Bea Arthur has left the stage…

…but the great television and Broadway star will be remembered always.

The winner of two Emmys and a Tony Award died early today at the age of 86 and leaves behind a body of work that has entertained several generations. The Associated Press is reporting that Miss Arthur had been suffering from cancer and died at home in LA with her family by her side.

She had a recurring line in each of her two classic sitcoms that would always garner Miss Arthur a guaranteed huge laugh. On Maude it was: “God’ll get you for that Walter! while her Golden Girls character of Dorothy had to say just two words to silence her mother feisty Sophia: “Shady Piiiines.”

She had been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame just last fall where she appeared somewhat frail but still graceful and in good humor. Her publicist, Dan Watt, had arranged for Miss Arthur and I to speak a day after the Hall of Fame ceremony. It was in early December and I think it may have been one of her last interviews.

When she called, she apologized that we had not been able to speak in person at the event. She had been surrounded by TV crews and well-wishers including her good friend Angela Lansbury and Maude creator Norman Lear in the moments before the dinner began and Dan said, “She’ll call you tomorrow.” And she did!

“It was fabulous,” she said of the evening. “I mean, I was really very, very, very touched. I’m not good at those evenings though. I feel I can act … but standing there and accepting accolades is something else. I was embarrassed.”

Her induction came a bit later than originally planned because when the Academy first approached Miss Arthur five years ago, she declined because she felt there were others far more deserving.

But finally, she relented. She and Miss Lansbury had been the closest of friends since the 60s when they were in Mame together on Broadway and it was the Murder She Wrote star who did the Hall of Fame induction for her friend.

“Angela, bless her heart, went on much too long!” Miss Arthur said.

She seemed relieved when I assured her that most in the audience were charmed and touched by Lansbury’s words that night because they not only paid tribute to a great career, but also gave insight into who Arthur is off-stage – a mom, a gourmet cook, a loyal friend.

Her seven seasons on The Golden Girls and six years on Maude brought her to an entirely different level of stardom that was far different from her 30 years as an acclaimed theater actress in the original Broadway productions of Mame, Fiddler on the Roof and The Three Penny Opera.

“Suddenly the whole country knew me. It was very odd and different,” she said. “Originally, I used to find myself running away from people and dodging them at restaurants. But I since have found that people who do come up and tell you they enjoy you and your performance, it’s really very sweet.”

She then shared with me a funny story about Rue McClanahan who she not only starred with in Golden Girls, but also on Maude.

“When we started ‘Golden Girls’ and Rue, my darling Rue, suddenly found herself a so-called TV star. I remember she couldn’t believe that I did my own grocery shopping! But I did and would usually meet Angela (Lansbury) in produce.”

I had seen Miss Arhur’s one-woman show, Just Between Friends, at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood several years ago and wondered if she ever planned to do the Tony-nominated production again.

“Maybe a couple of times for charity but no more touring! We did fabulous business in New York but we continued touring and that got to be a bore: endless plane rides and endless terrible meals and bad hotels. When we finished I said, ‘That’s it!'”

What about writing her memoirs?

“Oh God no!” she said. “Who would care? Everybody writes book and I think it’s ridiculous.”

Okay then, how about another television role? In recent years she played Larry David’s mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm and got an Emmy nod for her guest part as a babysitter on Malcom in the Middle.

“I enjoy that, doing a one shot,” she said. “But I’m too old and I’m too tired to attempt another series. It would be just my luck that it would be a hit!”

That’s because Beatrice Arthur was nearly always a hit.

Here are a few clips from her TV career: