After seven golden years, Bea Arthur is looking forward to a well-deserved break--she recently announced she is leaving The Golden Girls.

"I think it's time to change, rest up or something," she told TV Extra. "It's quite a grind doing a weekly show.

"It's been very enjoyable and the show will be in syndication and then re-runs for a million years to come, so I don't think I'm depriving anyone of the joy of watching it," she said.

Bea has been working on television almost continuously since the early 70s when she starred in the hilarious comedy Maude.

"It seems as though I have spent a major part of my adult life doing a sitcom. I started in 1972 with Maude and I've been going on ever since," she said.

Bea says The Golden Girls will continue without her, although it could have a different setting.

"They are going to continue, maybe in a different form, which I really don't quite understand yet, but it has been announced that they will be running for some time to come.

"They may be adding a new character, I don't know. But I'm sure it's going to be wonderful, whatever it is."

Although she has worked on The Golden Girls for so long, Bea says she never watches it because she feels it restricts her performance.

"I like to take enormous chances," she said.

"If for some reason they don't work, I hate to look at something and say, "Oh, why did I look at that, I shouldn't have done that," which may make me not attempt it again, Watching yourself puts a curb on your creativity, I feel."

Bea will be coming to Australia soon as a special guest on Channel Seven's Comedy Gala (which screens on Wednesday April 8), and is looking forward to the show and her visit.

"It sounds absolutely wonderful. I'm really looking forward to it.

"I came out to take part in one of those Logie Awards three or four years ago and I was given an extended two and a half week tour of the country.

"I got to go everywhere, I think, except Brisbane and Perth. I even got out to Ayers Rock. I was all over--it was simply wonderful."

If she were a young actress, Sydney would be the place for her to be, she says.

"If I were manu, many years younger and just starting out I would have chosen Australia. It sort of reminds me of when I first went to New York as a young student actor.

"I fell in love with Sydney and I love the theatre that I saw there."

After her visit to Australia, Bea will travel to London where she will be a guest on Bruce Forsythe's show. Then she'll take a short break before going home to the US, but she is thinking of returning to London later to buy a place.

"This time I'll only stay about 10 days because I will have been in Australia so long," she said, "but I think maybe I'll go back and stay there (in London) a couple of months.

"I'm thinking of looking for a small place to buy there. In this day and age unless you're really doing episodic television you can really live anywhere you want.

"A lot of live people in London and work everywhere--but I'm sure I would never give up my home."

Bea says she will consider more acting if the right proposition comes along, but she's free to choose what she wants.

"If something fantastic comes along, I'd adore it of course," she said. "I'm in a position now, financially as well as professionally, to do only what I really want to do."