Was Bea Arthur in the Marines?

Though the Tony Award-winnng Golden Girl often denied it, a new letter has surfaced which suggests that Bea Arthur was in fact in the Marines. According to TheSmokingGun.com,  Arthur was in the Marine Corps for over a two years beginning in 1943. 

After completing basic training in 1943, Arthur served as a typist in Washington D.C. After receiving excellent reviews from her superiors, Arthur was eventually promoted from  private to staff sergeant, and then discharged in September of 1945. 

The late actress achieved fame as the character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family and Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls, winning Emmy Awards for both roles.

On stage, her roles included Lucy Brown in the 1954 Off-Broadway premiere of Marc Blitzstein's English-language adaptation of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, Yente the Matchmaker in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, and a 1966 Tony Award-winning portrayal of Vera Charles to Angela Lansbury's Mame. She reprised the role in the 1974 film version opposite Lucille Ball. In 1981, she appeared in Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos