Showing posts with label Bea Arthur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bea Arthur. Show all posts

Monday, 14 June 2021

Don't thumb your nose, but take a tip from mine


Me when the alarm goes off. Obviously.

Oh, bollocks! Another fabulous - and really hot - weekend, pleasantly pottering in the garden and enjoying the scents of jasmine, roses and pinks, is over with a jolt. Back to the grind...

Not all is lost, however. Sharing a birthday with another odd assortment, including Che Guevara, Paul O'Grady, Steffi Graf, Boy George (60 today), Harriet Beecher Stowe, Archbishop of Monmouth Rowan Williams, Rod Argent, Lang Lang, Burl Ives, Antony Sher, Julie Felix, Sam Wanamaker, Alan Carr, Dorothy McGuire, Siobhán Donaghy of the Sugababes, and - erm - Trump...

...it would have been the multi-talented composer, songwriter and jazz pianist Cy Coleman's birthday today [read my tribute on what would have been his 80th way back in 2009]. Famed for his standards such as Witchcraft, Nobody Does It Like Me, It's Not Where You Start (It's Where You Finish), The Best Is Yet to Come and many more, and (of course) his magnum opus (with lyricist Dorothy Fields) the musical Sweet Charity, he also wrote (with Carolyn Leigh) the ill-fated musical Wildcat for Lucille Ball. It sank without trace, but, on this Tacky Music Monday, to cheer us all up a bit, here's the choon from it that did endure - and a house favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers to perform it for us!


Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
Don't pass the plate folks, don't pass the cup
I figure whenever you're down and out, the only way is up
And I'll be up like a rosebud high on the vine
Don't thumb your nose, but take a tip from mine
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room, so let me get me some
And look out world, here I come

Nobody in the world was ever without a prayer
How can you win the world if nobody knows you're there?

Kid, when you need the crowd, the tickets are hard to sell
Still, you can lead the crowd if you can get up and yell

Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room, so let me get me some
And look out world, hear me shout world...
And look out world, here I come!

Have a good week, dear reader. I'll be taking plenty of fag breaks if the weather continues to be like this - and even if you don't smoke, I'd suggest you do too!

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Excuse me...

...it's been a busy day again in the garden!

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Quarantine Queens


Snap for me, Bea, snap!

An important public service announcement from... Todrick Hall:


"Febreze for me, Febreze!"

Brilliant!

[The original may be found here...]

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

A long time ago...



It's that day again. "May the Fourth" (be with you). The day for all geeks to come out of the woodwork.

And who am I to demur?

Not when we have what was possibly Bea Arthur's strangest TV moment - it's a clip from the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Of course!


Could anyone, really, have sat through the whole thing..?

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Fierce rulin' Diva



It's Bea Arthur's birthday!

Say "cheers", or she will kill you.

Here is the magnificent lady herself, belting the hell out of Hard Hearted Hannah - go, girl!

“No one knew what a sense of humour - real sense of humour - Bea Arthur had. They always think of her as very fierce and austere and she did give that image. She could be tough, she could be really tough, but she had a funny sense of humour and she could tell a joke like nobody else.” - Betty White
Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (13th May 1922 – 25th April 2009)

Monday, 13 May 2013

Hey There



I am aching from digging and potting and planting the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers (before the downpour - typical UK Spring), and completely not in the mood to get up and about for work this morning. Never mind, it's only for a couple of days - I'm off on leave from Wednesday (yay!) ...

Let us not forget that today would have been the 91st birthday of one of our ultimate Patron Saints, Miss Bea Arthur - and this Tacky Music Monday, we have not only the great lady herself, but also Rock Hudson, Melba Moore and Wayland Flowers and Madame to cheer us along! Hey There Good Times, indeed!


RIP, darling Bea.

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Old broads misbehavin'



Today would have been the 90th birthday of one of our "patron saints" the fantabulosa Bea Arthur.

Suffice to say, my thoughts on the late Miss Arthur have been featured here a few times over the years, so without further ado, here's one of her lesser-known "double acts" - with the magnificent Madame...


...the creation (of course) of the late, great Wayland Flowers.

Bea Arthur on NNDB

Saturday, 2 July 2011

Sunday, 5 September 2010

I figure whenever you're down and out, the only way is up



I have been humming this song (from the play Wildcat starring Lucille Ball) all weekend, and as we ebb to the end of a lovely Sunday (good friends around, roast lamb with all the trimmings, champers in the garden) I just felt the need to share!

This version is by the late and dearly missed Bea Arthur, who starred alongside the aforementioned Miss Ball in the film version of Mame...


Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
Don't pass the plate folks, don't pass the cup
I figure whenever you're down and out, the only way is up
And I'll be up like a rosebud high on the vine
Don't thumb your nose, but take a tip from mine
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room, so let me get me some
And look out world, here I come

Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
Don't pass the plate folks, don't pass the cup
I figure whenever you're down and out, the only way is up
And I'll be up like a rosebud high on the vine
Don't thumb your nose, but take a tip from mine
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room, so let me get me some
And look out world, here I come!

Nobody in the world was ever without a prayer
How can you win the world if nobody knows you're there?

Kid, when you need the crowd, the tickets are hard to sell
Still, you can lead the crowd if you can get up and yell

Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room, so let me get me some
And look out world, here me shout world
And look out world, here I come!

Sunday, 26 April 2009

Sleeping Bea



Words fail me when it comes to paying tribute to the late, great Bea Arthur, who died yesterday.

Suffice to say that her showbiz life, from the early days in the same drama class as Elaine Stritch and Marlon Brando, to performing with the greats - Jerry Herman, Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Topol, Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler-Moore and Sid Caesar among them - was vast and varied, ultimately securing her the classic role of Dorothy in The Golden Girls, for which she is revered by queens and old biddies alike.

We saw her on stage in her one-woman show Just Between Friends back in 2003, and she was fabulous - warm, funny and self-deprecating, as she recounted songs and episodes from her long career.

To me, she always appeared to be a genuine, interesting and extremely witty person, the ideal "fantasy party guest", whether in character or in person.



A brilliant star - I will miss her terribly. RIP.

Monday, 14 May 2007

An honorary gay man

"After being in the business for such a long time, I've done everything but rodeo and porno."

A living legend celebrated her birthday yesterday. The lovely Bea Arthur, wicked wit and all, still looks great at the grand old age of 84, and we love her!

Born Bernice Frankel, Bea began her sparkling career in the company of such luminaries as Lotte Lenya, Shirley MacLaine, Sid Caesar and Angela Lansbury. A singer of slightly rasping showbiz numbers, and a fine actress, she is obviously most loved for her seven year stint as the ascerbic Dorothy in "Golden Girls".

I saw Bea live in the West End in her one-woman show a couple of years ago, and her performance and anecdotes were wonderful!



A camp icon, and an honorary gay man - Bea Arthur, we salute you!