Twitter
Facebook
When Rufus Wainwright met Bea Arthur …
Village Voice ran an item on this the other day and I’m not sure if I think it’s funny or horrifying!
So singer Rufus Wainwright was a huge fan of The Golden Girls and, in particular, of Bea Arthur who played the acerbic Dorothy.
The Voice reports: He was going through a rough, lonely, isolated, messy period, and Golden Girls airings always provided comfort for him.
Well, years later, he spotted Bea Arthur at an event and summoned the nerve to go up to her and let her know how important she was to him during that time.
He said to Bea:
“I’m sorry to bother you, and I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I was going through a rough patch and Golden Girls brought me so much entertainment and comfort. It really helped me get through the bad spell.
“You’re so wonderful. You made me feel like you’re my grandmother.”
Nice, no? Well, Bea didn’t blink.
The raw earnestness and gratitude of the moment didn’t seem to melt her frozen expression one bit.
Instead, she leaned into Rufus and summoned her best Dorothy voice.
“I’m not your fucking grandmother,” she belched, and walked off.
Thank you for being a bitch.
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
SCVMike says:
Well, that “bitch” left thousands of dollars in her will for homeless NYC youth. Hernandez and Rufus are a each dufus!
mtaabq says:
Even before her death I had read a lot of accounts that Bea Arthur, while a great actress, was not a particularly warm person. Still, as noted by SCVMike, her will gave a lot of money to homeless gay youth organizations in NYC. While her comment to Rufus Wainwright seems harsh, and in fact is, I’m gonna give her a pass on this one. I think I’ll get out my DVD’s and enjoy a “Golden Girls” marathon tonight and laugh in her memory. THAT is the Bea Arthur I choose to remember.
Scott says:
Gotta love Bea!
Michael says:
LMFAO classic bea blunt and to the point lmfao
VDUFFORD says:
She was a GREAT original!
I bet she was just staying in character with Rufus…joking!
Check out the ‘MAUDE’ television shows from (1972-1978) really good stuff!
Relevant,brave programing in many ways I am sure she thought this was really some of her best work.
Gaspar Marino says:
Yes, I believe her gruff manner was actually a public persona and she was not like that in real life. I believe she also adopted children.
2201 East says:
Wonder how much of that was Bea or her character. Based on how she was known to treat people in general, makes me question which.
Mark L. says:
I rarely post comments like this but felt compelled to say that Rufus told this story years ago at a concert I attended, and he seemed genuinely amused and charmed by the encounter. I also suspect that some of that response was “persona” on Bea’s part. With someone like Bea, isn’t it BETTER to get a reaction like that? Like the time I met Johnny Rotten, and he told me to shove it. Isn’t that better than if he were NICE to me?