I think it’s important for an author to share personal bias right up front. So, let me just tell you: Bea Arthur was one of the most talented comedic geniuses ever. Just. Amazing.
Imagine my dismay to learn that Bea Arthur is not on the cover of People this week. Now, I’m not one of those cat crazies who saves every TV Guide ever printed and catalogs them in numbered plastic sheaths. But I do have a few issues of People that are significant to me. Like one from the late seventies that has the Bee Gees on the cover. I kid you not, every other page has a cigarette ad. And my Bea Arthur issue was definitely going to be added to that collection. Instead, Arthur got a little upper right corner mention that didn’t interfere with a massive picture of Christina Applegate.
Oh, Bea. It’s unfortunate that you died the same week as People’s 100 Most Beautiful People issue is printed.
There is a secondary issue I’m grappling with. Christina Applegate is surely a pretty girl. But do you really think she would have landed the Most Beautiful People cover over the likes of Robert Pattinson, Zac Efron, Halle Berry, Freida Pinto and Angelina Jolie if she hadn’t been battling with cancer over the past year? The answer is no.
Love love love Bea Arthur. She deserves a cover and then some.
I agree with you as well about the Christina Applegate thing. While it is most certainly a beautiful thing to beat cancer, will she always carry that label? Does she even care?
I feel like they should at least put her on next weeks cover.
I mean, Estelle Gettey got a cover and I feel like Bea Arthur was much more influential.
especially since christina applegate freaking smokes cigarettes!!!
beating cancer can’t be too hard if she isn’t even worried about giving herself another kind of cancer. pffft
Or the same kind, smoking can cause lots of cancers, including the breasty kind.
You are right Wendie – that is total bullshit!!! People did make the right decision here!!!
People did NOT make the right decision here
I love Bea Arthur. She deserves more than this. I think she made Maude as classic as Archie Bunker and JR Ewing.
weak – very weak, Bea Authur was the best – People is shallow
WOW
playing the cancer card that’s low.
she is beautiful
what i don’t understand is why women just can’t wait to put down another woman because with your looks i am sure you would have been ranked so much higher than her.
just admit you are a shallow and jealous person
*sigh*
Okay whatever mate. Now read the piece again and do the world a favour.
I agree, shame on People magazine!
As for Christina – if they’re going to make a young woman with cancer the most beautiful, why not put Jade Goody on the cover? She literally gave her life for her cause; Christina isn’t even willing to quit smoking.
applegate is beautiful inside and out. maybe wendie should write for perez.
maybe you should go to cuteoverload.com or just google pictures of puppies
I don’t know how beautiful her insides are if she’s a smoker….she probably has crispy, crusty lungs.
i totally agree with Wendie! bea authur was the BEST! my fave golden girl. Of course this morning watching the today show i was surprised to see cristina applegate on the cover, a few thoughts came in to my head. wow good for her, and i know she got it because she had cancer. that just popped into my head, not to be mean or rude or whatever just what popped into my head. and i’m sure many many other people thought the exact same thing!
Agreed! Bea will be sorely missed. I will never forget her wedding dress in GG. While Christina Applegate is a pretty girl, she could not rock a toilet paper-trimmed bodice like Bea! I demand a re-cover!
totally inacceptable bringing up the cancer issue.
Pretty sure you mean “unacceptable”
why does it have to be cancer that put christna applegate on the list? why not her popular hit show? why not both? i love her either way, so i’m happy to see her on the list.
I love her too. But I wouldn’t have put her on the cover of a 100 Most Beautiful People magazine. She’s pretty, sure, but not overly gorgeous.
Big mistake people. I would have actually bought your magazine with Bea on the cover, but not some washed up actress. Cristina Applegate, really? God, they have weird taste.
Bea Arthur was beautiful. She should have got the cover.
it’s not all about physical beauty. they prob put her on the cover b/c of the way she handled her cancer. and b/c she’s hot.
Totally agree People is wrong on this one but it isn’t the first time they did some stupid shit like this. I actually sent them a scathing email back in 2004 when Katherine Hepuburn died and she got her picture in the upper left-hand corner so Reese Witherspoon could have the cover. WTF, really? I just don’t understand who makes these decisions.
bea arthur or however you spell her name is not a comedic genius, let alone one of the greatest comedic geniuses ever. i usually trust your thoughts beet, but that’s just dumb.
you can hate what they said but sam kinison, and howard stern were/are comedic geniuses. the deadpan man’s-voice of bea arthur is no substitute for content, which the guys i mentioned had in spades. i doubt she could be funny in an interview for 3 minutes
Yah, it’s bullshit. I didn’t know that about the Katharine Hepburn cover. Jesus Christ, whoever made that decision should be let loose in hell. Bea probably wouldn’t have even felt like she deserved a cover, and that makes me want it for her even more.
So what if Christina Applegate had cancer? Bea Arthur had it too—that’s what killed her. And I’m not even saying that Bea should have made the “Most Beautiful People” cover, because it’s not like she was a knock-out, okay. But People couldn’t have pushed that issue back one more week? Or even given Bea the cover the next week? What douchebags.