“I’m grateful to be included, mostly as it gives me the opportunity to thank the whole PFLAG family for all the work they do every day to make a better, more equitable world for LGBTQ+ youth and their families.”įerguson is an actor, author, producer, host, and longtime advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. “I want to thank PFLAG National for inviting me to be a part of PFLAG Parent Day,” said Ferguson. The award, named in honor of longtime member of PFLAG Betty DeGeneres who is the mother of Ellen DeGeneres, recognizes a person who uses their visibility to help advance PFLAG’s work to create a caring, just, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them. The Betty DeGeneres Advocacy Award is the marquee honor of PFLAG Parent Day and will be presented to Ferguson by the award’s inaugural recipient, George Takei. PFLAG National will honor 5-time Emmy Award nominee and current Tony Award nominated star of Broadway’s Take Me Out Jesse Tyler Ferguson with the Betty DeGeneres Advocacy Award during the second annual PFLAG Parent Day live virtual event on Sunday, May 22, 2022 So, the opening of the show is so random and just delicious! Miss Arthur details for us how she prepares a leg of lamb for a small dinner party and for some reason – then and now – I find it so mesmerizing. This one-woman show, Bea Arthur on Broadway–Just Between Friends, was Tony nominated for its 2002 Broadway run but Miss Arthur also had a successful national tour and had a run in Canada.
She won the Tony Award for Mame and had originated roles in Fiddler on the Roof and Three Penny Opera. Dixie Carter and Hal Holbrook were sitting near us and a few rows away was Nancy Sinatra.Īnd onstage in her bare feet with Billy Goldenberg at the piano was Bea Arthur, a decade after The Golden Girls, reminding the world what a great Broadway star she had been.
One of my favorite theatrical experiences ever was seeing Miss Arthur perform her one woman show at the El Portal in North Hollywood back in 2004. Beatrice Arthur, born 100 years ago today, will never be forgotten after leaving us with two classic television characters that live on: Maude Findlay on the 1972-78 sitcom Maude and Dorothy Zbornak from The Golden Girls which ran from 1985-92.