Eddie Bell, also known by his drag name Cookie Dough, was in Puerto Vallarta to perform his role as Sophia in the popular drag performance of “The Golden Girls” when he fell ill and was hospitalized on January 21.
In Puerto Vallarta he was diagnosed with brain swelling and later flown to California for treatment where he was diagnosed with meningitis. Mr. Bell (Cookie Dough) passed away on January 29 after fighting for his life for eight days.
Early diagnosis and treatment for meningitis is crucial to survival and many friends and family of Cookie Dough have expressed frustration that the stage actor was misdiagnosed in Puerto Vallarta while hospitalized for four days before being flown home to California.
This weekend is to be the last shows of The Golden Girls in Puerto Vallarta, a two week run in which Cookie Dough fell ill days before his stage debut in the city and would never perform.
The Golden Girls started performances in San Francisco in 2006 in the front parlor of a Victorian Mansion in the Western Addition of the City by the Bay. The shows quickly became more and more popular with the shows being performed twice annually – for a month every June and for a month each December. As The Golden Girls became more popular, they moved to sold out-runs at ever larger venues. In 2011 the show moved to the 500 seat Victoria Theatre where it now plays every December, for smash runs of its Christmas Episodes.
A sad loss for her family, friends, and fans. I hope this can bring awareness to meningitis for the health care workers who cared for her in Puerto Vallarta and next time someone has the same symptoms they rule out the possibility meningitis early on through proper testing. No one knows if she would have survived being diagnosed on her first day in the hospital, but sadly we will never know if it could have made a difference. Very very sad.