b. Bernice Frankel, 13 May 1926, New York, USA. A stylish, droll, acid-tongued actress, comedienne and singer, with an attractive dark-brown voice, Bea Arthur came to prominence playing the role of Lucy Brown in Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera - the second US version - which opened off-Broadway at the Theatre De Lys in March 1954, and ran for 2, 706 performances. She then appeared in Ben Bagley's 1955 Shoestring Revue, and in the same year took the part of Mme. Suze in Seventh Heaven, a musicalized version of the Oscar-winni...