Estelle Getty of \'Golden Girls\' dies at 84

[davepeck]

i blame pitchie.

By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV\'s "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

"She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents," her son said. "She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived."

"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff\'s belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Rue McClanahan in "Mama\'s Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur\'s character.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein\'s play "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because it was believed she didn\'t look old enough to play 80.

"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."

She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it\'s my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.

It culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I\'d say, \'Don\'t promote me, please,\'" she recalled.

She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including "Tootsie," "Deadly Force" and "Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story."

After her success in "The Golden Girls," other roles came her way. She played Cher\'s mother in "Mask," Sylvester Stallone\'s in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Barry Manilow\'s in the TV film "Copacabana." Other credits included "Mannequin" and "Stuart Little" (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).

"The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan\'s libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life\'s an open blouse."

Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.

Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in "The Golden Girls."

Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."

In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

___

Associated Press Writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080722/ap_on_en_tv/obit_getty;_ylc=X3oDMTI1NzZyc3Q3BFJfYWlkAwRSX2RtbgN5YWhvby5jb20EUl9maWQDYmRhMGMzMzU0NTFiYmY2YjY0Y2Q0MWRlYjBiYWRlNDYEUl9sdHADMQ--

[ds673488]

i now begin a full month of mourning

[SlimPickens]

[ChrisPitch]

Rest in peace Estelle. Other than Blanche, you\'re the one Golden Girl who filled my heart with the sweet syrup of sensuality. I\'ll miss you baby.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tm9DrltuSog

[Igziabeher]

what do you got against Betty White, Pitch?

[Vassillios]

i\'m missing what i thought we once had
just drowning in your memories

[sallyalli]

Thanks for the costume idea!
sorry you died.
RIP

[citroen]

I thought they would all live forever.  Only 84?  I thought she was 84 back in 1984.  :sadban:

[Drew_Kingsley]

I thought they would all live forever.  Only 84?  I thought she was 84 back in 1984.  :sadban:

Estelle Getty was actually younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter on The Golden Girls.

Yes, I have a degree in television. And yes, this post is the most useful that said degree has ever been.

[Yoda]

She was actually the youngest out of all of them.

[postom]

She was actually the youngest out of all of them.

not true rue mclanahan was.


vassillios - did you hit up the fox?

[Vassillios]

vassillios - did you hit up the fox?

No i didn\'t make it... or aggie theater either

but i saw them at the mile high (7/19) and i thought they were the best out of the 20 or so bands that i saw.

they played queen of everything too

[Drew_Kingsley]

vassillios - did you hit up the fox?

No i didn\'t make it... or aggie theater either

but i saw them at the mile high (7/19) and i thought they were the best out of the 20 or so bands that i saw.

they played queen of everything too

The Golden Girls played at Mile High? I have got to get out more.

[postom]

vassillios - did you hit up the fox?

No i didn\'t make it... or aggie theater either

but i saw them at the mile high (7/19) and i thought they were the best out of the 20 or so bands that i saw.

they played queen of everything too

The Golden Girls played at Mile High? I have got to get out more.

yes, yes,  you should.

shame you missed the fox and aggie theater, definitely the two best shows of that weekend.  all good though