Bea Arthur is best known as a comedian and actress, but before she was a beloved star, Arthur had been a World War US Marine sergeant. Below are some interesting facts about the iconic Golden Girl and her WWII service.
A Beloved Comedian’s Decades-Long Career
Bernice Frankel, better known as Beatrice “Bea” Arthur, had a rich career in entertainment that spanned seven decades. A comedian, actress, and singer, she is best known for her signature sitcom roles as Maude Findley in All in the Family and its spinoff Maude, and most famously, as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls. She won various accolades over the years, starting with a Tony Award in 1966, Emmy Awards in 1977 and 1988, and was inducted into the academy’s TV Hall of Fame in 2008.
Before the fame, however, Bea had served in the Second World War as a US Marine. Born in Brooklyn in 1922 to an Austrian born mother and a Polish born father, Bea’s family moved to a small town in Maryland when she was eleven. In her teens, she developed a condition that prevented her blood from clotting. As part of the precautions taken by her parents, she was sent to a girls’ boarding school in Pennsylvania. There, Bea was the tallest girl in school, and exhibited enough early signs of the comic chops that would make her famous in later years, that she was voted “wittiest girl” by her classmates.
Bea Arthur, WWII US Marine Corps Sergeant
Bea Arthur developed a passion for drama programs and theatrical productions. She sent her friends into gales of laughter with her imitations of Mae West, and dreamt of a career in show business. However, she did not think that her parents would support her dreams. In 1943, the United States Marine Corps became the last service branch to admit women to its rank. It issued the call to women: “Be a Marine … Free a Man to Fight”, and Bea answered.
In later years, Bea downplayed her WWII contributions. She went so far as to deny that she had served, and routinely steered questioners away by pointing out that others had done far more during the war. However, the documentary record shows that in 1943, when she was twenty one, Bea Arthur had enlisted in the US Marines under her birth name, Bernice Frankel. She worked as a typist and truck driver, and moved up the ranks from private to staff sergeant. She was honorably discharged in 1945.
During her wartime service, US Marine Sergeant Bernice Frankel met and married husband, Robert Arthur, whose last name she took. The marriage was short lived, but she kept the name and became Beatrice “Bea” Arthur. In hindsight, admirers of her no-nonsense characters would probably nod their heads at how apt it is that Maud or Dorothy Zbornak had been a WWII United States Marine Corps sergeant. Bea Arthur passed away in 2009, one year after her induction into the academy’s TV Hall of Fame.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
National WWII Museum – Bea Arthur, US Marine
US Department of Defense – Before Stage and Screen, Bea Arthur Shined as a Marine
