur left the show after the end of the seventh season and the series ended. In 1992, it was retooled as The Golden Palace with the other three actresses and aired on CBS as it was not picked up by NBC. The new series, however, lasted only one season. She made a guest appearance on the American cartoon Futurama, She appeared in a first-season episode of Malcolm in the Middle as Mrs. White, one of Dewey's babysitters who was a strict disciplinarian She appeared as Larry David's mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm she participated in the Comedy Central roast of Pamela Anderson, where she recited sexually explicit passages from Anderson's book Star Struck in a deadpan fashion. Arthur was married twice. Her first marriage took place in 1944, during her time in the military when she wed fellow Marine Robert Alan Aurthur later a screenwriter, television, and film producer and director. They divorced three years later, but she kept his surname, with the spelling adjusted to Arthur. Shortly after they divorced in 1950, she married director Gene Saks with whom she adopted two sons, Matthew, an actor, and Daniel, a set designer. She and Saks remained married until 1978 Arthur was a longtime champion of equal rights for women and an active advocate of the elderly and Jewish communities Considered a longtime gay icon, she embraced the gay community that had supported her since the 1970s. Arthur was a private and introverted woman according to her friends. Arthur died of lung cancer at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles on April 25, 2009, aged 86. Arthur was survived by her sister, Marian Frankel Gray, and two children. Arthur's body was cremated, and her ashes were given to her family. #goldengirls #bettywhite - @celebrity.death.s