How tall was Beatrice Arthur?
Bea Arthur was born into a Jewish family in New York City on May 13, 1922 to Bernice Frankel. She grew up in Maryland where she ran a dress store with her mother. She was the shortest girl in her school at age 12, at 5'9.'She won her school's title of "Wittiest Girl" and her vision was to be in the entertainment industry, but she didn't believe her family would support her on that. She later worked as a research assistant, driving a tractor and serving in the Marine Corps as a typist. Her debut came on stage when she performed opposite Lotte Lenya in the musical play "The Threepenny Opera." She was a regular on Sid Caesar's TV series, Caesar's Hour (1954) for one season in the 1950's. In the first Broadway version of "Fiddler on the Roof," she became genuinely famous as Yente the Matchmaker in 1964.
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