The moment we have been waiting for over 3 years has finally
happened. Tonight Bea Arthur's Intimate Portrait finally premiered
on Lifetime Television. And to fan's welcome, the show was
true and full of Bea as a person and entertainer.
Around August of last year, I received a phone call from a
photography researcher from Lee Grant Productions. She informed
me that they were putting together an Intimate Portrait for
Bea Arthur. She had seen some of the images on my site and
asked if I could scan them and send them to her for the Intimate
Portrait along with the copyright information. I was ecstatic
to help with this process for two reasons... to get this show
into gear and to be a part of the process. She informed me
of who they already interviewed for the show and that everyone
was really excited about the project. She then kept me up
to date of when the Intimate Portrait was to be aired, in
which I posted on this site. At first the air date was set
right before Thanksgiving, but for some unknown reasons was
changed to January 20th, 2003. We all sat patiently for that
day... today!
 Lee
Grant Entertainment and Lifetime TV did a fantastic job in
encapsulating Bea's extraordinary life into a one hour show.
The show could have well been a two hour program, for they
had to skip over such parts of Bea's career such as Lovers
and other Strangers, and ran right over her 1983 sitcom, "Amanda's".
However, for the first time in years has a program taught
me something new about Bea, given the previous amount of
research that I have already done on her. Bea's Intimate
Portrait delivered Bea justice after waiting for her dream
of returning to Broadway finish.
I was amazed with the amount of photos they shown of Bea as
a child and young adult, previously almost impossible to obtain.
They allowed the private Bea Arthur to expose herself in that
of the true person she is... still private. Lucky for the
world, she let us in for a moment!
The Intimate Portrait continued with revealing information
about her two sons, whom I've only seen young photos of before...
now shown as they are today and their feelings toward their
mom and her career. I did find it interesting that Intimate
Portrait introduced them as her sons, rather then her adopted
sons. There were a couple other questionable facts that might
have been over sighted such as when they talked about Mame
in 1976, when in fact it came out in 1974. Minor details that
does not effect the overall credibility of the show.
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Matthew
Saks, Son
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Daniel
Saks, Son
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We were also introduced to even more obscure people to us
that were close to Bea such as her first husband, her mom
and dad, and a brief mention of her sister. More information
was provided, as well as, photographs of Bea's mom and the
illness effecting her. We also found out of a blood disease
that Bea faced during her teenage years that she fortunately
overcame.
As for the rest of the Intimate Portrait, any fan of Bea's
that hasn't taken the time to research her was soon caught
up in greatest detail. I am so happy that Bea did wait this
long to do this Intimate Portrait. This allowed her to put
the final touches on her career with her one woman show to
where she can comfortably sit back and say that she has truly
enjoyed her life.
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| Norman
Lear, Creator, Maude |
Bill
Macy, Actor, Maude |
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| Conrad
Bain, Actor, Maude |
Paul
Witt, Executive Producer, The Golden Girls |
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| George
Schlatter, Producer, American Comedy Awards |
Donald
Saddler, Director, Choreographer |
The show was packed with a wide variety of a wide range of
Bea's friends who all had an impact on Bea, but more so, they
receive usually indescribable influence from Bea on their
lives. Comments on Bea include from Angela Lansbury, Betty
White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, Norman Lear, Bill Macy,
Conrad Bain.
I thank Lee Grant and other friends for talking Bea into doing
this show. Bea's fans welcome this television event with hands
in the air. This was a definite present to all of us who thought
that her show was her last gift to us... which was extraordinary
in itself. What will Bea do now... surely she's not stopping
now... right?
As a added bonus, it was really great to be credited in helping
in this brilliant production... so this is where I indulge
in delusions of grandeur... I've always wanted to be on the
same screen as Bea Arthur, Billy Goldenburg and Norman Lear!
Kevin
[Posted 01.20.2003]
* all images from Lee Grant
Entertainment and Lifetime TV's Intimate Portrait - Bea Arthur
Back
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*
all images from Lee Grant Entertainment and Lifetime TV's
Intimate Portrait - Bea Arthur
Bea's
back in the box for a moment, yet still life sized...
in her white dress!!
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