Remembering Estelle Getty...
Our Sophia is gone.
Estelle Getty, who starred on "The Golden Girls" for seven glorious seasons, died this morning, three days before her 85th birthday. She had not been in the public eye for several years as her dementia worsened.
She was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress during every season of the show (winning in 1988) as Bea Arthur's wisecracking Italian octogenarian mother who had a story for just about everything which began with the Sophia Petrillo catchphrase: "Picture it..."
Ironically, Estelle was one year younger than Arthur but a grey wig helped to create the mother-daughter illusion.
She got her start in the Yiddish theater and her most important early role was playing Harvey Fierstein's mother on Broadway in the play "Torch Song Trilogy."
Estelle was married to Arthur Gettleman (from whose name she adapted her stage name) from 1946 until his death in 2004 and has two grown sons: According to Wikepedia, during the run of "Golden Girls," her 29-year-old nephew was dying of AIDS and there was no one to care for him, she had him flown from North Carolina to California. He died in January 1992.
We'll miss Estelle but we'll always have her Sophia in reruns and on DVD!
Here's a clip from the show:
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About Out
in Hollywood
Greg Hernandez authored Out In Hollywood for the Daily News from June 2006 to February 2009. He can now be found at Greg In Hollywood: www.greginhollywood.com
We all watched hours and hours of this most wonderful and comforting show. It helped get us through the tough times and most of all the good times. She is and will always be the best GG. So tonight I will watch another episode and remember her for all that she gave to so many just by being Sophia. Thank you "ma".
I am 24 and has watched the show for yeears and I still do and still love it. To this day it is my favorite show of all time. I will always watch it. We all love Estelle Getty as well and is missed.