Bea Arthur (1922-2009) - YouTube user Sassyornek created a fantastic tribute to Bea, check it out here: Link (Photo: Lifetime Intimate Portrait)

Tony- and Emmy-winning actress and comedian Bea Arthur has died. Though she is best known as Dorothy Zbornak on the 80's television sitcom The Golden Girls, her career actually spanned seven decades.

To celebrate the life and career of Bea Arthur, let's take a look at 5 Things About Bea Arthur You Didn't Know:

1. Bea Arthur Was a Marine
Before World War II, Bea was a medical technician. She volunteered to join the US Marine Corps, becoming one of its first female recruits. (Source)

2. Bea Arthur Got Her Start in Comedy by Being a Lounge Singer
In an interview, Bea said that when she got up on stage to sign a torch song, the audience laughed at her because of her deep voice and height. The nightclub manager told her that she was in the wrong business being a lounge singer, and that she should be doing comedy instead. (Source)

But Bea can sure can sing. Here's a clip of her singing "What'll I Do?" from The Golden Girls' episode Journey to the Center of Attention:

[YouTube Clip]

3. Bea Arthur Never Had a Star on the Walk of Fame
Bea was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame a few months ago, but she never had a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A travesty!

She may have a shot yet, you can nominate someone for a Walk of Fame Star, but you'd have to wait five years first for a posthumous nomination.

4. Bea Arthur was in The Star Wars Holiday Special
She sang as Ackmena, the nightshift bartender in Chalmun's Cantina in Tatooine, in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978.

[YouTube Clip]

5. Bea Arthur was the Femputer

Watch the Hulu clip at IMDb: Death by Snu Snu

In the 2001 Futurama episode, Amazon Women in the Mood, Bea was the voice of the Femputer, the leader of the man-hatin' tribe of Amazonian women. Bea has left us, but we can still hear her sentence Fry and friends to "death by snu-snu" over and over again.

Bea Arthur, rest in peace. You shall be missed.

Update 10/19/09 – Here’s the last interview Bea Arthur did: Link [YouTube] – Thanks Stephen!