Maude Findlay Maude Findlay Maude Findlay (née Chadbourne; formerly Hilliard) is a fictional character and the main title character on the controversial 1970s sitcom "Maude". She was portrayed by the Emmy-winning actress Bea Arthur. Maude Findlay first appeared on "All in the Family" in December 1971, in the second-season episode, "Cousin Maude's Visit", and is the cousin of Edith Bunker. Maude cared for Edith, but disliked her husband, Archie Bunker. Archie and Maude were both known for getting on each other's nerves, especially since she was a liberal and Archie was a conservative. Because she was a liberal, Maude was also an
United States in the 1950s show. In "Life of Riley" (1953–1958), blue collar Chester A. Riley (William Bendix) became the prototype for a long line of bumbling television patriarchs that included Fred Flintstone and Archie Bunker. The show's first incarnation for the DuMont Television Network lasted a season (1949–1950) and won an Emmy during the first Emmy Awards in 1949. "The Honeymooners" (1955–1956) followed bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his sewer-working sidekick Ed Norton (Art Carney) while archetypal suburban life was limned in "Leave It to Beaver" (1957–1963), purportedly the first sitcom to be told from a child's point of view and the