As is the case with so many people in Hollywood, Bea Arthur was said to be incredibly hard to work alongside.
In fact, she was so tough to get along with that every single actress on the show ended up cutting her loose.
They Covered Hot Topics
When one thinks about The Golden Girls, they may just imagine four carefree women enjoying their retirement and discussing things like men, and tea. The Golden Girls actually dove into some pretty deep thorny topics, such as equal marriage rights and pregnancy.
Given the time it was aired, a lot of people viewed the show as rather controversial.
Goodbye Typecasting
Can you close your eyes and picture Blanche, played by Betty White? Well, you almost wouldn’t have had to. Betty was originally cast as Blanche, and Rue as “Rose.”
However, since those roles were much like the ones that they had each played in the past, they grabbed at the chance to expand their acting horizons.
But She Advocated for Civil Rights
Of course, in her professional life, she was seen as extremely difficult to deal with, but that doesn’t mean that she was a bad person. Bea devoted her free time to advocating for the rights of groups like women, the homeless, and the LGBTQ community.
Bea even had it written into her will that a huge portion of the money from her home and savings should be sent to those that she advocated for.
She Advocated for Animals Too
The actress also devoted time to assisting PETA in advocating for the rights of animals. We guess it’s fair to say that Bea may not have been sunshine and unicorns to her coworkers, but she certainly seemed to have a huge heart.
We sure are glad to know that Bea did so much in her lifetime.