Estelle Getty's Golden Years Comes to an End

Estelle Getty, who rose to fame for her portrait as Sophia Petrillo, in the television sitcom, "The Golden Girls" has passed away at the age of 84. She passed away this morning after suffering from severe Lewy Body Dementia. She was just three days shy of her 85^th birthday.

She was born Estelle Scher in 1923 to Polish immigrants in New York. She got her first thirst for show business when she fell in love acting at a vaudeville show at the age of 4. In 1947 she married Arthur Gettleman, which she later shortened to Getty for her stage name. The couple had two sons, Carl and Barry.

Getty struggled as an actress before getting the role on "The Golden Girls", starring as the mother of Bea Arthur (whom she was actually one year younger than). The show also starred Betty White and Rue McClanahan. As Sophia, Getty's role as Sophia became an instant hit. She was sharp-tongued, witty, and had a sarcastic sense of humor that viewers found irresistible. "The Golden Girls" won four Golden Globes and numerous Emmys. Getty herself won one Golden Globe and an Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series in 1988. The "Golden Girls" ran on television 1985 to 1992.

Humor wasn't new to Estelle Getty though, she tried standup comedy in her teens, at a Catskill's area hotel. At that time however, women comics had yet to break into the "boys club of comedy". Other acting pursuits of Getty's include when she played Harvey Fierstein's mother in the Broadway play "Torch Song Trilogy" in 1981. She also had small roles in "Tootsie" in 1982, and in 1985 a bit part in "Mask". She also played roles in "Deadly Force", Sylvester Stallone's in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Barry Manilow's in the TV film "Copacabana," and "Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story." One of her final roles came in 1999 when she played the voice role of Grandma Estelle Little in the film "Stuart Little".

Estelle Getty is survived by both her son's Carl and Gary. She will be sadly missed by all her "Golden Girl" co-stars as well as the countless others whose lives she touched both onscreen and off.

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/07/remembering-e-1.html?xid=rss-popwatch-20080722-Remembering%20Estelle%20Getty

http://www.tmz.com/2008/07/22/estelle-getty-thank-you-for-being-alive/

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