Bea Arthur is a television icon, known for playing the characters of Maude Findlay in All in the Family and Maude, and Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls. However, there’s one aspect of her life you may not be aware of: her service in the US Marine Corps. We didn’t think it possible, but this golden girl just keeps getting cooler!
A call to action for all US women
When the United States entered World War II, the government requested that women join the ranks of the military, so male soldiers could join the fight. While the majority of military branches had Women’s Reserves at this time, the Marine Corps did not. This changed on February 13, 1943, when they released a statement, asking women to “Be a Marine… Free a Marine to Fight.”
Before television, Bea Arthur was a reservist
With her parents’ permission, Bea Arthur, then known as Bernice Frankel, enlisted. The process included physical exams, personality appraisals and recommendations. As the Women’s Reservists section was so new, the Marine Corps had yet to create dedicated forms. This meant recruiting was done using US Navy paperwork.
US Marine Corps portrait of Bea Arthur
Photo Credit: United States Marine Corps Photographer / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Bea submitted a handwritten letter, showcasing her dedication to the cause: “I was supposed to start work yesterday, but heard last week that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so decided the only thing to do was join.” While she hoped to be assigned to ground aviation, she was “willing to get in now and do whatever is desired of me until such time as ground schools are organized.”
On February 20, 1943, Bea Arthur joined the ranks as Private Frankel.
A worthy military career
Bea Arthur attended the first Women’s Reservists school at Hunter College in New York for basic training. She was then sent to the Marine headquarters in Washington, DC, where she worked as a typist. Feeling her past experience would be more valuable elsewhere, she requested a transfer to the Motor Transport School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The request was granted in June 1943.
A year into her enlistment, Bea married fellow Marine, Private Robert Aurthur. She adopted his surname, requesting it appear on all official military documents. She kept this name after the couple divorced, altering it slightly into her famous stage name.