EXCLUSIVE: How Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur Enjoyed a Bond That Couldn't Be Broken – When Their Intimate Friendship Was Nearly a Bitter Broadway Rivalry
Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur shared an unbreakable bond, though their friendship faced a Broadway rivalry.
March 23 2025, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
What could have been a bitter Broadway rivalry instead became the beginning of a lifelong friendship between future TV legends Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Murder, She Wrote and The Golden Girls icons met on the stage when they appeared in the 1966 Broadway blockbuster Mame. Lansbury was the bon vivant title character, and Arthur played her hard-drinking BFF Vera Charles.
The pair took to heart the song in the second act, in which Lansbury calls Arthur her "bosom buddy."
Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury's Broadway rivalry turned into a lasting friendship.
Arthur confided: "Angela was a class act and a real joy to work with. When I first met her, I thought I was meeting this patrician, classically trained actor, but she has a mouth like a longshoreman. No kidding. She loved telling dirty limericks."
Lansbury, too, saw Arthur's sense of humor, saying: "She's told some of the most hilarious jokes I've ever heard. She's an original. There's nobody in the world like her."
Lansbury was born into an upper-middle class family and grew up "a movie maniac."
She followed in her mom's acting footsteps and emigrated to the U.S. during World War II to start acting training and, at age 19, received her first Oscar nomination for 1944's Gaslight.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn-born Arthur enlisted in the Marines after high school and served as a typist and truck dispatcher during World War II. After her honorable discharge, she studied to be a medical technician before switching to acting.
From Tony wins to TV fame, Arthur and Lansbury shared an unbreakable bond.
Their orbits intersected on Broadway when they were both up for the leading role, as Mame and Arthur had the upper hand, with her then-husband Gene Saks directing the production.
Lansbury ended up winning the part, but there were no hard feelings. Angela as Mame and Arthur as Vera both won Tony Awards that year.
The two would go on to become huge TV stars, Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, and Arthur as the title character in Maude and Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls.
Lansbury and Arthur's friendship grew stronger long after their Broadway days.
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Ironically, neither of them made a guest appearance on each other's hit shows.
But they enjoyed catching up with each other often when they were out of the limelight.
Their lifelong friendship lasted until Arthur passed away at age 86 in 2009. Lansbury died in 2022 at age 96.
Lansbury said: "We're comfortable with each other – we always have been. She became my greatest support, and I, hers."
