Television characters come to life for many reasons, but when Norman Lear conceived Maude Findley, his purpose was singular and clear.
In a detailed Television Foundation interview, Lear explained, “On All in the Family, we were about eight or ten episodes in, and I wanted someone who could verbally demolish Archie Bunker. Mike Stivic argued with Archie constantly, but Mike’s liberal stance was as poorly founded as Archie’s conservative views. I needed someone from Archie’s deep past who could hammer him over a 20-year period. Someone who could reach back into his history.”
Lear, who was friends with Bea Arthur—who would later star as Dorothy on The Golden Girls—and his writers crafted the character as a cousin of Edith Bunker.
The Introduction of Maude
At that time, Bea Arthur’s husband was in California directing a movie while she was in New York. Lear knew she would be visiting the West Coast and suggested she do a guest spot on All in the Family. Arthur was hesitant, fearing she might not like the material and thus hurt Lear’s feelings, but he assured her it was no pressure.
“He said, ‘You’re going to be out here anyway, and if you don’t like it for whatever reason, I’ll get another actress to play it. Don’t worry about it.’ So I thought, fine. I had nothing to lose,” Arthur recalled. “Well, the part was Maude, Edith Bunker’s cousin. In the episode, everyone in the family has the flu, and there’s nobody to take care of anybody. So, being a cousin of Edith’s who is politically active and a liberal, she comes to take care of them. It’s the first time anybody had ever talked back to Archie.”
A Character is Born
The character of Maude was an immediate hit both in front of and behind the camera. Lear remembered, “Three days into rehearsal, I knew we’d hear from [CBS Programming Chief Fred] Silverman and others to do a show with this woman. This big-boned, deep-throated woman who played Maude-like characters on Broadway and whom I had used in sketches on The George Gobel Show, was a very strong woman, even before feminism became mainstream.”
Arthur added, “A few days after we finished that episode, Norman called me—I was back in New York—telling me that the president of CBS said, ‘Who is that girl? Let’s give her her own show.’ That’s how it started. I call it a middle-aged Cinderella story.”
The Legacy of Maude
Maude aired from 1972 to 1978, and Bea Arthur won the 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Through Maude, Arthur became a feminist icon, bringing strength, wit, and depth to a character that broke new ground in television history.
Norman Lear’s vision and Bea Arthur’s talent combined to create a character that not only challenged Archie Bunker but also resonated with a generation of viewers, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of television.
