Okay, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan are in an episode of 'Maude' (1972)

[Deja Q]

I'd swear both looked alike.

15 years later comes 'The Golden Girls' and Rue looks sensational. Wow! Bea looks like she hadn't aged a day (aged 60 but still looked 45, but with gray hair.)

And did you know:

Rue says her father disapproved of some of the risque lines she had to say on The Golden Girls.
Rue actually plants fruit trees, picks the fruit and then cans it herself.
Rue was named after her mother, Rhuea Nell who owned a beauty shop when Rue was a child.
Some of Rue's passions are writing music and plays.
Rue was given the nickname "Ruesy" by the cast and crew of The Golden Girls.

Bea is close friends with actress Angela Lansbury.
One of Bea's acting classmates at Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research was Marlon Brando.
Bea's best known trait is her husky voice.
Although her character loved eating it on The Golden Girls, Bea hates cheesecake.
Bea admits that one of her favorite shows on television is South Park. She thinks it's funny and unique.

Wow!

[KitchenWitch]

1. Other than the cheesecake thing - I knew I liked Bea Arthur!

[Kutjara]

2. I love Bea Arthur!

And the Golden Girls was one of the best sitcoms ever. I've got all the episodes on DVD and my wife and I watch them frequently.

Thanks for the great trivia, Hypno!

[UTUSN]

3. Recently Rue revealed that she "did" the dude from Midnight Express

I forget the details, like why he was in her garden, whether he was a neighbor or what. But she was in her garden, he was in blue jeans, and then they just got HOT!!1 Then something like he died of AIDS? (I'll check Google and Edit/erase if this isn't true.)

[UTUSN]

4. Unfortunately, it's true

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001113/

Biography for
Brad Davis (I)

Date of Birth
6 November 1949, Tallahassee, Florida, USA


Date of Death
8 September 1991, Los Angeles, California, USA. (AIDS)


Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)


Mini Biography
Born in Florida in 1949, Brad Davis moved to Georgia after graduating from high school to pursue an acting career. From there, he moved to New York City, twice, to find work. By the early 1970s Davis was acting in off-Broadway plays while studying acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. His stage work led to his movie debut and to television shows such as the hit Sybil (1976) (TV) and the mini-series "Roots" (1977) (mini). His biggest success was in 1978 with the lead role in Midnight Express (1978) where he played Billy Hayes, a young American imprisoned in Turkey for drug smuggling. It won him a Golden Globe award.

Another memorable movie role in 1982 was playing the title character of Querelle (1982), a ruggedly lethal sailor who seduces and sets both men and women's hearts aflutter.

Davis contracted AIDS in 1979 apparently from his one-time cocaine addiction, but in response to the anti-AIDS hysteria in Hollywood, Davis kept his illness a secret for a number of years and continued to act. His later years had him finally revealing that he had AIDS and he became an AIDS activist in bashing the Hollywood industry and US government for ignoring and shunning victims suffering from the hideous disease. Davis died in 1991 at age 41. His widow, Susan Bluestein, continues his activist work in the fight against AIDS.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matthew Patay

Spouse
Susan Bluestein (29 December 1976 - 8 September 1991) (his death) 1 child

Trivia
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1978" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 30.

Contracted AIDS in 1979 from either a dirty needle during shooting cocaine or through heterosexual contact.

Brother of actor Gene Davis

In 1985 Davis won critical acclaim for his portrayal of the lover of a man dying of AIDS in Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart". Still, his film career foundered. The only other movie in which he starred was Percy Adlon's comedy Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989).

Davis took a professional risk by accepting the title role as a gay sailor in Querelle (1982), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's screen adaptation of a novel by Jean Genet. Associates in the entertainment industry warned Davis that taking this part, especially after performances in other gay-themed theatrical works such as Larry Kramer's "Sissies' Scrapbook" (1973) and Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" (1981), would be detrimental to his career. Nevertheless, Davis chose to work with Fassbinder on what would turn out to be the director's last film. Unfortunately, Querelle (1982) was a commercial failure and generally not well-received by critics.

Personal Quotes

"Hollywood is an industry that gives umpteen benefits and charity affairs with proceeds going to (AIDS) research. But in actual fact, if an actor is even rumored to have HIV, he gets no support on an individual basis. He does not work."

********UNQUOTE*******

[Deja Q]

10. Thank you much for the information.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. I love that you know this crap.

Hey, I was showing your photography from myspace to a friend of mine who loved it! You rock, babe!
Duckie

[Deja Q]

9. Crap?!

:cry:

Glad your friend loved my pics! And now that I bought Photoshop CS2, the best is yet to come! I'm just waiting for the wildlife and other forms of animals/unprocessed dinners/roadkill to return to the area to get some great close-ups... (oh dear...)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

11. It's useless information.

Come on admit it.
I have a lot of it too. Mostly random crap about people that have nothing to do with my real world. :hug:
Duckie

[cmkramer]

6. Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur were in MAME together

Bea played Mame's best friend Vera Charles.

[Major Hogwash]

7. Wow, that is so wierd that you'd be watching tv from the 70's now.

Did you like Sanford and Son?

They had the best theme song, I thought.

[Deja Q]

8. Sanford and Son ROCKS!!

I suppose it's sad anybody would be watching 70s TV - after all, modern day TV tells us so. :evilgrin:

The fact I'm almost 35 helps...

And from a dilettante sociologist's perspective, TV of the ages has a few interesting things to say too. :D