Much of what fans know about Bea Arthur—the actress behind deadpan Dorothy Zbornak, outspoken Maude Findlay, and haughty Vera Charles—is Arthurian legend. Dan Watt knew the woman behind the lore.
The Emmy-winning producer and Arthur’s longtime assistant brings that perspective to Bea Arthur: The Documentary—“I’ve Done Everything Except Porn”, co-presented by Frameline at three Bay Area screenings: Sat/10 and Sun/11 at Orinda Theatre, and Mon/12 at San Francisco’s Balboa Theater.
At its heart is a never-before-seen interview Watt recorded in 2006 with the famously private actress. Their regular kitchen-table conversations had inspired him to ask whether he could capture one on camera.
“She leaned back and crossed her arms, and she said, ‘You think you can interview me?’” remembers Watt. “And I was like, ‘Yeah.’”
The interview remained locked away for 20 years. Watt wanted to present it as a tribute worthy of his friend; after digitizing the recordings and revisiting their conversation, he was ready.
“I asked her how she wanted to be remembered,” he recalls. “She said, ‘As a classically trained actress who hopefully left something behind that people enjoy.’ It hit me, and I decided to try to make that come true.”
The film follows Arthur from her training at The New School through off-Broadway, Broadway, cabaret, and television.
Legendary TV producer Norman Lear famously spotted her talent in the 1955 off-Broadway production of Shoestring Revue; nearly two decades later, he offered her the role of Maude on “All in the Family.”
Whether performing Shakespeare or playing Maude and Dorothy, Watt says, her approach stayed the same. “She played the characters straight and didn’t reach for the laugh, because that’s not what you do in real life,” he says. “She always trusted the writers and believed in them. Her job was to bring their words to life.”
Arthur’s recollections appear alongside interviews with friends and collaborators, including Rosie O’Donnell, Chita Rivera, Adrienne Barbeau, Austin Pendleton, Renée Taylor, Bruce Vilanch, Coco Peru, and Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick.
“It shows her vulnerability,” says Watt. “And they’re going to see the Bea Arthur that I knew, the Bea Arthur that I was so fortunate enough to work for and also able to call my friend.”
Watt met Arthur through his nonprofit Art Attack Foundation, which offered performing arts scholarships to children and young adults.
He cold-called her about a January 2004 benefit he was organizing in Los Angeles. She agreed to appear, provided he could bring her accompanist and best friend, Billy Goldenberg, and stage manager, Matt Berman, from New York.
A single newspaper ad sold out the benefit. They added a second show; within three days, they sold out both.
Afterward, Arthur asked Berman to find out whether Watt would become her assistant. Why not ask him herself, Berman wondered, since Watt was standing right there?
“Because he might say ‘No,’” Arthur responded.
But Watt immediately agreed. Arthur shook his hand, said, “I will see you on Saturday,” and pivoted into the familiar Dorothy Zbornak walk. “She let me into that inner circle,” he says.
Arthur read The New York Times cover to cover daily and expected her companions to keep up. Before visiting, Watt would rise three hours early and watch CNN to prepare for her questions.
“If you were at a party and couldn’t talk with her about current affairs, she would just walk into another room and start talking to someone else,” says Watt. “She was always inquisitive, and I loved that.”
San Francisco audiences also experienced Arthur’s personality firsthand. In 2001, Arthur joined Jan Wahl and Donna Sachet at A Different Light bookstore—now Fabulosa Books—for an interview and a “Golden Girls” look-alike contest. She offered enough complimentary tickets to fill nearly two rows of her upcoming Alcazar Theatre show.
That show, And Then There’s Bea, paired songs and backstage stories with Goldenberg’s piano accompaniment ahead of her 2002 Broadway engagement. She returned in 2006 for An Evening with Bea Arthur and Billy Goldenberg: One More Time San Francisco! at the Herbst Theatre.
Although the city wasn’t home, Arthur felt at home among its gay fans.
“She had that really sharp, witty sense of humor,” Watt says. “As you probably know, many of us gay people have the same. We might have learned it from her, so she always felt at ease with us.”
In 2006, San Francisco’s drag production The Golden Girls Live also began, with Heklina’s Dorothy carrying Arthur’s delivery into the city’s queer theatrical tradition.
For Watt, Arthur’s advocacy belongs alongside her artistry. “I felt that if I’m going to pass on part of Bea’s legacy through this film, part of her legacy is also her allyship and her philanthropy,” he says.
When a friend with AIDS was disowned by his parents in the early ’80s, Arthur regularly visited him at the VA Hospital in Westwood. She raised money and awareness through benefits ranging from living-room gatherings to events with Angela Lansbury before audiences of thousands.
“She was there from the beginning and then just never stopped,” says Watt. “And she wanted people to know that it was OK to still be friends with people who had AIDS.”
He says Arthur also gave $300,000 to New York’s Ali Forney Center, which supports LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. He saw her generosity firsthand at his own benefit. “When the show was over, she gave me back her check and said, ‘Give this money to the kids who need it more than me,’” he recalls. “She did that many times with many charities.”
Making the film over three years reminded Watt of what he most missed after Arthur’s death in 2009: their conversations, her convictions, and the satisfaction of making her laugh.
“If you could make her laugh—that was something because her laugh came from her belly,” he says.
Before pursuing a wider release, Watt wanted a nine-city tour to meet fans and hear their stories. “Yes, we’re going to watch the movie,” he says. “Yes, there will be a Q&A, but what I’m really looking forward to is going out with you after the Q&A, drinking a bottle of wine, and hearing all the other stories.”
In Arthur’s memory, Watt will donate screening proceeds to local LGBTQ+ organizations. The Bay Area events benefit LYRIC, which serves LGBTQ+ youth ages 12–24.
“She did so much for our community that I felt that I needed to do the same,” he says. “That is her legacy.”
He imagines Arthur greeting the documentary with her characteristic blend of modesty and impatience.
“If I could talk to her now, and say that I was doing a documentary on her,” says Watt, “she would say to me, ‘Dan, nobody cares about what I’ve done.‘ But inside she would be thinking, ‘Well, it’s about fucking time.’”
BEA ARTHUR: THE DOCUMENTARY – “I’VE DONE EVERYTHING EXCEPT PORN” Mon/12, Balboa Theater, SF. More info here.
BEA ARTHUR: THE DOCUMENTARY – “I’VE DONE EVERYTHING EXCEPT PORN” Sat/10-Sun/11, Orinda Theatre, Orinda. More info here.
