Today, we came closer to the trifecta of great Broadway second-bananas, who often stole the show from their leading ladies. Yesterday, I reported on the death of Marilyn Cooper, who stole the show from Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year. Today brings news of the death of Bea Arthur, who seems to be remembered most from some inconsequential television shows that will mostly be forgotten in 10 years. But her Broadway work, as the original Yenta in Fiddler on the Roof, and as Vera Charles, Mame’s BFF in Mame, will live on in cast recordings forever.
To illustrate the wit of this woman, here’s an except from her obit in the LA Times:
Although she had wanted the part of Mame, Arthur was talked into taking the gal-pal role by husband Saks, who was directing the musical. But she didn’t accept being second banana quietly, using humor to make her point.
According to “Balancing Act,” Martin Gottfried’s 1999 biography of Lansbury, Arthur told people that the original name of the show was “Vera” and that it was changed only because composer Jerry Herman couldn’t find rhymes for that name. Then she would dramatically pause, Gottfried wrote, and say, “Steve Sondheim could have.”
We will miss your wit, Bea.
