29. The Golden Girl Who Was a WWII US Marine
Just like the men of WWII – most of whom never saw combat – most women who served in that conflict did so in ways less dramatic than those of Noor Inayat Khan. One such was Beatrice “Bea” Arthur (1922 – 2009), the comedian, actress, and singer whose rich entertainment career spanned seven decades. During that time, she became famous for her signature sitcom roles as Maude Findley in All in the Family and its spinoff Maude. She became even more famous as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls. A lesser-known fact about Bea Arthur is that she had been among the women who served in uniform during WWII. Before becoming famous, Bea Arthur had been a WWII US Marine.
Bea attended a girls’ boarding school where she was the tallest girl in school, and was also voted “wittiest girl” by her classmates. She became an avid participant in drama programs and theatrical productions. Entertaining her friends with imitations of Mae West, she dreamt of a career in show business but did not think that her parents would support her dreams.