Editing Bea Arthur (section)

==Early life, family, education and military service==
Bernice Frankel was born on May 13, 1922, in the [[Brooklyn]] borough of New York City, to Rebecca (née Pressner, born in Austria) and Philip Frankel (born in Poland).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5043197|title='Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies aged 86|work=Haaretz|date=April 26, 2009|access-date=December 4, 2013|archive-date=July 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713073548/https://www.haaretz.com/1.5043197|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Certificate and Record of Birth #21106| format= .JPG| publisher=City of New York, Department of Health | website= kevinbuckstiegel.com| url= http://www.kevinbuckstiegel.com/bea/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bea_birthcert.jpg| date=May 13, 1922|access-date= July 12, 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052815/http://www.kevinbuckstiegel.com/bea/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bea_birthcert.jpg|archive-date=May 29, 2014|url-status= dead}}</ref> Arthur was raised in a [[American Jews|Jewish]] home with her older sister Gertrude and younger sister Marian (1926–2014).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weber|first=Bruce|date=April 26, 2009|title=Bea Arthur, Star of Two TV Comedies, Dies at 86|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/arts/television/26arthur.html|access-date=February 12, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208235507/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/arts/television/26arthur.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1933, the Frankel family relocated to [[Cambridge, Maryland]], where her parents subsequently operated a women's clothing shop. At age 16, Beatrice developed a serious condition, [[coagulopathy]], in which her blood would not clot.<ref name="Lifetime"/> Concerned for her health, her parents sent her to [[Linden Hall (school)|Linden Hall]], an all-girls' boarding school in [[Lititz, Pennsylvania]], for her final two years of high school.<ref name="Lifetime"/> Afterwards, she studied for a year at [[Blackstone College for Girls]] in [[Blackstone, Virginia]].<ref name= autogenerated1>{{cite news| url= https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bea-arthur| title= Bea Arthur (1926–2009)| publisher= | website= jewishvirtuallibrary.org| access-date= September 14, 2018| archive-date= September 14, 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180914131941/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bea-arthur| url-status= live}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], Frankel enlisted as one of the first members of the [[United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve]] in 1943. After boot camp, she served as a typist at Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C. In June 1943, the Marine Corps accepted her transfer request to the Motor Transport School at [[Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune|Camp Lejeune]], North Carolina. Frankel then worked as a truck driver and dispatcher in [[Cherry Point, North Carolina]], between 1944 and 1945. She was honorably discharged at the rank of [[staff sergeant]] in September 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/72168/veteranoftheday-marine-veteran-bea-arthur/|title=#VeteranOfTheDay Marine Veteran Bea Arthur|date=March 3, 2020|website=VAntage Point|publisher=US Veterans Administration|access-date=March 14, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920202215/https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/72168/veteranoftheday-marine-veteran-bea-arthur/|url-status=live}}</ref>

After serving in the Marines, Frankel studied for a year at the Franklin School of Science and Arts in [[Philadelphia]], where she became a licensed [[Advanced emergency medical technician|medical technician]].<ref name="Lifetime"/><ref name=autogenerated1 /> After interning at a local hospital for the summer, she decided against working as a lab technician, departing for New York City in 1947 to enroll in the [[School of Drama (The New School)|School of Drama]] at [[The New School]].<ref name= "Lifetime">{{Cite AV media| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6lZupLt8HU| title=Bea Arthur 2002 Intimate Portrait (HD)| publisher= Lifetime TV| via= YouTube| date= September 17, 2016| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20181018175849/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6lZupLt8HU&feature=share | archivedate= October 18, 2018 |access-date= September 13, 2018}} and at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/E6lZupLt8HU ghostarchive.org], December 11, 2021.</ref>