Bea Arthur

While the other ladies on our list frequently made you laugh with large, wide performances or by developing strange and distinct characters, only Bea Arthur could bring the house down with nothing more than a steely-eyed glare. If deadpan and seriousness were the sole criteria for being funny, she'd be the most amusing person who ever lived.

While most television viewers today remember the two-time Emmy winner for her role as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls, where she was tasked with being the show's anchor while still being hilarious, she also starred on the groundbreaking Maude, where she played a liberal woman married to her fourth husband and unafraid to say what she truly thought, a premise that would be notable even today.

Bea Arthur's Maude Findlay first debuted on All in the Family, where her two guest cameos were so amusing and memorable that famed TV producer Norman Lear felt she needed her program. He was correct.